Trainee Solicitor - 2026 - Hodge Jones & Allen

Application deadline: Friday 27 July 2025.

Salary

The starting salary for trainee solicitors at Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors from September 2026 is £29,500 pa. This increases to £31,500 pa in the second year of the contract.

Please ensure that you fill all sections of the form and send your completed application to us by email.

The Training Scheme

Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors have an extremely popular training scheme for solicitors. Our successful two year Solicitor Training Programme involves four seats of six months in teams of your choice, where possible. Each trainee shares a room with a partner or a senior solicitor and is closely supervised.

Most of the training is in-house with some formal courses held externally. The work is hard but stimulating. The firm has a mentoring scheme for its trainees, whereby a former HJA trainee acts as a mentor for a current trainee.

What to expect when you apply

At the end of the application process, candidates are selected for interview, via our ‘blind’ recruitment process and are invited to attend a first stage interview in August and if successful, they will attend a second stage interview in September, for a training contract to start in the following September.

Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors presently have a total of twelve trainees.

Who can apply for a training contract?

Applications from both law and non-law graduates are welcome. You should be able to demonstrate a consistently high level of academic and personal achievement. We generally expect an upper second class degree.

At the end of the application process, candidates are selected for interview, via our ‘blind’ recruitment process and are invited to attend a first stage interview in August and if successful, they will attend a second stage interview in September, for a training contract to start in the following September.

Triple Lex 100 Winner

Lex 100 is the Student’s Guide to the UK’s premier law firms. Each year trainees are asked to provide anonymous feedback on their training contract and to rate their experiences according to several different criteria. The survey results provide potential candidates with a valuable inside look at different firms, allowing them to make a more informed decision as to which employer may be the right match for them.

We are incredibly proud that we are a Lex 100 Winner for 2018/19 in the following categories: job satisfaction, quality of work and client contact. Hodge Jones & Allen was also a triple Lex 100 Winner in 2016/2017 edition.

RESPONSIBLE TO: Partner, as designated by the firm.

ROLE: To provide a high quality legal service to all our clients whilst gaining competency to practice as a solicitor in a supported environment.

SPECIFIC JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Case and Transaction Management

These duties will initially be conducted under the supervision of a partner:-

• Conduct interviews with clients
• Gain understanding client expectations and requirements
• Assess legal problems
• Advise clients on costs
• Conduct legal research
• Successfully deliver transactional goals
• Devise outline strategy for case
• Draft case papers
• Obtain information from relevant experts
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the other side’s case
• Brief a barrister
• Negotiate settlements
• Meet deadlines for court appearance
• Issue proceedings
• Attend court to conduct advocacy and/or with counsel and/or to take notes
• Make applications to the court
• Maintain confidentiality
• Comply with all office procedure requirements

2. Administration

• Maintain the training record
• Conduct self-appraisal and development planning
• Actively participate in supervision and appraisal
• Complete time recording
• Maintain files (usually electronically but also in paper)
• Deal with billing, paying costs and closing files
• Follow administrative systems and procedures

3. Development

• Gain competency in the skill standards
• Participate in team meetings and social and charitable activities
• Attend internal courses and pass the Professional Skills Course
• Keep up to date with law and practice
• Assist business development
• Achieve admission to the roll

Personal Skills

You will be expected to provide professional, efficient and friendly service to clients.

Interpersonal Skills

You will be expected to communicate clearly and appropriately, both orally and verbally with other parties whilst maintaining excellent working relationships. Other duties include being able to negotiating with clients and other professionals to secure the desired objective(s).

Academic skills

You will have a good academic record having preferably obtained a 2.1 degree or higher at University and passed all the necessary law exams.

Organisational Skills

You will be expected to assist in the preparation of cases, usually under pressure and to tight deadlines. You must, therefore, be able to prioritise workloads at any given time.

Management Skills

You will have the ability to view situations from a commercial or business perspective. This requires you to look at a situation from different angles. You must, therefore, be capable of delegating tasks, supervising where appropriate and working on your own initiative.