Norton Rose Fulbright

Whether it’s in finance, energy or projects, international juggernaut Norton Rose is Ful of bright ideas.

Norton Rose Fulbright training contract review 2026

About the firm

Those in the know will be aware that projects can run for years and will more than likely involve a ton of multidisciplinary legal work. As a result, any firm that makes a name for itself in areas like projects and energy will need two things: longevity and a breadth of practice. Nowhere is this more true than at Norton Rose Fulbright.

The firm has passed half a decade of consecutive revenue growth, and is known to offer plenty of room to specialise as a trainee. “The teams are niche,” one told us, “there are two broad corporate teams and four banking teams, and you’re able to pick what you want to do within them. For example, if you wanted to spend time in a corporate team that is just focused on energy, you can do that.”

The firm bags a host of top-tier Chambers UK-ranked practices in the likes of asset finance (aviation and shipping), aviation, derivatives and energy trading, trade finance and energy and natural resources (mining and power, renewables and alternative energy). Chambers Global also hands the firm its flowers in projects and energy work (mining and power).

"...it's such a small thing, but none of the other vac schemes did that. They really made an effort to make it less intimidating."

We heard that, for those on the vac scheme at NRF, the tone was clear from the off: "All the partners who gave a talk would take the time to say your name – it's such a small thing, but none of the other vac schemes did that. They really made an effort to make it less intimidating."

Training Contract Structure

Four six-month seats make up NRF’s training contract. Before seat changes, trainees are given a presentation on what each department consists of, before then selecting their top four choices on the firm’s internal intranet. This uses the increasingly popular OptiSeat tool “to try and make allocation fairer.”

Newbies are generally expected to take seats in banking and corporate which, fortunately, doesn’t limit your options too significantly. To help newbies maximise their rankings, the firm uses a traffic light system to show what seats were more or less subscribed in the last round. While it does vary from year to year, we heard that commercial disputes, corporate energy and competition are generally the most popular.

There are a number of secondment options at NRF; so many in fact, that: “you might be required to go on a client secondment, which gives you fewer options, but it can shape your career.” That said, the vast majority of trainees do get their top preference. For both client and international secondments trainees do still rank them in their four preferences, but for the former they also need to submit a CV. For international secondments, you also submit a cover letter, sometimes followed by an interview. Previous destinations have included Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Dubai, Brisbane, Frankfurt and Paris.

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

Across the seats, insiders cautioned that, like any full-service outfit, “there isn’t really a uniform firm culture.” On the working side of things though, we got the impression that across the board, “the support has definitely been there,” particularly in high pressure situations like closings, or preparations for hearings. Trainees also have meetings with resource management at least once or twice a month “who are good with helping us manage our workload or to ask for more work – they let people know what your capacity is like.”

Like at any high tier city firm though, hours can still become intense for trainees at crunch times; several interviewees pointed out disputes as a seat that can become particularly heavy, “because there’s so much going on… with the sheer volume of documents you need to be familiar with there is a never-ending to-do list, so I struggled having so many outstanding items.” We heard that the banking department could also feature “consistently late finishes,” but insiders did note that part of this was due to newbies having to learn how to balance their workload – “I now appreciate that if you’re not closing a deal tomorrow you can step back and deal with it the next day!”

Our interviewees stressed that, though “they do expect a lot hours-wise,” 7-8pm finishes was the average, with “the odd late night.” Working from home was similarly flexible. Trainees usually work between three and four days in the office, “but some partners will say to be in five days a week.”

“You are expected to have tried to work things out yourself, but people are receptive to questions and will take the time to sit down and draw diagrams with you to help you understand.”

Although “every team has its own vibe,” those we spoke to were quick to highlight that in most groups “people are generally really nice! You are expected to have tried to work things out yourself, but people are receptive to questions and will take the time to sit down and draw diagrams with you to help you understand.” A few insiders did highlight some banking teams and corporate as having a bit more of a serious atmosphere, but their interactions with fellow trainees, associates and partners were overwhelmingly positive.

Alongside the formal mid- and end-of-seat appraisal, “the feedback process is good, with regular check-ins,” even when supervisors are busy. Structured training can differ significantly between seats as “some have a lot of training,” while others have less, which one trainee did say “makes a massive difference.” That said, “I was rarely in a situation where I didn’t feel supported.”

All departments have a dedicated knowledge team who arrange tailored departmental training sessions; in particular, most departments have structured training at the beginning of the seat, introducing trainees to the most important aspects of the practice, so much so that one interviewee even felt that in a banking seat “the first two weeks felt like I was back at uni, so you don’t feel like you’re going in blind.”

When it came to the social life of the firm, we heard that some teams like in transport are “very social,” with joint summer parties and team drinks every Thursday, but others like corporate have team drinks “every month, although not everyone shows up.” Ultimately, “the trainee cohort is fantastic – they hire trainees who are very sound people,” which lends itself to a good cohort atmosphere.

Affinity groups also play “a massive part” in the firm’s social fabric with the social mobility network having a lot of backing from seniors – “they’re probably the most active” – and groups generally getting an increase in budget for particularly active periods. For example, the minority ethnic network, Originsputs on more events during Black History Month and South Asian Heritage Month; this included a Bridgerton-inspired event for the latter where an orchestra performed, and people were able to go to talks on black history in Britain. The Pride and women’s network were also active, and the firm also has active religious groups like the Christian and Muslim networks.

Pro bono plays a big part in life at the firm, and it is compulsory for trainees.Newbies typically take part in a pro bono clinic on housing issues with the Southwest London Law Centres through a rotation, which is “a good opportunity to work on yourself. You shadow an associate, but you are an advisor. You speak to clients, take notes, speak to your supervisor and then write a letter of advice.”

Beyond the clinic, “you can take on extra work depending on what you’re interested in!” NRF does a lot of work with Save the Children, so trainees can get involved in helping asylum seekers, but they can also ask to do work in a certain area of interest.

Qualification

As trainees approach qualification,“the partners do expect a bit of a coffee chat before you put in an application, because they want a heads up,” one insider outlined, which is followed by trainees submitting cover letters to up to three teams they want to apply for. In 2025, the firm did not disclose its retention statistics.