At Clifford Chance our goal is to be at the forefront of the elite group of international law firms that is emerging. Joining us means sharing our ambitions and developing your potential as part of an exceptionally talented legal team.
Our firm
Our practice is broad and far reaching, engaging with the issues and decisions that underpin our clients’ success. Clifford Chance advises its clients internationally and domestically; under common law and civil law systems; in local and cross-border transactions and disputes; on day-to-day operations and on ‘game-changing’ transformational deals and issues.
Setting the pace in the legal sector, Clifford Chance has more tier-one international practices than any other law firm (Chambers Global 2010). Our business is organised into six global practices – Corporate, Capital Markets, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Litigation and Dispute resolution, and Tax, Pensions and Employment. As a Clifford Chance trainee you will work in at least three of these practices, learning from professionals at the leading edge of our profession.
Our clients
Clifford Chance works with multi-national and domestic corporates, financial institutions, regulatory authorities, supranational bodies, governments and government agencies. Our trainees need to be fast learners as they soon become active members of the teams we put together to advise these clients on their most important initiatives, their key risks and their new opportunities – across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
Our work
We work on an incredibly broad spectrum of business and legal issues. Clifford Chance has recently advised Deutsche Telekom on the merger of T-Mobile and France Telecom's Orange to create a new landscape for mobile telephony in the UK; Kraft on its landmark takeover of Cadbury; national governments and major corporates on multi-billion dollar restructurings and renegotiations of their outstanding debt; numerous financial institutions on changes to their business, following huge shifts in the regulatory landscape at national and international levels; and Financial Times, Reuters, The Guardian, The Independent and The Times on a successful trip to the European Court of Human Rights to re-affirm the right of journalists to protect their sources.
Our people
Clifford Chance is a firm of exceptional lawyers drawn from a wide range of backgrounds – there is no one ‘type’ here. Instead, we aim to recruit people who can help us to give our clients a competitive edge in challenging situations. We’re looking for people who have the potential to become outstanding lawyers – irrespective of what you have studied at university. That means you’ll need to be able to think on your feet, to offer new ideas and to play your part in a team that is likely to span practice areas, offices and time zones.
Our offer
We ask a lot of our trainees – focus and dedication are taken as read, but you’ll also need to be flexible and willing to adapt to new challenges and a lot of responsibility. Counterbalancing this is a level of investment in your career development which is only offered by a handful of professional services firms.
Recruitment process
Applications for our training contract, vacation schemes, spring and winter workshops should be made via www.cliffordchance.com/gradsuk.