Trainee Solicitor Review

Very good - the support has been very helpful and complete, I am given opportunities to flourish and explore areas I am interested in. The company has been active in engaging with reasonable adjustments for my disability. There are many opportunities to get involved with different areas of the firm even if you are not directly in the relevant team. A lot of the trainee tasks can be admin-based, but I am often given opportunities to do fee-earning work. Experience seems to vary between seats - I have enjoyed Environment, Health and Safety much more than Energy and Infrastructure. Hours for me are generally consistent but I know for others this is not the case. There are a wide range of secondment opportunities which is a large draw to the firm.

Main responsibilities: completing training, sending emails, conducting research, preparing presentations, drafting and filling out legal documents, arranging file transfers, assisting with due diligence
Energy and Infrastructure (E&I): keeping track of document lists
Environment, Health and Safety (EHS): filling out court documents, taking attendance notes on calls
I have enjoyed the research aspects and involved drafting elements of my roles the most - it is more prevalent in the EHS seat (though perhaps that is because E&I was my first seat). I have not liked many of the admin tasks.

I have had a lot of opportunities to see the impact of my work in my role, more so in EHS than E&I. That team has been better at giving me more responsibility and involved tasks instead of just "greasing the wheels" of a transaction (which must be done, but it was not something I particularly enjoyed as opposed to being part of the core of a matter).

The perks and benefits are extensive. My opinion is influenced by how regular my hours are - if I consistently had to work late as others in the firm do, my view may well be different.

The mix of admin and fee-earning work is helpful for giving me an idea of the balance I need to strike when I qualify. I am taught delegation early and I am being shown how to advance.

Very helpful - the Emerging Talent team and my supervisors have both been excellent particularly with adjustments and check-ins.

I am consistently out the door before 6pm. However, this is something I know is not true for others in the firm. A 5:30 nominal finish time is useful for setting expectations for how long to stay.

I have felt very welcomed as a neurodiverse trainee and have had very few issues with others in the office, and where those have been present they have been negligible.

CMS really takes this seriously and it is evident in everything they do - I have been very happy with my time spent on these initiatives and have seen first-hand the impact they have had.

Yes

I think the culture here is so much better than other law firms. Trainees are not competing with eachother and it is easy to develop good relationships in the office. You can be assured that you will receive strong support at all levels. Partners are generally very approachable and the work is generally good quality (though it can be seat-dependent).

I got a great insight into what happens at the firm through the First Steps (now Insight) Programme and the CMS Academy - those expectations were accurate.