Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is proud to be part of the City Century initiative, a City of London Law Society led collaboration between 50+ top law firms to significantly increase the number of solicitor apprentices entering the legal profession in the City of London.
Implemented by the UK Government in 2014, solicitor apprenticeships are open to post A-level school leavers who work at a sponsoring firm alongside studying for their LLB and SQE 1 & 2 over a six-year period. This allows a wider pool of aspiring lawyers access to first class City legal careers, gaining invaluable work experience from their sponsors as they gain their legal qualifications.
The brainchild of Linklaters Managing Partner Paul Lewis, City Century aims to more than double the current number of solicitor apprentices in the City of London from 50 to 100 by September 2024 and create at least 100 City Century partners by 2040.
WFW Managing Partner Lindsey Keeble commented: “I’m delighted to have pledged WFW to the City Century initiative, which represents a major, and much needed, boost to promoting social mobility within the profession in the City. I look forward to welcoming our first solicitor apprentices to WFW in September 2025”.
In October 2022, WFW signed up to the UK legal apprenticeship pledge as part of the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion both in the legal profession and generally.
