Becoming a solicitor at Wrigleys

Wrigleys is a specialist firm that concentrates on specific areas of law. We are always interested to hear from candidates who have a genuine interest in our firm, and in at least one of our specialisms. We seek talented individuals to be our solicitors of the future. If you think you have what it takes to join our specialist firm of leading lawyers, please do contact us.

In the past, we offered around three training contracts per year to candidates under the Legal Practice Course route to qualification. We have always been flexible, in that we don’t simply recruit the ‘top three’ candidates who apply – instead we remain open-minded as to the numbers, and aim to recruit those candidates who embody our Values and Ways of Working.

We are continuing this pattern under the Solicitors Qualifying Examination route, so we now welcome applications from both SQE candidates and those under the transitional (LPC) arrangements. We do not have a set process for legal apprenticeships, but if that is the route you wish to take to solicitor qualification, and you think you could make your career at Wrigleys, please do apply.

We offer excellent training, and if you are an SQE candidate, we offer some financial support for the SQE – please see below.

What do we look for?

We take a long term view of recruitment. We are looking to find in our pre-qualification solicitor recruitment the individuals who will qualify with us, stay with us and make a real contribution, perhaps becoming the leaders of the firm in future. A number of our current partners trained with the firm.

We expect candidates to know something of the firm before they apply, even if that is simply from reading our website. As a specialist firm, we appreciate that it can be difficult for candidates to gain experience in one of our fields prior to applying, but we do look for some evidence of a genuine interest in our specialisms, either through your experiences to date or in your covering letter. Details of our specialisms can be found here.

We look for good grades, but we do not set specific minimum requirements. A 1st class or 2:1 degree (gained or predicted) is preferred, though applicants with a 2:2 will be considered if the rest of their application is sufficiently strong. Similarly, A levels (or equivalent) at A and B grades are preferred, but not essential. We look at each application as a whole.

Fundamentally, we seek strong candidates who can make a valuable contribution to the firm, and we are interested to hear from candidates planning to take any of the various routes to become a qualified solicitor.

What is our process?

We are now accepting applications for candidates to join us in September 2026. These may be for traditional Periods of Recognised Training under the transitional arrangements, or you may be an SQE candidate, or looking for a legal apprenticeship. Please make it clear on your application which route you are pursuing.

Our process is as follows:

• Please apply by sending your CV and a covering letter by email to trainee.recruitment@wrigleys.co.uk
• Please ensure that your CV includes all of your academic qualifications, subjects and grades. If it does not, this could impact your application, and it may mean that we cannot give it full consideration.
• We will take mitigating circumstances relating to your academic record into consideration. Please provide full details of your mitigating circumstances with your application, and include written evidence from the examining body/relevant academic institution and/or verification by a third party such as your doctor or tutor.
• We will run a Vacation Scheme in our Leeds office in June/July 2024, for candidates who apply for our September 2026 vacancies. Only applications received by the end of 6 May 2024 will be considered for this. We will select candidates for the Vacation Scheme based on their applications, and on short online interviews.
• The closing date for all 2026 recruitment is 31 July 2024. Applications received after this date will not be considered. Applications received after 6 May will be considered, but will not be eligible for the Vacation Scheme.
• Candidates will be selected and invited for in-person interviews at our Leeds office in August. We expect that some, but not all, of the candidates we interview will have been on our Vacation Scheme.
• Offers will be made shortly after the interviews have taken place.
• Sadly, we cannot reply to all applications, but if you have applied and have not heard from us by the end of August 2024, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.
• We are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment.

What does the training look like?

For our training contracts (i.e. transitional arrangement two-year ‘periods of recognised training’) we offer seats in three or four of the following areas:

• Property
• Private client, trusts, probate and tax planning
• Pensions
• Charities (including employment, company and commercial, social enterprise)
• Court of Protection

Wrigleys undertakes no litigation or contentious work as such, but training and experience in contentious matters (as is required by the SRA Practice Skills Standards) is available through secondment to another firm.

For SQE candidates, we expect broadly to replicate the training contract, with seats as described above providing two years of Qualifying Work Experience with us. Our small recruitment intake will enable us to adapt to suit the experience, aspirations, and interests of the individuals we recruit.

Trainees at Wrigleys are given early responsibility and make an important contribution to our teams. We offer competitive trainee and NQ salaries, and we have excellent retention rates on qualification.

Does Wrigleys provide funding?

If you are entering the profession through the SQE route, we will require you to do up to the full two years’ QWE with us, and to attend an SQE preparatory course at a training provider of our choice. We expect this to be a one-year full-time Master’s course. Subject to agreeing the detailed terms with you, Wrigleys will pay the cost of the SQE preparatory course and the cost of the SQE exams.

If you are looking to pursue the legal apprenticeship route, please apply and we can discuss funding.

We do not provide any funding for the GDL or LPC.