Starting out in law? Look to Lindsays.
Whatever your route into Law – studying it straight from school or transferring from another career or a paralegal role – a traineeship at Lindsays is an ideal way to kickstart your legal career.
You’ll experience a variety of seats, engage directly with clients, and gain the practical skills, training and commercial awareness you need to become a successful lawyer.
Traineeship application process
Applications currently closed
We’re not accepting applications at the moment, but we’ll be recruiting the next generation of legal talent soon.
Applications reviewed
We review all applications and shortlist candidates for first-round interviews.
First stage interviews
An opportunity to discuss interests and ambitions as well as key skills through competency-based questions with our HR team via Teams.
Second stage interviews
An in-person interview with a Partner and a member of the HR department.
Traineeship places offered
Successful candidates are offered a place with us.
Traineeships start
From day one, we’ll support you with an induction programme and specific departmental training throughout your traineeship.
Your traineeship
Our support for trainees includes a comprehensive induction programme, regular reviews with HR, and PEAT 2 Quarterly Performance Reviews (PQRS) with your supervising Partner.
Trainees tell us that, alongside the formal reviews, they appreciate the informal support available – with colleagues in all roles and levels of seniority happy to provide advice and answer questions.
In addition, our culture, social calendar, and Lindsays Links initiative will help you build connections with other trainees and newly-qualified solicitors across the firm, as well as external networks.
Throughout your three seats with Lindsays, we fund your attendance at seminars, conferences, and skills workshops, with regular reviews giving you the opportunity to flag your interests.
This, combined with the practical, hands-on experience with projects and transactions you gain in each seat, will help you to achieve your PEAT 2 outcomes and ensure you meet TCPD requirements.
You’ll also benefit from in-house soft skills training, covering a range of topics from time management to building a strong LinkedIn presence and professional network. Regular reviews also provide the opportunity to discuss the areas and skills you want to develop further.
Rather than us telling you what makes a Lindsays traineeship so rewarding, we think you should hear it from trainees themselves. Here’s what three of them say:
- “I think, for me, the reason that Lindsays is great for your early career is the opportunities they provide you. And the people you work with.”
- “The level of training and support is fantastic. It’s interesting, you learn a lot, you’re exposed to high-value clients, but you’re also supported. You’re never thrown in unprepared.”
- “It’s really good to have the eight-month seats; you get that extra time to be with the team, embed yourself in that area of law, and feel confident in what you’re doing.”
Life as a trainee
As a trainee at Lindsays, you’ll work in three seats over your two years with us, spending eight months in each seat. You could be based in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee or Perth.
During that time, you can expect to have some direct contact with clients and hands-on involvement with projects and transactions. You’ll also get 60 hours or more of CPD, soft skills training, regular reviews, and informal support.
We offer our trainees a wide range of seats, allowing you to discover which areas of law you want to qualify into. Our latest cohort of trainees to qualify completed seats in Private Client, Family Law, Dispute Resolution and Litigation, Personal Injury, Rural – Land and Business, Residential Conveyancing, and Commercial Property.
Each day of your traineeship will be different and will vary from department to department. In Private Client, for example, you might be drafting a Will or Power of Attorney one day and calling third parties (such as HMRC, pension providers, or surveyors) to progress executries the next.
Whether you’re meeting clients to take initial instructions or checking in with your supervising solicitor, every day will provide realistic insight into life as a solicitor.
Regular tasks in other departments could include research or advising clients by phone or email, and some of our trainees apply for a Restricted Practising Certificate from the Law Society of Scotland, allowing them to appear in court in certain types of cases.
We offer all our trainees a salary in line with Law Society recommendations and excellent working conditions. Core contractual hours are 9 to 5 each day, with scope for flexibility if it aligns with the needs of the business.
We believe strongly in the value of work-life balance for all our people, at every career stage, and we do not promote a culture of ‘presenteeism’.
Preparing for your interview
Throughout our application and interviews process, we’re looking to find out what distinguishes you from other Law graduates and what makes you an ideal Lindsays trainee.
In both rounds of interviews – the first with our HR team and the second with a Partner – we like to hear about your experiences, interests and skills, and how you think they’ll apply to a legal environment.
Newly qualified solicitors
As a newly qualified (NQ) solicitor, we’ll trust you with interesting work, clients of your own, and continuing opportunities to develop.
From the outset, you’ll manage client enquiries and transactions, with support always on hand if needed. Through regular reviews and career chats, you’ll also have the opportunity to tell us how you want to progress.
A number of Partners at Lindsays started here as trainees or NQs – illustrating the real potential for progression.
Discover life at Lindsays
From our inclusive culture to our collaborative way of working, we always strive to make life at Lindsays interesting and empowering – both at the desk and beyond it.
Learn moreSend a speculative CV
Think you’d be a great addition to our team? We’d love to hear about your background and experience.
Submit a CV