Burges Salmon

London quality work in this Bristol based package will have you on the Burge of greatness.

Burges Salmon training contract review 2026

About the firm

In the world of fashion, there’s no accounting for taste. You’ve got to be on top of the trends, styled for success, and fitted for the future. Law firms are no different, which is why with this Salmon, you can be pretty in pink. “It’s probably not an original answer, but I just love the London quality work while getting to be in Bristol,” revealed one of our interviewees, “it’s such a lovely city and just a really nice place to work.”

It’s true, the calibre of work for the area (and don’t forget the firm’s other trainee-based office in Edinburgh) was one of the most prominent reasons juniors wanted to join, but don’t just take our word for it. Our colleagues over at Chambers UK has the firm ranked in almost 40 departments with standouts coming from transport, competition, real estate, restructuring/insolvency, planning, pensions, litigation, corporate M&A, IP, and more.

“Everyone takes an interest and care in your personal life, everyone is class, everyone is lovely.”

Outside of the locale and work, culture seemed to be the biggest draw with one junior pointing out “it can be quite a big ambiguous word generally, but it’s a really attractive quality of the firm.” What does that translate to exactly? Well, one source put it simply: “Everyone takes an interest and care in your personal life, everyone is class, everyone is lovely.” We’re sold on this Salmon!

Training Contract Structure

The firm has got itself on the AI train, in terms of seat allocation at least. Trainees use the Ruth software to rank all seat options from one to ten (ten being a yes please, one being a no thanks) and interviewees were fans of the new system: “It’s made the process more straight forward. Everything I’ve been allocated thus far has been ranked above a seven.”

Burges Salmon is one of the rare firms in our guide that offers a six-seat training contract, with that final sixth seat usually allocated for one of three options. The first option, and most common, is a return to the seat they plan to qualify into with sources saying, “it helps you transition to NQ life a bit easier.” The second is a complimentary seat to where the trainee is qualifying, and the third option is a secondment.

On that front, the secondment opportunities vary and are open to both cohorts across offices, a longstanding stint with EDF being the most familiar as “it really fits with Burges Salmon’s ethos.”

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

Supervision was overall praised by our interviewees, but the degree to which supervisors were hands-on seemed to fluctuate individual to individual. One source speculated it depended on their seniority which brought with it its own pros and cons: “If you have the most senior supervisor then you have slightly less attention I think, but they also have the most experience and knowledge to pass on.”

Training seemed to be an ever-evolving practice at the firm, largely due to the SQE and the relatively new Edinburgh cohort. Juniors pointed out that overall, the firm is erring on the side of caution as “they’ve thrown a lot of training at us because they don’t want any gaps!” Some newbies commented that occasionally a training session will come too late as they’ll have done that task multiple times by the time the session comes around. The one exception being the banking department: “It’s one of the best training programs out of all the departments, it’s very structured and frontloaded at the start.”

The Bristol office is in the “heart of the city” and is currently going floor by floor for a full office refurbishment. The new improvements are going down a treat with newbies, who pointed out that “it’s fully open plan which is great for juniors. We’ve got a nice cafeteria as well.” While also enjoying the great networking opportunities and great working environment, the Bristolian cohort also took the opportunity to take a playful jab at us London commuters by stating “we don’t have any issues around train strikes, I know that much!”

Those in the Edinburgh office are also being treated to some office construction thanks to the fact “we just keep growing so quickly.” Insiders up north also felt the need to highlight their free coffee machine which was described as “the best perk of the office and one everyone talks about.”

Trainees are expected in the office three days a week (though the Edinburgh crowd saw most people opting for five days in for full attendance!) and most finish times averaged around the 6pm mark with interviewees, signaling “you don’t have to stay super late unless it’s really pressured for deadlines.” Compensation also got the thumbs up, with rookies noting second years were eligible for the bonus scheme and Edinburgh trainees beamed that “I think we’re the highest paid trainees in Scotland.”

“I feel included and that I belong here…”

Of the general firm culture, we heard it all comes back to the trainee cohort where “there’s no competition with other people, and I know a lot of these people are my lifelong friends.” This kind of positivity spread throughout our interviewees who all singled out the culture as a true standout for Burges Salmon: “People make an effort to integrate you from day one in every seat, it’s just a really nice place to be.”

Part of that effort is the number of socials and events put on to bring newbies into the fold, such as the prolific Burges Salmon’s Got Talent charity competition. Outside of that, there are Christmas parties, summer parties, volunteering days, charity dinners, ad hoc drinks, and department specific fests which are “a mix between networking, strategy, and team building.” One interviewee quipped “there’s always things going on” and the firm provides travel and accommodation to the Edinburgh cohort down to Bristol, so they won’t miss out on the big shindigs.

On diversity, sources acknowledged the affinity groups as a plus as well as the celebration of cultural events such as for Chinese New Year and Ramadan. “I can see the firm is driving it a lot,” explained one junior, “I feel included and that I belong here, so I think they take it seriously.”

Qualification

Trainees were pleased to report that the qualification process was “informal and relaxed” which eased any pre-existing stress. Generally speaking, trainees are advised to have discussions with departments they’re interested in as early as possible. This process was seen very positively by sources, one of whom told us that “some of the partners give up a lot of their time to talk it through with you.”

After that, trainees submit a CV and cover letter sometime during their fifth seat. Juniors breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that interviews weren’t necessary either, as one rookie astutely observed that “the training contract itself is the interview.” Sources were excited at the prospect of a future at the firm, with one exclaiming “I like being part of one firm and a firm that’s growing!” In 2025, the firm retained 89% qualifiers.