Wilsons

If you’re looking for private client and charity work with a countryside feel, then this Salisbury-based firm has just the right appeal.

Wilsons training contract review 2026

About the firm

When you think about training contracts, most think of life grinding on stressful deals in a bustling city among the tall, grey glass skyscrapers, working off nothing but excess caffeine and no sleep. But rest assured, lawyer life isn’t always like this, and trainees at Wilsons can attest to it.

This Salisbury-based firm sits just a stone’s throw from Stonehenge and is known for its private client and charities work, as well as a growing commercial department. Training principal Charlotte Watts explains that “we’re based in Salisbury, which is lovely, and although not a major legal centre, the work we do is as good as you’d find in most London private client firms.”

“Wilsons covered quite a lot of unique areas, and I didn’t know where I wanted to qualify into, so thought that would be beneficial.”

Indeed, over at Chambers UK, Wilsons picks up top marksfor its charities: legacy disputes and education work nationwide, as well as for work relating to agriculture and rural affairs in the South West. It doesn’t end there either, as Chambers High Net Worthplaces the firm in the top bands for their private wealth law and private wealth disputes work.

Naturally, trainees told us that they’d been drawn to the firm’s countryside location, as well as its family-friendly reputation. As one source joked, “I’m a country mouse, not a city mouse - I would never be drawn to the giant city firms!” They added that what encouraged them in particular was “how long the staff and partners have been at the firm. That’s a great tell for a great place to work because people don’t leave.”

Another of the firm’s newbies shared that they’d appreciated the range of departments the firm has to offer, as Wilsons “covered quite a lot of unique areas, and I didn’t know where I wanted to qualify into, so thought that would be beneficial.” For another source, it was a simple thing that sealed the deal: “I just applied and then really enjoyed my interview!”

Training Contract Structure

As the firm is on the smaller side, it typically only takes a small cohort of trainees each year. Though, this number increased from four to six in its latest intake, which Watts details as “the growth of the firm means we can support a bigger trainee cohort, which is good.” When new trainees join the firm, their first seats are allocated for them based on business need.

For subsequent seats, they’re asked for their top three preferences around six weeks before a rotation happens and find out a month before the switch where they’ll be sitting for the next six months. Trainees told us that second years get priority given the fact they’re nearing qualification, but everyone’s preferences are considered from their second seat onwards.

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

Being on the smaller size, trainees get to feel part of the firm pretty swiftly, as Watts notes “we need our trainees to contribute, which means that from day one they’ll be doing really good work, interesting research, having client contact and attending client meetings. We want trainees to feel they’re part of the firm and can talk to anyone about it, and that they’re doing valuable work helping the clients.”

This certainly resonated with our sources as, talking about the culture, one shared that “it’s a very friendly firm, very family-oriented, and very work/life balance-oriented.” In short, “the overwhelming feeling of Wilsons is that it is everyone just wants to help each other. We’re a really tight-knit team,” noted another.

“The firm is very generous, community-spirited, and very friendly.”

As such, we heard there’s plenty of cross-working across different departments, which in turn means there are a fair few social events too. These include the firm’s summer party, Christmas party, regular celebratory drinks and client events throughout the year. The pleasantries extend beyond the firm walls too, as we were told “the firm really is embedded in the community.” As one insider elaborated: “Wilsons sponsors a lot of amazing charities and music events, so we get to know local people, the firm is very generous, community-spirited, and very friendly.”

Speaking of the community, trainees enjoyed working from the firm’s Salisbury office. “We’re located basically in the middle of town, which is great.” This means they’re a stone’s throw away from the shops, the cathedral and the train station. This was particularly handy as it called for some “lovely summer walks at lunchtime.” The firm also has an office in London, though no one works permanently from it and the opportunity for trainees to visit is rare. This usually only happens when there are signings with clients based nearer the city.

Given the ideal location, interviewees tended to report coming into the office very frequently and tended to only work from home when there was something like an online course to do, most lived within a walkable distance to the office in any case, and sources reported that they never were working late into the night.

“Everyone’s very supportive if you’re at full capacity and need a bit of help.”

In fact, we heard that trainees worked the standard 9am to 5pm, and “there’s no obligation to work past 5pm really.” A trainee clarified that they’d “worked over that once, but only out of necessity, so 9am to 5pm is really standard.” Sources were also appreciative about the fact that “everyone’s very supportive if you’re at full capacity and need a bit of help.” Supervisors got a big thumbs up too: “I have weekly catch-ups with my current supervisor to make sure we’re on the same page about everything and quite often they will update me on matters I might have stepped back on.”

On a firm-wide level, the firm supports mental well-being through hosting monthly mental health coffee mornings, and trainees highlighted the firm’s mental health first aiders as a helpful resource to lean on. Sources also shared that the firm were performing well when it came to gender diversity, as “there are a lot of women in high level positions,” though they did acknowledge that “the nature of the area maybe makes racial diversity a little more difficult.”

In terms of training, trainees told us that their PSC training comes from the Law South Group, which involves mandatory commercial skills training through some online and off-site training sessions with trainees from other firms in the group. The firm also hosts regular update sessions where lawyers meet in the office boardroom to share any updates from recently attended events or learning sessions and regular webinars with industry updates. Though a lot of learning tends to be done on the job and sources emphasised that the firm “do encourage you to go and explore things and to mention it if you don’t know something. They want you to dig deeper on things where you can.”

Interviewees told us they were generally well compensated, but some did also feel that some of the work they were doing meant that their salaries were perhaps lower than they should have been: “I’m aware that it’s quite below the industry comparably, maybe not outside London but certainly for the types of client and the level of work we’re doing.”

Qualification

When qualification comes round, we heard it is a pretty informal process, with HR releasing a list of NQ jobs for trainees to apply to. We heard there was no selection process and Interviews will only take place if two people go for the same role, but heard the latter example is a rare instance. When it came to retention, trainees did share that “a lot of people do stay on. There’s quite a lot of people here that trained here or might have left and come back.” In 2025, the firm retained 50% of qualifiers.