Gateley

With top-tier work across the regions and a culture to match, trainees couldn’t Wait(ley) to start at Gateley.

Gateley Legal training contract review 2026

About the firm

“I was looking for a regional firm, somewhere with broad practice areas. A really good culture was important to me too,” detailed one of Gateley’s newest recruits. Tough boxes to tick? Not for Gateley: “The major calling factor for me was work-life balance and how they look after you when they train you,” another trainee who had found their perfect fit at the firm added, “people were genuinely very friendly and welcoming, which is what I wanted. I didn’t want to go to a scary law firm, so that approachability and friendliness was what got me in the door.”

Though based in Birmingham, the firm has offices across the UK, and takes trainees in Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, Reading and Guildford. Its strengths are apparent in all of them too, with strong Chambers UK rankings for corporate M&A, employment and real estate in both the West and East Midlands, restructuring/insolvency in Yorkshire and the Thames Valley, and banking & finance and restructuring/insolvency in the Midlands.

“I didn’t want to go to a scary law firm, so that approachability and friendliness was what got me in the door.”

Gateley is fairly unique in that it is a listed firm (meaning shares in the firm are bought, sold and traded on the stock market), and its acquisition and integration of other businesses was something that excited trainees: “It’s easy to forget the ancillary businesses we have in our professional services group,” explained a trainee, “but it’s really important for our overall business and the way we want to go about things.”

As the firm’s national training principal, Stuart Evans, tells us, “We’re not just a law firm, we are effectively a full-service legal and consultancy business. The aim is to offer clients not just legal advice, but other advice through our consultancy businesses as well, so that’s our USP.”

Training Contract Structure

We heard that a Gateley training contract is pretty structured, with trainees required to complete a contentious, corporate and property seat during their time at the firm. The seats available can differ depending on which office a trainee is based in, and the seat allocation process has some differences based on location too, though generally “you’re put in a random first seat based on business needs,” and second years are usually given priority when it comes to their preferences.

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

With offices across the UK, trainees told us that their bases were generally in accessible locations and had pretty good facilities too. The Birmingham office had undergone a recent refurbishment and now includes a new social space on the fourth floor which is home to the best coffee machine in the office! The Manchester refurb has also just finished, with the same social space.

Whilst the Nottingham office was noted as perhaps less modern than the firm’s other locations, we did hear that “it’s a really nice building, we’ve got access to all the correct equipment.” As Evans is quick to highlight, the distinction between the offices isn’t as stark as you might think: “Unit profit has always centred nationally rather than with offices, so we’ve always had that element of cross-office work, but since covid that’s skyrocketed.”

Trainees are expected to be in office four days a week with some flexibility, and one acknowledged that “I sometimes moan about that or don’t like it, but I think deep down it’s a good thing in terms of listening to conversations and seeing how things are working. Even if you’re not on a matter, you’re subconsciously picking things up or listening in.”

When it came to working hours, sources were happy that their hours didn’t stray too far from their contracted 9am-5.30pm, and “they’re really good at telling you that you shouldn’t work outside of this unless you absolutely have to.” While interviewees had experienced longer hours, “I’ve probably only stayed until 7pm at the latest,” explained one, “and then it’s very flexible in terms of work-from-home – if you do need to work later, you can definitely be at home doing that.”

Staying late isn’t always a chore, however. One popular event was the firm’s ‘Spark’ networking event, which is run every few months and provides an opportunity for junior lawyers across the firm (and junior members of the firm’s clients) to network with people at the same level.

“Even if you’re due to start in a couple of years, you get assigned someone and they’ll be in touch with you.”

Other social events include monthly payday drinks, and in-office events like “pancakes for pancake day, and we did an Easter egg hunt recently too!” There are also sports teams to get involved with.Trainees are responsible for organising the firm’s CSR events and appreciated that this had given them “the chance to talk to people around the office and meet them outside of work.” One felt that the firm’s “social scene is quite important, which is really nice.”

An interviewee also highlighted the firm’s trainee-buddy system, telling us that “we take our buddy situation quite seriously, so we do meet up and keep in contact! Even if you’re due to start in a couple of years, you get assigned someone and they’ll be in touch with you.” This approachability applies across the firm, with a source sharing that the culture is such that “nothing’s ever too much bother for anybody. The atmosphere’s really nice, so I really enjoy coming into the office.”

On the topic of DEI, trainees shared that the firm has five community groups: ability, inspire, pride, thrive and unity. They told us that ‘thrive’, which focuses on mental health and wellbeing, “sent out stress packs when it was mental health week, and did a Movember initiative for men’s mental health.” “It’s a very inclusive firm,” noted a trainee, “there’s always stuff going on to raise awareness of different things, so I’d say it’s good.”

Another theme that came in for some praise amongst the current cohort was supervision, with one sharing that their supervisors had been “really, really friendly, and I’ve been able to come to them if I’ve got any concerns or queries with my work, and nothing is ever too much trouble for them.” We also heard that training focuses on “the fundamentals at the beginning, but you’re constantly learning throughout the seat which is really nice.”

Further to seat-specific training, trainees shared that theyalso have a graduate development programme split across the year, which focuses on things like “emotional intelligence, managing conflict, and thinking about how you can communicate problems with your supervisor.” Trainees were also pleased that while these sessions were originally online, the firm had responded to feedback and made the sessions in-person for the trainee cohort: “It’s very engaging stuff, you get to talk to people, and you get to see your other trainee friends, which is really nice.”

The firm also hosts an annual ‘Gately Graduate Getaway’ as part of its induction for legal and consultancy graduates, which involved a short trip to the Lake District for some teambuilding!

Trainees across the firm’s office felt that their salary was fair and in line with trainees at other firms in their respective cities.

Qualification

Qualification was a slightly more debated topic, as we heard that the process is straightforward, but “I think from our end as trainees our only complaint is that it’s not fed through very promptly.”

“Communication could probably be a bit better,” agreed one final seater, “but from the sounds of it, it should be relatively easy!” The firm did tell us that the roles are advertised around Easter, with offers going out in June. The process was explained as being straightforward – a jobs list is released, trainees email emerging talent to apply for roles, have interviews with those departments, and are informed of decisions. In 2025, the firm retained 21 of 34 qualifiers.