Akin

At this US export, trainees are breakin’ bread with the restructuring elites and takin’ home the bacon.

Akin training contract review 2026

About the firm

If the world of law was a hospital, there are many ailments trainees could be diagnosed with: a case of the no work-life balance; a bout of the limited responsibilities; maybe a flare up of low-quality work. So, if you find yourself fearing these pains at the doctor's, fear not, the diagnosis is pretty clear: it’s a case of aching for Akin.

That’s right, this US firm has the prescription for a dynamic training contract down to a T. “They heavily rely on you early on because we’re leanly staffed,” one interviewee revealed, “so based off that experience, I thought it was a great place to be.” In truth, the smaller intake was a huge draw for our sources, too, who noted, “the smaller cohort means you get to know everyone on a personal level and aren’t lost in the mix.” No doubt the eye-watering salaries on offer also perked up a few ears.

“My expectations have been exceeded since starting here.”

Of course, alongside lean teams, high responsibilities, and enviable compensation is top tier work, of which there’s clearly an abundance at Akin. Take it from our colleagues over at Chambers UK who recognised the firm’s local expertise in areas including restructuring/insolvency and investment funds. But of course, Akin’s no local firm; in addition to its London base, and now with a brand-new Chicago office, it has a further 18 overseas offices across North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

As such, the firm rakes up a combined total of almost 100 department shoutouts in both Chambers USA and Chambers Global. With the bar already set so high, it’s hard to believe that it could get any better… “My expectations have been exceeded since starting here,” one rookie awed, “the more I experience here, the better it gets.”

Training Contract Structure

Before joining the firm, incoming trainees give a very broad indication of the kind of seat they’d like to start with out of contentious, transactional and advisory options. For every subsequent seat, they can put forward three preferences and rank them, which insiders described as “quite a flexible process.”

Secondments also pop up, but we heard client-based ones are “more based on business need and feel ad hoc.” International opportunities mainly consist of a recurrent Dubai seat and a newly introduced Hong Kong deployment. Allocation for these is slightly stricter where sources explained, “After you register your interest, you’re interviewed by the partners in the office.”

Pro bono is also heavily encouraged and incentivised, and a couple of trainees who dedicate a great deal of their time to the work may have the opportunity to fly to the States for the pro bono scholar academy. “They invest a lot in their pro bono work for trainees,” one junior revealed, “they’ve made sure it’s not perceived as any less important than billable work.”

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

With a mixture of hands-on and hands-off supervision, we heard supervisors were “incredibly approachable and generous with their time no matter how busy they are.” Sources reported that their supervisors provided a sense of stability to their rotations, and you can see why: “they pre-empt the concerns you may have, and that’s been a theme across my seats.”

Training is primarily frontloaded to an in-depth induction week at the start of the contract, with other department sessions popping up here and there. “Once you do something, you know how to do it,” one newbie reflected on the on-the-job training, “the best way you can train here is just by doing.”

Located right next to Spitalfields market, with all the food options and shopping choices to boot, the praise for the London office was marked with a slight asterisk. “We’re moving offices in 2026!” one jubilant source beamed. Despite excitement around the new location, juniors described their current office as “tip top” with perks like $100 a month towards fitness and wellbeing. Watch this space for the low down on what’s on offer at Akin’s next pad! As for the time you’re in said office, the firm asks for three days a week, but we heard that can ebb and flow depending on the department.

Hours themselves vary of course, with rookies acknowledging that “if there’s a busy period, a quiet period often follows afterwards.” Even for those that had experienced late nights, sources were keen to express, “the firm is good at respecting your time if you have a holiday booked or anything like that.” All of this to say, the salary makes the hours an easy pill to swallow with a newbie acknowledging: “I’m in a fortunate position and I recognise that.” Plus, once a trainee qualifies, then they can really start rakin’ it in. As one insider bluntly put it, “that NQ salary is mind boggling!”

“There’s different perspectives and ideas which means it’s a great place to learn.”

When asked about the culture of the firm, one junior was quick to summarise that “everyone here is just so lovely which makes everything so much easier.” That was a sentiment shared among our interviewees, who enjoyed the tight-knit cohort bond. There’s plenty of opportunities to “schmooze” with associates, too. “We take our work seriously here,” one source began, “but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

There were slightly mixed opinions on just how social the firm is, with some pointing to the firm’s attempts to increase its social calendar as a positive sign, while others said there was more of an emphasis on “recognising everyone has a life outside of work.” The events that are on offer include Christmas and summer parties, barbecues, lunches and occasional offsite trips for some teams.  

Insiders were keen to praise the inclusivity of the firm, highlighting the different ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds that make up the tapestry of Akin. “It’s a great aspect,” one newbie beamed, “there’s different perspectives and ideas which means it’s a great place to learn.”

Qualification

Qualification was described as “a pretty simple process” which begins with trainees applying to the departments they’re interested in. From there, each team runs the same selection process including an interview and a short written assessment. Sources reported it was “smooth sailing” all in all, adding, “as we’re a small cohort, they all knew us quite well.”

Our insiders were also keen to stay at Akin, if not for any of the reasons you’ve read about here, then for their career prospects for the future: “the way the firm is going means there’s plenty of scope for people to progress here.” Indeed, in 2025, the firm retained 83% of itsqualifiers.