We welcome applications from individuals who are attracted to a legal career with an international, professional services firm with law at its core. Our Dubai gateway programme is suitable for those who wish to become England & Wales qualified and individuals who are qualifying, or have already qualified, in other Middle East jurisdictions, at the early stages of their career, looking to build their experience.
Candidates should have existing connections to the Middle East with a desire to build a career in the region and help us build the junior talent pipeline of our Dubai office. On our two year programme, we will give you a comprehensive introduction to a multi-national, commercial professional services organisation with law at its core.
Throughout the programme you’ll gain broad exposure to different areas of the firm by moving seat every six months. The training in each seat is ‘front loaded’ to enable you to quickly develop legal knowledge of each area and take on real responsibility. When you have completed the programme , you’ll be better informed about which practice areas interest you and can take your career to the next level in your chosen specialism.
We will support you throughout your training contract, from liaising with the wider business on seat allocation, to meeting with you regularly to offer professional support and guidance.
To be eligible for this programme, you must:
If you are already qualified, you are expected to meet the following criteria but not essential:
If you have any questions regarding the eligibility of this programme, please contact us.
If you don’t meet the above minimum academic criteria but you have mitigating circumstances, there’s an opportunity for you to include this information in your registration form.
Our salaries are subject to review on an annual basis. The salary rates as of July 2025 are as follows:
Financial sponsorships
We're committed to hiring the most talented people, regardless of your background. That's why we'll cover any postgraduate legal education tuition fees and offer you a fair maintenance grant. Currently, we have an exclusive partnership with the University of Law and all of our sponsored future gateway programme trainees take the LLM SQE course online/at one of their locations.
For those joining us from a different qualification route or jurisdiction, we offer financial support in respect of any compulsory legal education, local Bar exams and registration costs..
The below shows the typical recruitment process for our Early Talent programmes in our UK, Dublin, Johannesburg and Dubai offices.
Tell us about yourself, your academic history and your employment history where applicable. We also gather information about you to support our contextualized recruitment approach.
The next stage of the recruitment process will involve completing our online blended assessment. This includes completing a range of situational judgment questions, a short written exercise and two video questions, allowing us to evaluate how you would perform in different scenarios.
If you pass the online blended assessment, we’ll ask you to book a place at one of our in-person assessment centres. You will complete three exercises over the day – This will include a one-to-one interview, a business simulation exercise and a case study.
Whatever the outcome, we’ll let you know as soon as we can after the assessment centre. If you display the key attributes we are looking for and perform well throughout the assessment, we’ll send you an offer and talk you through the onboarding process.
To start your application, please click on apply now. Once you have registered an account, you will need to complete the following before the application closing date:
Once you have submitted all of the above, our recruitment team will review your application alongside your online blended assessment and will be in touch in due course regarding your outcome.
A long-term connection means having a sustained personal, professional or familial presence in one (or more) Middle Eastern countries over an extended period. This may include having the Middle East as a current or past long term residency, having strong family ties (e.g. born and raised in the region or having immediate family residing there long term), or having undertaken significant work experience or studying in the region.
Our Dubai Gateway Programme is designed for candidates who currently reside in, or have long term connections to, the Middle East. Priority will be given to candidates who can demonstrate their residency or long-term connections to the Middle East. Pinsent Masons does not cover travel or accommodation expenses for those living outside of Dubai for this programme.
We are happy to accept applications from candidates who wish to qualify via the LPC route whilst this is still an option. Please refer to the SRA website for more information on qualifying via the LPC route.
Unfortunately, Pinsent Masons does not cover travel or accommodation expenses for those living outside of Dubai for this programme.
All seats will be completed in our Dubai office.
This programme offers a fully funded path to cross-qualify into England and Wales which is a globally recognised common law jurisdiction that underpins much of international commercial law. Beyond cross qualification, if that is not something you wish to pursue as part of your career development, the programme offers a structured experience in our practice areas, provides exposure to international clients and transactions, and acts as strategic step for lawyers aiming to build a truly international legal career.
We offer a competitive salary of AED 302,500 in year one and AED 317,000 in year two. Trainees are entitled to 25 days annual leave per year, with 3 additional flexible leave days. We will cover the cost of any residency visa and work permit required for your employment in Dubai and you’ll have access to our private health insurance which provides coverage in Dubai and internationally. After completion of your first year, you can take advantage of one return flight to visit your home country if that is outside of the UAE.
Yes, you can apply again the following year. However, please note that you can only apply for one programme per recruitment cycle. This means that if you are unsuccessful for a place on the Gateway Programme, you will be unable to apply for a Summer Internship in the same year. Please carefully consider your eligibility and check with our Graduate team if you need help to decide which programme is right for you before submitting an application.
As a summer intern, we’ll automatically consider you for a place on a future gateway programme. If you are unsuccessful in securing a summer internship, you’ll need to wait until the following year to apply for either the gateway programme or another summer internship.
Want to find out more about our work experience, apprenticeships, vacation placements or training contracts? You’ll find everything you need here.
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