A&O joins City law firms in launch of #CityCentury

The initiative, led by the City of London Law Society (CLLS) and a group of six spearhead firms, is dedicated to identifying, recruiting and supporting significant numbers of talented solicitor apprentices, further opening up alternative routes into the legal profession and providing aspiring solicitors with a range of options.

Collectively, participating firms will commit to increasing the number of solicitor apprentices entering the City of London and, by Autumn 2024, the majority of City Century’s registered firms will have enrolled their first cohort of solicitor apprentices. A&O, together with other firms who already offer solicitor apprenticeships, will mentor entering firms, in the spirit of collaboration, sharing best practice to embed successful solicitor apprenticeship programmes in the City. 

A&O is a member of the spearhead group of firms driving this initiative. A&O announced the launch of their solicitor apprenticeship programme in 2021. The first cohort of solicitor apprentices joined the firm in September 2022 with the second cohort due to join the firm in September 2023.

James Partridge, Early Careers Partner and Training Principal at Allen & Overy commented, “At Allen & Overy, we are exceptionally proud of how capable and driven our solicitor apprentices are. Solicitor apprenticeships provide an important alternative route into the profession, ensuring firms remain open, accessible and inclusive and broadening access across the board.” 

“Participating law firms are diverse in their business models, size, practice areas, clients and, most importantly, in the career options they will offer solicitor apprentices. This opens out career paths that will impactfully compete for the best early lawyer talent, including from schools and colleges across England and Wales. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that this collaboration has.” James added.

You can find out more about A&O’s solicitor apprenticeships here.