HFW
- London
A hands-on training contract based in the “newest, greenest high rise around.” Sound good? Then it’s about mari-time you got yourself on HFW’s radar.
HFW training contract review 2026
About the firm
- 30
- Trainees
- 117
- Associates
- 67
- Partners
- 20
- Overseas Offices
Drop the anchor, land ho! The search is over; you’ve finally found it – treasure island! Or should that be – a treasured firm in the form of shipping titan HFW. As one source put it: “It’s a firm that has positioned itself as a specialist in certain sectors.” It’s certainly true that the firm is built around a sector focus, with top-tier Chambers UK ranked practices nationwide in transport logistics, commodities and shipping. There are also nods in shipping finance, travel, aviation and insurance.
“It’s a firm that has positioned itself as a specialist in certain sectors.”
It’s the ‘what’ to the firm’s work that transcends the ‘where’ too: “I’m not handling a single matter right now that’s based in just one office,” training principal Nigel Wick explains, “so that’s our culture.” HFW has a mighty network of 21 offices all over the world, and can offer adventures across the high seas, with a guaranteed international secondment for its trainee cohort.
Training Contract Structure
- 4x6
- Seat Structure
As you can probably imagine, a guaranteed international secondment is “one of the main reasons people apply to HFW.” Cities like Paris, Geneva, Melbourne, Dubai, Hong Kong, Piraeus, Monaco, and Shanghai are all on offer, with the Southeast Asian hub of Singapore proving most popular for this rotation of newbies.
The secondment system is so ingrained into the training contract that it extends beyond just an add-on: “You’re encouraged to go, and there’s something of an expectation that you do.” Wick elaborates on why that’s the case: “Some of the offices are smaller than the London office, so the work experienced is varied, and you end up with broader training as a result.” The one logistical point of note is that those with EU passports are likely to be sent to Europe, while other passports will be sent further afield.
When it comes to seat allocation, trainees are given the opportunity to put forward three domestic preferences and three secondment preferences per seat rotation, except for first seaters where secondments are not an option. No seats are mandatory, but it is required that juniors complete at least one disputes and one transactional seat; there is more of a disputes focus though, so it’s likely that trainees will do three disputes seats. That being said, sometimes things go off course on occasion: “You don’t always get your preferences, and sometimes someone can’t go on secondment, it’s just how these things work out sometimes.”
Seat Experiences
“It’s been the best experience for me work wise…”
HFW has available seats in construction, insurance and reinsurance, and aviation, but the firm’s marquee shipping practice is the centrepiece of HFW, and as such is a huge department: “Their caseload is massive, there’s so much to get involved with.” Broadly speaking, the group’s remit is broken down into dry shipping and admiralty crisis, but trainees get to try their hand at both. The former consists of any dispute under the charter bills, whereas the latter focuses on collisions and crises at sea. Trainees aren’t on cruise control here either, substantive work was common for our interviewees: “It’s been the best experience for me work wise,” one relayed, “we developed a lot quicker in this seat, and going into being an associate won’t feel like such a huge leap now.”
In one recent case, the firm represented the government of South Africa in a matter concerning salvaged bars of silver owned by the nation that sunk in the Indian Ocean in 1942. After being discovered in 2017 and raised without the government’s consent or knowledge, a $40 million salvage claim was brought forward.Interviewees also have a boatload of tasks to contend with, including chronologies, disclosure, drafting, instructions to counsel, pleading, settlement agreements, reviewing exhibits, client emails, research and meeting minutes. Interviewees also commented that the more proactive you are, the more experience you’ll get: “If you show initiative and enthusiasm, then they give you more work.”
As a closely related practice, shipping finance is a team at the firm that has benefitted from broader growth across the firm’s transactional practices. Those we spoke to had spent time on everything from yacht financing to registrations. In one recent deal, the firm advised the Gunvor Group on the acquisition and financing of three LPG carrier eco-vessels.
The firm helped review and negotiate all the sale and charter documents. As one source explained: “I was given a lot of lead responsibility, with associate oversight. If you show you’re capable, they’ll give you a lot.” Such responsibilities included drafting security packages and managing precedents.
We heard that a lot of first seaters end up in the commodities department, smaller than the shipping group but no less prolific, sanctions and export controls and projects for clients working in electricity, oil and metals. “I was really surprised with how much responsibility I was given,” mused one insider, “you’re very much encouraged to get involved with things.”
The work is of a high calibre, and the firm recently acted for the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in various claims following the collapse of trading house Hin Leong.Trainees will often find themselves completing due diligence, witness drafting, client contact, and disclosure searching. “We’re all working across different workstreams,” explained one insider, “so people aren’t watching over your every move, they let you crack on.”
“I’ve really been able to put pen to page compared to my contemporaries elsewhere.”
Over in the corporate & commercial group, we heard the team is starting to expand: “It’s a growing team at the firm,” one trainee told us, “we’re starting to broaden our offerings.” That being said, the group primarily focuses on sector-contained M&A deals and joint ventures surrounding offshore assets. Among the firm’s recent client list, the team advised SC KN Energies on its acquisition of a Floating Storage and Registration Unit (FSRU) from Hoegh Evi after negotiations that exceeded four years.
As HFW is primarily a disputes firm, trainees felt the seat offered a distinctly unique experience, with one noting that: “I’ve done a fair amount of drafting, I’ve really been able to put pen to page compared to my contemporaries elsewhere.” Other tasks include writing letters of indemnities, shareholder resolutions, parent company guarantees, reviewing drafts, due diligence and business development.
Work in finance disputes involves debt collection and dealing with debtors. The work is on the more technical end and mostly concerns banking and finance law (ranging from smaller court actions reclaiming small sums to calling in standard securities).
We heard there’s a lot of court engagement, meaning trainees can have the chance to go to court themselves. One source told us they “really enjoyed it from the beginning” because they got their own case load and responsibility for liaising with the client on those cases.
Trainees get quite a lot of autonomy, being expected to carry out tasks like drafting emails or court papers before running them by their supervisor once they’re done.
Drafting opportunities include letters before claim, settlement letters and claim forms. They might negotiate with debtors on the phone and play a supporting role on larger transactions, doing tasks like bundling. As one added: “I felt like the training was really thorough,” in the form of close support and regular guidance from their supervisor.
Trainee Life
HFW’s new office is located in Bishopsgate, and boasts the distinction of being the most sustainable tower in the city of London: “It’s a brand spanking new office and is the newest, greenest high rise around.” Naturally, that means the venue comes spruced up with bike storage, lockers, showers, a client lounge, rooftop bar and even a library. Not too shabby. The hybrid working policy asks trainees to be in a minimum of three days a week, but it was also very team dependant. Notably, the construction team have an expected five days in the office setup, though this is flexible.
Hours also fluctuated by department, with most of our juniors averaging a start time of 9am and a finish time of 6.30pm. “I have had days where I’ve logged off at 5pm and days where I worked till 11pm, it just depends,” revealed one insider. This range also reflected a range of responses to the salary, with a portion of our interviewees feeling the salary was strong with others feeling it could be on the lower side given their hours. Sources were adamant however, that they had a work/life balance they could enjoy: “I definitely was worried I couldn’t go to the pub, but I can!”
Juniors were unanimously positive about the training they had received, highlighting the “sector-focused training (depending on the department) that is usually run by associates.” Trainee-focused training and general litigation training are also common at the firm. Trainee comments on supervision were more of a mixed bag for our newbies, with some relaying that they had experienced a more hands-on supervision style, while others felt they could point to instances of “inconsistent expectations” around what they wanted from each other. “It depends a lot on the person you get,” explained one source, “everyone is very interested in developing me, but how that comes across can vary from seat to seat.”
When it came to culture, at HFW you’re part of the crew, with the majority of socialising being done within departments: “The shipping team are by far the most social,” one source divulged, “there’s a shipping retreat every year where all the teams are flown out to London.” Other events include team dinners and drinks, French bowls, pub quizzes and a budget for trainees to have a social once a quarter. More broadly, the firm was described as not being overly hierarchal with one junior explaining that, “everyone is very approachable and happy to have a chat with you.”
This kind of environment has led the firm to explore ways it can be more inclusive, which we heard was a slow and steady shift: “We have a new affinity network this year for diversity and neurodivergence, but the firm is still predominantly upper middle class and white.” The firm is also refining its scholarship scheme and has recently brought in solicitor apprentices to help offer a different pathway into law.
“…there’s an emphasis on trying to promote talent organically from trainee to partner. They’re very focused on retaining talent here.”
Qualification
As qualification approaches, trainees are encouraged to be proactive about chatting with departments they’re interested in joining before a jobs list is released. Once that list is out, things speed straight into interviews: “There’s clear signposting for how it works throughout the process. We can interview for as many departments as we want.”
Only shipping mandates an additional case study as well, but if other departments prove competitive then you can expect a technical task. Don’t be too worried at the possibility of walking the plank though, we heard that “there’s an emphasis on trying to promote talent organically from trainee to partner. They’re very focused on retaining talent here.” In 2025, the firm retained 18 of 22 qualifiers.
- 81.8%
- Trainees Retention
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Top Figures
- £52,000
- 1st Year Salary
- £56,000
- 2nd Year Salary
- £103,500
- Newly Qualified Salary
- 16
- Training Contract Vacancies
- 16th Jul 2026
- Application Closing Date
- Yes
- Apprenticeship
