At Appleyard Lees, you’ll be working to protect the ground-breaking innovation of some of the world’s most well-known tech companies. Many of our clients are developing exciting new Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies. You don’t need to have a degree in AI to join our team – in fact, most of us don’t!  But, it will help if you have gained experience in drafting and prosecuting software patent applications, and knowledge of UK, European and US software patenting guidelines.  Although we also work on physics-, electronics- and mechanical-based inventions, the bulk of our work in the Cambridge office is software-based.

Our work can sometimes be multi-disciplinary and so you will need to work with attorneys in other disciplines. For example, some of our clients use AI to identify and develop new drugs, use mathematics/statistics to diagnose diseases or predict treatment efficacy, or use software to control medical robotic devices. So, in addition to the technical skills, you will need to have good people skills and be able to work in a team.

At Appleyard Lees, we support you to develop into the best attorney you can be and to take the next steps in your career.  In particular, we aim to provide the right level of support for the transition from trainee to senior attorney.  For us, your development training does not stop when you have passed the professional exams. We offer training and continued professional development at all levels of your career and this includes bespoke in-house training and development programmes for qualified attorneys.

We will consider candidates who live within a commutable distance from any of our 4 offices who are happy to frequently travel to our Cambridge office.

We pride ourselves on being small and friendly enough for you to get to know everyone – but big enough to offer you great career prospects. We will assign you with a mentor who will be able to provide professional and personal support throughout your training contract. Providing people with a mentor is a critical part of enabling development and knowing if individuals are ‘on track’ in terms of their career path and progression, it also helps with improving knowledge and skills.

Aside from this, we will fund all of your training including memberships, exams, courses and conferences. We also encourage our technical teams to write articles for our Greenshoots platform and take part in podcasts, more information on this can be found here – Trainee blog | Greenshoots by Appleyard Lees (appleyardleesgreenshoots.com)

Other benefits we offer include: