Learning and development

At Shearman & Sterling we appreciate the need for you to be fully equipped with relevant legal skills to ensure you can perform your role effectively. Underpinning your “on the job training” is an intensive and comprehensive ongoing structured training programme, which will mean you may be attending training courses at least once a week. This training will be delivered by our own lawyers with support from external providers such as The College of Law, visiting professors and clients.

During your first two weeks at the firm, you will participate in an intensive induction programme designed to equip you with all you need to be a success in your first seat. This will give you an overview of the practice areas you can work in, introduce you to the partners and associates, and familiarise yourself with our IT systems.

Training is delivered at an office-wide and practice group level. Trainees will be fully involved in practice group training, which includes workshops, formal lectures and discussion-based know-how meetings. Some practice groups will encourage trainees to deliver a short presentation to kick off a group discussion.

Reviews:
To ensure you are aware of how you are developing, you will receive two reviews during the course of each seat: a mid-seat review and an end-of-seat review.

Your mid-seat review will take place after you have been in a practice group for three months. This ensures you understand how you are progressing, and gives the opportunity for your supervisor to formally highlight your strengths and areas of development, which you can act on in the final three months.

Your end-of-seat review will give a full summary of your performance over the past six months, and will be conducted with a partner and your supervisor. This is a valuable part of your learning and development with Shearman & Sterling.

Support

Mentors:
On joining the firm you will select a mentor who will act as a support throughout your training contract.

Supervisors:
At each seat you will work with an experienced supervisor, who will support your day to day development, as well as allocating work. They are typically a senior associate, counsel or partner, so are the very best in the business to learn from and have had a wealth of experience in supervising trainees.