Walker Morris

The banking and finance team advised on deals worth over £2 billion this year, covering project finance, asset-based lending and football finance. These included an £80 million plus asset-based lending facility for an offshore logistics giant across the UK, Norway and Canada, and player transfer funding for various top football teams totalling more than £130 million. On the corporate side, the firm advised on over £4 billion of deals in 2025, including advising Endless and Hovis Group on the acquisition of Hovis by Associated British Foods.

The quality of work is some of the best you’ll get in the regions. One trainee put it like this: “there is a good balance between exposure to high level matters and responsibility given in relation to work. WM is a large enough firm that there are lots of big and exciting matters to work on, but the deals are not too overbearingly large that trainees are only relegated to the menial admin jobs. For example, I will often be asked to produce the first drafts of key documents in large matters.” As an independent, single-city firm, expect plenty of responsibility and exposure to a wide variety of deals and cases, with “very few admin-level tasks” unless there’s a bit of a lull; “summer can be a bit quieter for some departments,” says one. Another insider warns that the quality can “vary from seat to seat,” recalling how in one team they were rarely tasked with “chargeable work, with a lot of the work being research based for the team’s own knowledge rather than tasks which actually assist our clients,” while in another they were “given a lot of responsibility early on.” Overall, though, we’re told there’s “really not too much donkey work.”

The training is solid too. One inside source told us that “each department offers trainees bespoke training from various fee earners over the course of the seat,” and the corporate team also runs weekly sessions where other teams present the latest legal and commercial updates, so everyone stays in the loop. There’s a mixture of “very active and involved supervision,” both firm-wide and across each of the six (not four) seats you’ll sit in, though some feel the training isn’t always consistent. One recruit told LC: “The training varies from department to department. Some departments and supervisors are comfortable with letting you run the matters and allow for a lot of client contact. Some departments are a bit more wary about ‘letting trainees loose’ and actively review even the smallest email you send out. There are departments where you as a junior never get any client contact. Overall, the training is good, and even the more quiet departments always try to make sure you get enough work.”

Luckily, an open-door policy and “extremely approachable” partners (some of whom “you can discuss Love Island with”) mean it’s easy to ask for help. While certain fee earners “have different styles of supervision or communication,” insiders assure us they “all deliver great feedback and report.” Superiors are well regarded across the board, and the firm even boasts quite a few ex-City higher-ups who “are extremely open to developing juniors and passing on their knowledge,” according to one newbie. Another puts it like this: “Pretty much everyone at the firm is supportive and approachable. Most partners are friendly and will take the time to chat. I’d say in most teams there doesn’t feel like a hierarchy, and I’d have no issue asking the partner questions or chatting with them about weekend plans. This is partly due to the open-plan office environment. I think the firm attracts friendly lawyers who want the social and friendly atmosphere. There are very few people in the firm that have a reputation for being unfriendly.”

With all new recruits under one roof, the trainee cohort is said to be “tight-knit,” and we’re told “there is a great deal of support from fellow trainees as well as other colleagues.” One rookie had this to say: “the teams are fantastic, the trainee cohort is great and supportive, overall the people are really really good. We also have this thing called ‘Coffee Roulette’: if you sign up, there’s a draw every month which matches you with a colleague for coffee. It’s a great way to meet new people and get your face known across the firm. It also helps that it’s a single site, because it’s easier to meet people.”

Another heart-warming trainee offered this: “we would all say the workplace values are definitely the opposite of a ‘step on your colleagues to get ahead’ culture; the firm fosters a social, collaborative culture which we have embodied. I cannot speak for everyone, but I have made some lifelong friends in my intake.” The firm takes on around twenty trainees each year.

The social life on offer here is rumoured to be “the best in Leeds.” As one LC spy divulges: “Having spoken to trainees at other firms in Leeds (e.g. DLA/AG), their peers are far less social. We are able to make proper friends at WM, the kind you genuinely want to see outside of the workplace socially.” An annual firm social is complemented by “lots of business development opportunities” and even the odd ticket to see Leeds United or the Rhinos. Inside the office, there’s said to be “a range of activities that you can get involved with which suit an array of interests, e.g. cooking classes, book club, socials.”

A “state of the art” office on Wellington Place continues to impress new recruits and, even though it’s now three years old, trainees say the place “still looks like a new pin.” The “impressive” building, found at the heart of Leeds’ business district, is “probably the best” in the city, we’re told. It’s an open-plan space with large meeting rooms, “beautiful” communal areas, swish meeting pods, a subsidised in-house Ts&Cs café, a scenic outdoor courtyard and a boardroom that “will make you feel like you’re on The Apprentice.” Client secondments supplement the learning: according to our figures, around a good amount of the firm’s rookies have done one, with places like Asda, energy companies Drax or Equans, or Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

As you might expect outside the City, the hours are considerably nicer, and there are few complaints about the work-life balance on offer at WM, even if there’s the occasional late one. “A few late nights in busier departments, but no issues taking a full hour for lunch or arranging plans after work. Most people respect boundaries. As trainees we don’t get work phones, so it’s also easier to create work-life balance, as people don’t usually expect you to reply once you’ve logged off. It’s also fine to leave on time and then log back in if you really need to finish some work but want to do it at home,” noted one trainee. On average, WM insiders reckon they put in a “steady 8-6ish,” late nights rarely go beyond 9pm, and weekend work is almost unheard of. There is some variation between departments, with real estate offering “quite a steady 8:30 to 6:30,” whereas in corporate, where it’s been a “super busy year,” the “hours are much more unpredictable and often longer.”

One insider describes it like this: “I have had times in my Corporate seat where you find yourself working until 2.30am on the Friday night and into Saturday and Sunday. However, you know that everyone else working on the deal is going through the same thing, so you don’t feel quite so isolated (free food is always welcomed). In quieter times you can find yourself logging off at 5 or 5.30pm and heading to the gym or pub.” Another adds: “I’d say if anything the balance is too good, and I am rarely challenged to work long hours, which I am concerned will not properly prepare me for qualified life. I have had to work late a few times, however the associates you are working with tend to be super thankful.” Not a bad problem to have.

Trainees can work from home once or twice a week depending on the department, though all lawyers are being encouraged to attend the office more to benefit from better exposure. The firm provides a one-off £300 joiner allowance to buy anything you need for working from home. Mini-treadmills are off the list, though, apparently.

In the past couple of years, WM has advanced its use of legal tech, implementing plenty of AI tools for drafting, reviewing and other processes. Rookies are fairly impressed with the offering, but they note that none of it gets used very frequently, in part because clients aren’t that keen to sign off on it.

The perks are said to be good too. These include a solicitor sabbatical scheme, Help@Hand, free food and taxis when working late, “excellent” charity events such as quizzes, rounders and dress-down days, plus the option to “buy extra weeks’ leave” and a salary sacrifice scheme for electric vehicles. But one rookie wants it known that they’d quite like a day off for their birthday.