Our services
Taylor Wessing lawyers are among the best in their fields, advising household names from just about every industry as well as numerous wealthy individuals. We make it our business to know our clients' business, and our network of offices means that all of our groups are able to advise international clients who are operating in domestic or foreign markets. This expertise is particularly valuable in today’s commercial climate, with so many businesses trading across EU and international borders.
Our services cover a number of key practice group areas where our trainees will complete seats. Explore what they each entail, along with what you can expect to be doing as a trainee.
Construction and Engineering
Our Construction and Engineering team provides full-service legal advice on construction projects from project procurement to dispute resolution. The group’s diverse client base includes banks, developers, public and private sector clients, contractors and consultants.
Dealing with transactional work, you will typically be involved in drafting and negotiating contracts and professional appointments under both standard form contracts and Private Finance Initiative structures. Contentious aspects will include drafting instructions to counsel and experts, reviewing expert reports and taking witness statements.
Corporate, Commercial and Projects
Our Corporate, Commercial and Projects group enables our trainees to experience both general corporate and commercial transactional work. Perhaps the most international group in the firm, the group has a particularly strong reputation in the Hotels sector and acts for a number of wealthy Middle Eastern families owning large hotel or property portfolios.
The Projects team acts for sponsors, consortia, contractors, funders and operators on a variety of domestic and international projects in the energy, healthcare, infrastructure, waste, water and education sectors. Its close-knit team has broad transaction experience embracing project development, finance, mergers and acquisitions, consortium arrangements, tendering and procurement outsourcing.
You will be given a high degree of responsibility and wide-ranging work. You will experience large transactions, develop your project management and legal skills, and have the opportunity to interact with several practice groups within the firm that the group draws on to assist with transactions.
Corporate Technology
Firstly, this group of corporate law specialists advises non-UK based organisations keen to develop their business in Europe. Clients are typically global companies engaged in intellectual property-rich business sectors. Secondly, the group advises institutional venture capital investors in intellectual property-rich businesses and companies looking to attract such investment – these include companies developing some of the most exciting technology and life science innovations.
Working with teams who enjoy top ranking in the legal directories, you will develop your skills in transactions involving all aspects of corporate law in a multi-jurisdictional context.
Disputes and Investigations
Our Disputes and Investigations group has expanded significantly over the last two years and handles a huge variety of work, including commercial disputes, shareholder and other corporate disputes, contractual disputes, fraud and asset tracing, professional negligence, insurance and reinsurance disputes, banking and financial services litigation and technology sector disputes.
Comprehensive hands-on experience will see you fully involved in cases, attending meetings with clients, barristers, witnesses and the other side, drafting correspondence and documents, including statements of case and witness statements, and attending court hearings
Employment and Pensions
Our Employment and Pensions team handles the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment and pension-related issues, including employee benefits and immigration. It acts mainly for employers and pension scheme trustees, but unusually for a firm of our size it also acts for some individual employees.
You could find yourself drafting contracts of employment, advising clients on issues such as whistle-blowing, or preparing employment trial bundles for hearings you're due to attend. Cases could be anything from discrimination employment tribunal claims to £multi-million pensions cases.
Financial Institutions and Markets
The Financial Institutions and Markets group provides transactional financial services, regulatory and compliance advice to international financial institutions and corporates. It represents a range of issuers, investment banks, sponsors and brokers to advise on takeovers, restructurings and securities offerings.
By gaining significant expertise in this practice group, you'll be at the centre of equity capital markets offers and public company mergers and acquisition transactions, in addition to the corporate aspects of insurance and publishing work.
Finance
Our Finance group specialises in bank lending and security, acting primarily for banks and other financial institutions. It has a respected domestic and international client base that includes active lenders across many sectors including property and construction, industrial, hotel and leisure, media, life sciences and healthcare.
You can expect high-quality work, with plenty of responsibility and client contact, giving you exposure to the specialisations of the team. These include property and development finance, loan portfolio sales, acquisition finance, asset backed lending, trade finance, securitisation and venture lending.
Information Technology, Telecoms and Competition
This group acts for a diverse range of technology, media, telecoms and blue chip clients. It advises on commercial projects including website development and launch, major outsourcings, telecoms infrastructure projects, software licensing, computer games, gaming law and systems supply, as well as high-profile telecoms disputes and competition matters.
Your work could involve attending client meetings on projects, helping to draft agreements and researching points of law. The diversity of clients provides excellent experience and secondment opportunities have included Esure, PartyGaming and Google.
Patents
Our Patents group is one of the largest and best known patents groups in the UK. It handles contentious and non-contentious work in the London office, often for large pharmaceutical or telecoms companies, and non-contentious work in the Cambridge office, for example for biotechnology companies.
Your work can involve attending meetings with clients and barristers, and drafting documents to commence proceedings. Trainees are very much part of the team, actively involved in trials and interim hearings and regularly attending court.
Private Client, Tax and Incentives
This group comprises of two teams. Our Private Client team handles all aspects of tax and succession planning advice, from advising on a hedge fund investment to the terms of a complex will or trust, or dealing with issues relating to the management of a family's yacht, aeroplane or collection of artwork overseas. This award winning team acts for a number of ultra-wealthy individuals and families, including a significant number worth in excess of £100 million, as well as banks and trust companies. The Tax and Incentives team handles all aspects of corporate taxation and incentives advice for major corporates Including the corporate vehicles of private wealth clients. Tax issues are often at the heart of transactions and the team works closely with a number of groups across the firm.
You will be given immediate responsibility and client contact at an early stage, frequently attending meetings with clients or counsel. Usually, you will work directly with partners and senior associates or as part of a larger team to find the optimum outcome for the client. The work is often highly technical and involves keeping up to date with new legal developments and honing skills in client handling and teamwork.
Private Equity
Private Equity is one of the central disciplines of the firm and one of our most internationally focused practice groups, with a growing proportion of its fees derived from overseas clients. The team enjoys a strong reputation, recently having been nominated for various high-profile awards including Legal Adviser of the Year and Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions Team of the Year.
You will be given responsibility for elements of varied and substantial transactional work. The team often deals with multi-jurisdictional matters, collaborating closely with other teams in the firm, and has recently worked on transactions in China, Dubai, Bahrain, India and the USA, and across Europe.
Real Estate, Environment and Planning
Our Real Estate group plays a key part in the strategic direction of the firm. It handles the full range of property transactions: investment work, development projects, property finance, landlord and tenant work, advice to owners and occupiers, real estate disputes and the property aspects of corporate transactions. Trainees play a vital part in major transactions, run their own files and deal directly with clients and solicitors. The group is dynamic but friendly; the work challenging but rewarding.
The Environment and Planning team predominantly supports the firm's core disciplines: Finance, Corporate and Real Estate. In a given week, you may be dealing with an environmental due diligence for a corporate acquisition or a banking finance project; assisting with an environmental assessment of a major fuel oil terminal; attending court for a judicial review; or looking at the environmental warranties and indemnity for a banking finance.
In addition, the team enjoys a unique and standalone practice ranging from heavy industry, ports and commercial development to highway infrastructure, waste disposal, wind turbines and green data rooms.
Restructuring and Corporate Recovery
Our Restructuring and Corporate Recovery group advises UK and international corporations, directors, leading UK and European banks, asset based lenders and insolvency practitioners on some of the most complex and high-profile restructurings and insolvencies in Europe – contentious and non-contentious.
Exposed to a variety of work, you will develop a range of skills. You might find yourself researching difficult points of law, drafting court applications, attending court hearings or helping to negotiate the sale of a business.
Trade Marks, Copyright and Media
Our Trade Marks, Copyright and Media group specialises in advertising, broadcasting, defamation and privacy issues, design, film, publishing (print, online and music), sports law and trade mark law. The group handles both contentious and non-contentious matters for clients including advertising agencies, broadcasters, publishers, wealthy individuals, rights owners and fashion houses.
An integral part of the group, you could be responsible for handling the day-to-day running of some of the smaller files under supervision. Or, you may be involved in preparing initial drafts of rights related documents, letters and witness statements, and regularly attending court.