London law firm will recruit its first two solicitor apprentices for September 2027
Russell-Cooke is delighted to launch its new solicitor apprenticeship programme, creating an alternative route into the legal profession for school leavers.
Applications will open on 1 December 2026 for two solicitor apprentices to join the firm in September 2027. The six-year programme will combine paid work at Russell-Cooke with academic study through the University of Law, leading to an LLB in Legal Practice and completion of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination.
Apprentices will spend four days each week working at Russell-Cooke and one day studying. During the programme, they will gain experience across different legal departments, the firm’s offices and business services teams, before completing four six-month seats alongside trainee solicitors during their final two years.
Russell-Cooke is developing the programme in collaboration with City Century, a not-for-profit initiative launched by the City of London Law Society in early 2023. City Century brings together more than 60 law firms to promote solicitor apprenticeships in major cities, with a particular focus on widening access for under-represented communities. Firms collaborating with City Century now typically recruit around 200 solicitor apprentices each year.
There should be more than one route into a career in law. At Russell-Cooke, we have a long-standing commitment to widening access to the profession and we believe that potential, rather than someone’s background or the route they have taken, should determine the opportunities available to them.
Our solicitor apprenticeship programme is an important next step in that commitment. It will give talented school leavers the opportunity to gain meaningful experience, earn a salary and work towards qualification without having to follow the traditional university route. Just as importantly, we want to help broaden the profession by making a career in law accessible to people who might not previously have considered it an option.
The breadth of our work means apprentices will be able to experience different areas of law, work with a wide range of clients and understand how a law firm operates as a business. We hope they will build their careers with us, but we also see this as part of our wider responsibility to help develop the next generation of lawyers.
Patrick McCann, Co-CEO of City Century, said:
We are delighted to welcome Russell-Cooke to our initiative. We are always excited to bring opportunities to talented people wherever and whoever they might be. We look forward to supporting Russell-Cooke on its journey to establish a brilliant solicitor apprenticeship programme.
The programme forms part of Russell-Cooke’s wider work to broaden access to the legal profession and create different routes to qualification. The firm introduced a Qualifying Work Experience programme for existing legal assistants in 2025, alongside its established training contract and vacation scheme programmes.
Applications for the solicitor apprenticeship programme will open on 1 December 2026 and close at 11.59pm on 17 February 2027.
About Russell-Cooke
Russell-Cooke is a top 100 law firm advising commercial, regulatory, not-for-profit and private clients across a broad range of legal services, with more than 250 specialist lawyers based across offices in central London, Putney and Kingston.
For further information about the Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme, visit Solicitor Apprenticeships.
About City Century
City Century is a not-for-profit solicitor apprenticeship initiative launched by the City of London Law Society in early 2023. More than 60 law firms have collaborated through the initiative to promote solicitor apprenticeships, with a particular focus on identifying, recruiting, educating and developing talent from under-represented communities. Firms who have worked with City Century now typically recruit around 200 solicitor apprentices annually.
For further information, visit City Century.
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