Rotations rise from four to six as firm launches new ‘AI Knowledge Lab’
Sidley Austin is giving its London training contract a techy makeover, introducing a compulsory AI seat as it expands its rotation system from four seats to six.
The AI seat can be completed as a trainee’s third, fourth, fifth or sixth rotation, after their first two practice group seats. The new approach takes effect this month.
Tom Thesing, managing partner of Sidley’s London office, told Legal Cheek:
“[E]very trainee joining Sidley in London will complete one of their seats in our AI Knowledge Lab as part of a new six-seat training contract. We are the first firm in London to build this into every trainee’s training contract.”
And this isn’t just four months spent tinkering with AI tools. As Thesing puts it, “The Lab is a working seat, not a classroom”, with trainees carrying out genuine legal assignments for Sidley’s practice groups.
Trainees will work alongside Sidley’s Knowledge Management, Research and Data & AI teams and practice group lawyers, testing approaches and helping develop tools for wider use across the firm. They’ll also be expected to assess AI output critically, spot its limitations and judge when the technology adds value and when a lawyer needs to step in.
Thesing added that the aim is for “every lawyer who qualifies with us in London” to have “hands-on experience of applying AI critically and responsibly”.
Away from the AI lab, the firm says the six-seat format will give trainees more chances to sample areas including M&A and private equity, global finance, litigation, investment funds and restructuring. Its six four-month rotations put it alongside the likes of Dechert, Orrick and Watson Farley & Williams, while Freshfields operates eight three-month seats across its two-year programme.
Sidley’s shake-up is the latest sign that tech is becoming a more formal part of junior lawyer training. Freshfields last year unveiled a fully funded technology and law LLM for future trainees, while Stephenson Harwood introduced a six-month seat in its innovation team. Sidley’s approach differs in making AI a compulsory part of every rookie’s training contract.
Sidley recruits up to 19 trainees a year in London, taking them on exclusively through its vacation schemes, the Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2027 shows. Trainee salaries start at £60,000, rising to £65,000 in year two, while newly qualified associates command a hefty £175,000.
