Leeds Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship 2027 – Professional Liability
Our 33-month Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme offers an exciting alternative to the traditional training contract, combining hands-on legal experience with structured professional development and fully funded study.
From day one, you'll join our Professional Liability team, working alongside experienced lawyers on real client matters while studying with BPP one day per week. This is an opportunity to build your legal expertise in a specialist area, gain valuable Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), and develop the skills needed for a successful career as a solicitor.
Throughout the programme, you'll work closely with experienced legal professionals on a broad range of challenging and high-profile cases, while studying towards a Level 6 CILEX qualification and preparing for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Upon successful completion, you'll have developed the knowledge, skills and practical experience required to qualify as a solicitor.
You'll be supported every step of the way by a dedicated supervisor at Kennedys, as well as a tutor and skills coach at BPP, ensuring you have all the guidance and support you need to succeed both in the workplace and in your studies.
This programme is designed for graduates who have already completed either a law degree or a non-law degree followed by a law conversion course (GDL/PGDL). Kennedys will fully fund your studies throughout the programme, allowing you to focus on your development while earning a salary and building your legal career.
Team
Kennedys' Professional Liability team advises on all aspects of professional liability, acting on claims ranging from routine matters to some of the most significant and complex disputes in the market.
The team works with insurers who underwrite many of the world's largest financial institutions, global law firms and the Big Four accounting firms, as well as insurers supporting regional, local and specialist professional service providers. The breadth and complexity of the work provide an excellent opportunity to develop expertise in a highly respected and intellectually challenging area of law.
Clients
You'll have the opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients, including:
- Insurers
- Self-insured organisations
- Construction professionals
- IT professionals
- Insolvency practitioners
- Solicitors and legal professionals
To be considered for the programme, you will need:
- A law degree; or
- A non-law degree and successful completion of the GDL/PGDL.
Closing Date: Monday 30 November 2026
Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys.
Please note that this vacancy is not eligible for immigration sponsorship.
About Kennedys
Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 3,000 people in 45 offices across 18 countries around the world we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.
Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.
We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.
What do we have to offer?
We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.
Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive, distinctive and ambitious. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.
The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles. A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.
We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority. We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work. Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.
Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.
