Vacation Scheme
What to expect from our Vacation Scheme
Our two-week paid Vacation Scheme is designed to give you a genuine insight into life at Goughs. You will also experience, first-hand, what it’s like to work at our award-winning law firm.
Throughout the scheme, you’ll gain valuable hands-on exposure to a wide range of practice areas, giving you a genuine insight into life at Goughs. You’ll spend time with lawyers across our Family, Private Client and Residential Property teams, as well as our wider Commercial department, including Commercial Property, Corporate, and Housebuilding & Development. Working alongside experienced professionals, you’ll see first-hand how legal matters are handled, develop practical knowledge, and build a deeper understanding of the services we provide to our clients.
We believe that experiencing a law firm is about much more than legal work alone. That’s why you’ll also spend time with our Marketing team, discovering the important role they play in supporting the firm’s growth, strengthening client relationships and contributing to the day-to-day success of the business. This broader perspective will give you a real appreciation of how every part of the firm works together.
The scheme concludes with an off-site Assessment Day. As an important part of our Trainee Solicitor recruitment process, this is your opportunity to showcase the skills, knowledge and experience you’ve developed throughout the programme.
What did you make of the experience?
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Your vacation scheme questions answered
Taking part in Goughs vacation scheme was a fantastic experience. Each department I sat in offered valuable insight into different areas of law and gave me the opportunity to get involved in real world cases from day one. I was trusted with meaningful work and made to feel like part of the team throughout. It was also a great opportunity for networking, as I was able to connect with a wide range of professionals across the firm and with people who mentored me through my time at university. Experiencing the law in such a practical environment really helped solidify my decision to pursue a career in legal practice. The scheme was not only insightful but also instrumental in confirming that I wanted to practise law and gave me a real understanding of how the law transfers from a lecture room into real world application.
By Sam Berkeley, Trainee Solicitor
Whether you’re exploring a future career in law or considering Goughs as the place to begin your journey, our Vacation Scheme is an exciting opportunity to gain meaningful practical experience, build your confidence, and immerse yourself in life at the firm. You’ll meet inspiring people, experience a variety of legal work, and discover what makes Goughs such a rewarding place to start and grow your career.
Our aim is for you to gain real experience and an insight into our award-winning law firm and see first-hand what it is like to work at Goughs.
Where possible your time with each department will be scheduled at different office locations so you get to know and work with a variety of colleagues across different departments and offices.
Your time in each department will be well structured so that you are given an overview of key department work practices, but then are also given the time to have a go at collating and drafting pieces of work. Where relevant you will also have the chance to attend client meetings.
The Assessment Day will involve activities such as an interview, presentation, skills testing and a group task.
During the scheme, you can expect:
- Exposure to a range of legal practice areas and real-life legal work
- Opportunities to work alongside and learn from lawyers at all levels
- Insight into how different teams collaborate to deliver excellent client service
- A chance to experience the wider business functions that support a successful law firm
- Opportunities to build your professional network across the firm
- Feedback and guidance to support your personal and professional developmen
The application process for the 2026 Vacation Scheme has now closed.
Please email recruitment@goughs.co.uk with any queries.
Why work at Goughs?
In the past 2 years, we’ve had 34 people join the firm
49% of employees have been with the firm over 3 years
In the last 4 years, 40% of Solicitors who joined the firm were promoted to Associate within 2 years.
Over 40% of our current Partners joined us as Trainee Solicitors