A global law firm with London and Glasgow offices that offers a two-year London training contract and vacation schemes.
Ashurst is a law firm that advises businesses on deals, disputes and regulation. Its careers page says it now operates as Ashurst Perkins Coie, with over 3,500 client-facing lawyers in 53 offices, and that it focuses on technology, energy and infrastructure, and financial services. In plain terms, its lawyers help companies buy and sell businesses, raise money, build big projects like power stations and railways, and follow the rules.
Ashurst is one of the oldest firms in the City of London. Wikipedia says it was founded in London in 1822 by William H. Ashurst. In 2012 it merged with the Australian firm Blake Dawson, which gave it offices across Australia and Asia. In November 2025 it announced a merger with Perkins Coie, a firm based in Seattle in the United States, which partners approved in April 2026 and which completed in June 2026. Its London office is in the Fruit and Wool Exchange near Spitalfields, according to Legal Cheek. The careers page names three UK offices: two in London (Duval Square and Bishopsgate) and one in Glasgow.
The careers page lists its values as Inclusion, Innovation and Excellence. We did not find a separate mission statement. The firm describes support for trainees from lower-income backgrounds, called the SMART Commitment, which helps with business clothing and tech equipment. This is the firm's own description, so ask current trainees how it works.
Its practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, corporate and structured finance, investment funds, competition, energy, transport and infrastructure, intellectual property, technology, financial services, tax, real estate, regulation and employment. Legal Cheek reports trainees mentioning clients such as Goldman Sachs, BP and Barclays, and says the Perkins Coie combination adds US-facing technology and innovation work.
Trainees quoted by Legal Cheek describe approachable partners ('no big egos'), a large and sociable cohort, and a two-week induction. Socials include Thursday drinks, run club, yoga, netball and rugby, and the office has an on-site GP and wellbeing suite (reported by trainees, so views vary by team). About a third go on an overseas secondment and some on client secondments, to places like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Dubai. The London training contract lasts two years in four six-month seats, with a loans or markets seat. It pays £60,000 in year one and £65,000 in year two (as at 2026), and the firm asks for a 2:1 degree, or an explanation if you do not have one, with no minimum A-level requirement. Law and non-law graduates can apply. Non-law graduates do the conversion course (PGDL) and the firm lists grants for study, reported as £12,000 for the PGDL in London and £20,000 for the SQE. Vacation scheme students are interviewed for a training contract at the end. Applications for the summer scheme open 28 September 2026 and close 11 December 2026, and a first-year insight day is planned for April 2027. Applications for the 2029/2030 training contract open 1 February 2027. The page does not mention apprenticeships.
Website: www.ashurstperkinscoie.com
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