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Eversheds Sutherland Traineeship programme - Belfast

Your Traineeship programme

We see our trainees as the future of the firm. Over a two-year period, we will give you the knowledge, tools and opportunities to make a truly successful and rewarding legal career.

At Eversheds Sutherland you will work with some of the most innovative and inspiring lawyers in the industry with access to a network of leading advisors based in our offices across the globe. You will receive first class training and international opportunities along with the chance to deal with top quality clients on major deals and transactions.

We see our trainees as the future of the firm. Our commitment is to support, nurture and develop our trainees to become confident and effective legal advisors.

We are looking for well-rounded candidates who are ambitious, bright, passionate about law and ready for the challenge ahead.

Our culture

In Eversheds Sutherland we believe in our values. Our ambition is to work by them in everything we do. Our values are the result of extensive consultations, discussions and focus groups held across multiple areas of the firm. Values are not just words on walls or on our website, they are something we are accountable to and define the way we behave.

The behaviours around our values make our culture strong and our firm a great place to be! In everything we do, we thrive towards our values.

  • Collaborative -  We leverage our collective talents for the benefits of our clients and each other and we prize teamwork and relationships
  • Creative – We are innovative and creative problem solvers, providing an enhanced client and employee experience by not being bound by custom or convention
  • Professional – We deliver quality and excellence and act with the utmost integrity at all times
  • Inclusive – We foster a diverse, inclusive culture which places respect and support for everyone at its core and empowers all our people to fulfil their potential
  • Open – We are approachable and nurture a culture of transparency and openness

Trainee Programme Information

Training and Seat Rotation

Throughout your two years as a trainee, you’ll build both technical and complementary skills and gain broad exposure to different departments in the firm. We’ll support you in meeting the regulatory training requirements of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, while working with you and the wider business on the allocation of seats. We ensure that each trainee gets “in-office” experience in each seat taking account of the timetable of the Institute of Professional Legal studies.

Rotation feedback

We recognise the role regular feedback plays in a trainees journey to growth and development. Regular performance meetings ensure that our trainees are getting the most out of each rotation. Each trainee receives a mid-rotation review and an end - rotation review with their instructing partner. The review meetings provide an open forum for trainees to receive constructive feedback on their performance, strengths, development areas and career prospects.

Your voice

As a trainee your voice is important to us. The trainee committee organise quarterly meetings which gives trainees the opportunity to share feedback, ideas and suggestions.

Our Trainee Committee (made up of partners and HR) meet on a monthly basis to discuss and review the traineeship programme and any queries/suggestions that have arisen from the trainee group to consistently improve and develop the programme and experience.

Learning and Development

Support from the start

We understand the importance of development and growth to you. Your role here will be stimulating and enriching with a variety of development opportunities; you will have a clear career path and regular assessments so you are aware of your progress. Our L&D team have developed a training programme that will equip you with the skills and tools needed to be successful:

Trainee competency development framework

Our trainee competency development framework assists trainees in understanding their role and the skills needed to be effective. It provides transparency and clarity around career progression in the firm and the competencies and technical competencies of the trainee role.

Learning on demand

Our trainees have access to a wide variety of on-demand online learning materials via our learning management system. This gives our trainees the chance to access learning whenever they need it from wherever they are.

Knowledge Centre

Our trainees need quick and easy access to current and authoritative information. Our knowledge centre offers a diverse range of resources and services to help trainees achieve these business objectives. Our department specific trainee memos contain all the information that a trainee will need to know about working in a particular department.

Classroom Training

In order to help you to achieve your goal of becoming a technically skilled and confident lawyer we will offer a number of training sessions throughout your two year programme. The programme has been designed on the basis of the trainee competency framework and is also aligned to the trainee role expectations and the firm’s values.

Trainee Benefits

Programme Benefits

Career Fairs

Career fair dates for 2023 to be announced.

How to apply

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from:

  • All graduates
  • Students who have completed at least two years of their degree
  • Students from all degree disciplines

How to apply

Our applications are now closed. Applications for our summer internship programme will open on 5 December.

Next steps

  • Complete and submit your application
  • There are two rounds of application screening to select candidates for interview
    • Firstly our graduate recruitment team review all applications
    • Secondly successful applications are screened by our trainee committee
  • Successful applications are selected for interview
  • Verbal and written offers are extended to successful candidates

Contacts

To contact our graduate recruitment team with any queries please email our HR Manager, Louise Sheridan at recruitment@eversheds-sutherland.ie or phone +353 1 6644200 and ask to speak to Louise.

Meet our People

Sarah McKaigue

“I began my career with Eversheds Sutherland over four years ago as a paralegal. During that time, I have had the opportunity to progress my career within the firm by completing my training contract and I am due to qualify as a solicitor into the Real Estate team. Throughout my time as a paralegal and trainee, Eversheds Sutherland has been committed to my professional development and equipping me with the skills I need to become a successful solicitor.

Eversheds Sutherland Northern Ireland appealed to me due to its commitment to providing legal services to local clients and businesses but its global network means that we work also with international clients across the world meaning you get to work with very exciting clients on a daily basis.

The lawyers I have had the opportunity to learn from and work with are all experts in their specialist fields and gaining knowledge and insight from them helps you to be set up to be in the best possible position for qualification. As a trainee you are often working directly with solicitors at all levels and also partners meaning you are exposed to all varying levels of work and get varying degrees of insight. You are encouraged to take on your own matters and develop a degree of ownership over files which can be challenging at times but very rewarding also and which also means that you tend to develop your required skill set at a faster pace. However, at no point do you feel unsupported and there is an open door policy which helps develop a collaborative working environment.

Not only is there a commitment to professional development, but the culture stands out as being friendly, inclusive and supportive with a keen focus on staff wellbeing. There is also plenty of time made for social events! All of this contributes to receiving a well-rounded training experience.”

Stay informed!

To learn more about our traineeship programme, please connect with us on LinkedIn , Twitter and Instagram .

We also have a podcast channel called ' Eversheds Sutherland Inspire ' , which gives an insight into what it's like to work at an international law firm. You can find this podcast in the Apple podcast app by searching 'Eversheds Sutherland Inspire' or by clicking here.

Eversheds Sutherland Inspire podcast

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© Eversheds Sutherland LLP 2023. All rights reserved. Eversheds Sutherland LLP is an Irish partnership authorised by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority in Ireland to operate as a limited liability partnership (LLP) under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Eversheds Sutherland is the name and brand under which the members of Eversheds Sutherland Limited (Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP) and their respective controlled, managed and affiliated firms and the members of Eversheds Sutherland (Europe) Limited (each an "Eversheds Sutherland Entity" and together the "Eversheds Sutherland Entities") provide legal or other services to clients around the world. Eversheds Sutherland Entities are constituted and regulated in accordance with relevant local regulatory and legal requirements and operate in accordance with their locally registered names. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland, is for description purposes only and does not imply that the Eversheds Sutherland Entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. The responsibility for the provision of services to the client is defined in the terms of engagement between the instructed firm and the client.