Vacation Scheme Participant Review

The scheme gave me a really good, well-rounded insight into what life at Dentons is actually like. Day to day, I was involved in a mix of trainee-level tasks, particularly legal drafting and reviewing different agreements, which made the work feel very real and hands-on. I also attended weekly training sessions alongside the trainees in my team, which helped me build my understanding while feeling part of the team. I also made an effort to speak to people outside of my immediate team to learn more about the firm’s other practice areas, which really helped me get a broader picture of the work Dentons does.

It was really interesting to gain a better understanding of the business and the different routes available, ranging from the traditional training contract route to the solicitor apprenticeship and the QualiFLY route.

My legal drafting improved through working on real documents, and my attention to detail became much stronger when reviewing agreements and spotting small but important points. I also built my communication skills by working with different members of the team and asking questions where needed. A big area of development was time management and prioritisation, as I was often given tasks with different deadlines by different people, so I had to organise my workload effectively and communicate if priorities needed to be clarified.

The culture felt very supportive and welcoming. I got the sense that people were genuinely invested in helping me do well, and my team in particular were always looking out for me. They made a real effort to check in regularly, not just on the work I was doing but also on how I was finding the experience more generally. That made it a lot easier to ask questions and get stuck in.

Thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable.

Yes

I would advise applicants to be really specific about why they want to apply to Dentons, rather than relying on general points about commercial law firms. That means thinking about what genuinely differentiates Dentons from its competitors, such as its global presence, polycentric approach, and the breadth of work across different practice areas. It’s also important to be clear on why you’re applying to a particular office over other locations. For example, if you’re applying to London, you could talk about the scale and variety of work available there, as well as its role as a key hub for international transactions. Overall, showing that you’ve done your research and can clearly link it back to your own motivations will make your application much stronger.