Overview:  
 
Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,000 people in 39 major centres worldwide. Our clients include many of the world's top businesses, financial institutions, governments and private individuals. We are renowned for the high quality of our banking, corporate and international capital markets advice, but also have major strengths in areas such as dispute resolution, tax, employment and employee benefits and real estate.  

Offices: 
 
Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bangkok, Beijing, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest (associated office), Budapest, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Mannheim, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New York, Paris, Perth, Prague, Riyadh (associated office), Rome, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Warsaw 
 
 

Details of vacation placements: 
 
Choosing the right career is a big decision. There are lots of questions you need to ask yourself. What type of law do I want to practise? What type of firm would suit me best? What will the work really be like? The best way to answer these questions is to get first-hand experience of life in a law firm and this is exactly what our vacation placements and open days offer.  
 
Each year we recruit approximately 60 vacation students across our winter and summer programmes. Our winter programme is for final year undergraduates and graduates. Our summer programmes are for penultimate year undergraduates (or those at the end of the second year of a four-year course if the third year is spent abroad), from all degree disciplines.  
 
During your placement you will assist a partner or associate on real deals. You will sit in two departments (one during the shorter winter programme) and we will ask you in advance what area most interests you. You will also work with fellow vacation students on a case study project designed to sharpen your research skills and expose you to our broad range of practice areas.  
 
Alongside your legal work you will take part in workshops and attend presentations and talks aimed at informing you about our work and helping you to develop the skills you need to be a successful commercial lawyer such as negotiation, presentation and interview skills. There will also be plenty of time to socialise with other Allen & Overy people during your placement. Vacation students are paid £250.00 per week.  
Summer vacation students are also eligible to apply for our international internship opportunities which enable 12 students to work in four of our key overseas offices following their placement in London. Students interested in applying for international internships can only apply if they accept a place on one of the London placements.  
  

Vacation Placement Deadlines: 
 
For winter, please apply from 1-31st October, for interviews in November 2011.  
For summer, please apply from 1 November 2011 - 15 January 2012, for interviews in January and February 2012. 
 

Details of the training programme: 
 
We offer a training contract characterised by flexibility and choice. Indeed our training programme is widely regarded as the best in the City and continues throughout your career at Allen & Overy. Our aim is to recruit, train and develop successful lawyers who want to develop a long-term career with Allen & Overy.  
 
All our future trainees take the Allen & Overy-specific LPC at The College of Law in London. The course has been specially designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to be a successful solicitor, and is set in the context of the type of transactions Allen & Overy lawyers are involved in. The modules you take will focus on our core practice areas, to ensure your time at law school is the best possible preparation for your training contract with Allen & Overy. It will provide you with a sound technical and theoretical background for your career with us. The Allen & Overy LPC also means that you will develop strong bonds with your new colleagues and build friendships from day one.  
 
You will have a tailored training contract, designed to give you the best start to your career. Given the strength of our international finance practice, we require our trainees to spend a minimum of 12 months in at least two of the following departments: banking, corporate and international capital markets. There is also the opportunity for trainees to spend three or six months of their training contract in one of our international offices or on a client secondment. Trainees will typically complete a secondment in their final seat. 
 
Our current starting salary for trainee solicitors is £38,000, rising to £43,200 in the second year of training and £61,000 on qualification.  
  

Training Contract Deadlines: 
 
To apply for our March and September 2014 intakes, you will need to visit www.allenovery.com/careeruk.

Final year non-law undergraduates and graduates can apply from the 1st November 2011 - 15th January 2012. Penultimate year law undergraduates and graduates can apply from 1st June 2012 - 31st July 2012

Who we are looking for

We expect to see a strong, consistent academic performance with at least a 2.1 (or equivalent) predicted or achieved. At Allen & Overy you will be working in a team where you will use your initiative and manage your own time and workload, so we also look for evidence of teamwork, leadership, motivation and problem-solving.  

 
Please see our graduate website for further details - http://www.aograduate.com/en/

Trainee Profile

 Benjamin Lasry - KCL graduate - Trainee Solicitor, Allen & Overy

I graduated from KCL in June 2009 with a B.A. in European Studies. This degree gave me the opportunity to choose courses from a wide range of departments - politics, history, literature, philosophy and law. The European Law and Public Law courses I followed during my first two years at KCL triggered my interest in the law, so I started to get involved in the activities and societies of the KCL Law School. During my second year I sat on the Editorial Committee of King’s Bench, a tri-annual magazine published out of the Law School. Through this position I met law students and professors who gave me helpful advice on entering the legal profession.

During my final year at KCL, in December 2008, I did the Allen & Overy winter vacation scheme for non-law students. My experience in the Restructuring & Insolvency department at A&O (three months after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S.) confirmed my desire to work in an international law firm in London and I accepted A&O’s offer for a training contract.

From 2009-2011, I completed the GDL and the A&O-specific LPC at the College of Law in Moorgate. I started my training contract in the Banking department at A&O in September 2011 and immediately realised how invaluable it was to know most of my intake from the LPC on day one: three of my close friends from the LPC have also started their training contract in the Banking department and they tend to be my first port of call when I have a question. Challenging, busy and exciting is how I would describe my experience so far!