Bristol Training Contract IFPD 2026

The Firm

Clyde & Co has grown to become a leading global law firm in our core sectors. With a headcount of over 5,000 staff operating from over 60 offices and associated offices across six continents, we offer a comprehensive range of legal services and advice to businesses operating at the heart of global trade and commerce.

From developed to emerging markets, we aim to support our clients by putting the power of our globally integrated firm at their disposal with a range of seamless and efficient services and the very best, commercially minded, legal advice.

This, together with our sector expertise and regional understanding, allows us to help clients identify and manage risk and liability, navigate challenges, harness commercial potential and achieve sustained growth in today's complex and volatile business environment.

We are committed to being a responsible business which means taking responsibility for the impact we have on the environment and seeking to reduce it as much and as quickly as possible. It means taking responsibility for giving back and being a positive contributor to the communities in which we operate. And it means taking responsibility for fostering a truly diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace so that all our people can flourish and fulfil their highest potential, for the benefit of them, the firm and our clients.

Our Values

Our values are the principles that guide the decisions we make, unite us in our endeavours and strengthen our delivery, for our clients and our firm. We:

• Work as one We are a globally connected team of talented people who act with a firm-first mentality to achieve success
• Excel with clients We aim high and challenge ourselves to deliver unique excellence for our clients, keeping them at the centre of everything we do
• Celebrate difference We help each other to be at our best and believe our differences result in greater achievement
• Act boldly We seek new opportunities, take action and learn as we go, recognising that curiosity drives our development and contributes to growth

Join us in Bristol

Clyde & Co opened its Bristol office in 2018, to provide dedicated support to clients operating in the insurance and infrastructure sectors in the South West of the UK. Our focus is primarily on providing contentious legal advice to clients. Bristol has become a key centre for professional and financial disputes and so we are pleased to be able to offer our clients on the ground support as and when it's required.

Our Insurance, Financial & Professional Disputes (IFPD) group in Bristol is part of Clyde & Co's international offering, which has a long established reputation as a leading advisor on policy coverage, defending claims and regulatory proceedings. We focus on each of the major professions, as well as 'emerging professions' such as recruitment, management consultants and IT professionals.

Our office's deep sector knowledge and regional location make us a clear choice for clients looking for a combination of quality and value for money.

What is Insurance, Financial & Professional Disputes (National PI)?

Our National PI business line co-ordinates our insurer-led professional liability work across our UK offices. We defend claims against the full range of non-medical professionals: our expertise includes the traditional professions (solicitors, accountants and other financial professionals, insurance brokers, surveyors and construction professionals) as well as the non-traditional and emerging professions (such as recruitment agents, estate agents, IT consultants, media companies and patent attorneys). Members of our team also provide professional indemnity coverage advice to insurers, including in relation to sensitive issues such as dishonesty.

The ability to build and maintain strong client relationships is key to our success: our lawyers are "market people", and we offer them a wide range of business development opportunities including secondments to major insurers.

What does the job involve?

• Research into specific legal issues, case law and the CPR
• Reviewing documents received from clients to undertake preliminary liability and quantum analysis of a new claim
• Preparing bundles for trial/arbitration/mediation/disciplinary hearings
• Document reviews for disclosure in litigation or compliance with SRA/FRC production notices
• Instructing and liaising with counsel and their clerks
• Instructing and liaising with expert witnesses
• Drafting letters, reports and other documents (eg witness statements)
• Attending client meetings and court hearings
• Assisting with the preparation of articles and seminars
• Reviewing and interpreting PI insurance policies

About the programme

We're proud to be partnering with the University of Law to delivery an exceptional and innovative LLM course incorporating SQE1, SQE2, as well as an SQE Plus programme that has been developed by our lawyers in collaboration with the University, and is bespoke to Clyde & Co. Not only you will be thoroughly prepared for all academic aspects of the SQE, the world-class teaching and exclusive resources will equip you with the fundamental skills and technical savvy essential to succeed as a lawyer at Clyde & Co.

Throughout your studies you will receive comprehensive and personalised support from your dedicated academic tutor, as well as a Trainee Buddy and a Mentor from the firm. We also have a year's programme of social events and engagement days for our Future Trainees, so you can get to know us and each other before your Training Contract begins. Once you have completed the 11 months study, you will join us to undertake your qualifying work experience (QWE) via a two-year training contract.

What we are looking for

We are looking for those who are interested in IFPD and committed to a career as a solicitor at Clyde & Co in Bristol as well as the following:

• Achieved an AAB at A-Level or equivalent (mitigating circumstances will be considered)
• By August 2025, have achieved a 2:1 in your undergraduate degree (if a non-law or non-qualifying degree, you will also need to have completed the PGDL by August 2025)
• By August 2026 you will need to have completed your SQE. If you have not already completed this, Clyde & Co will enrol you onto the relevant courses starting September 2025. Therefore, law students will need to be in their final year, or have graduated, and non-law students will currently need to be completing their PGDL, ready to start the SQE next September

What we offer

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package as a newly qualified solicitor. You will also be entitled to a range of rewards and benefits:

• Private medical
• Pension scheme
• Group income protection
• Maternity and paternity pay
• Holiday purchase
• Season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme
• Gym subsidy

We'll make sure you have plenty of support throughout your programme - alongside having support from your dedicated supervisor, University of Law skills coach and tutor, you will also have regular one to one session with the early careers team and will be allocated a mentor from one of our newly qualified lawyers, enabling you to get peer-to-peer support and guidance. You can also look forward to a tailored induction programme and on-going internal training designed to ensure you have the skills, knowledge, and commercial acumen you need to become a well-rounded solicitor.

Recruitment Process

• Complete an online application
• Digital simulation - consisting of situational assessment & video interview
• In-person assessment centre
• Offers and feedback

Reasonable Adjustments

Let us know if you need us to make adjustments or changes to the interview process to help you best demonstrate your suitability for the role. We will do our best to accommodate your request. If you wish to discuss anything regarding the interview process, please contact Early Careers (EarlyCareers@clydeco.com).

You can find out more about the interview process and examples of adjustments we can put in place via this link A guide to reasonable adjustments, support and accessibility for our assessment process.

 

Strengths Based Assessment

During our process we are assessing candidates based on the strengths that will deliver success in a role. This is great for the individual, doing work they love, and great for the employer, having team members who love what they do.

For more information, hints and tips please view our careers website.

We recommend attending our Bristol Insight Day before submitting an application, so that you understand the next steps and Digital Assessment. We do not recruit on a rolling basis.