London Training Contract

Job title: Trainee Solicitor 

Job type: Two-year fixed-term contract 

Location: City of London 

Start date: August 2027 or February 2028 

Salary: £56,000 (first year) / £61,000 (second year)

Applications open: 4 September 2024.

Applications close: 20 November 2024.

A Training Contract with Clifford Chance will give you the full breadth of experience you need to emerge as a confident solicitor. The contract comprises four six-month rotations, giving you the opportunity to explore our practice areas, client and international secondments, and our split-seat opportunities.

Clifford Chance is one of the world's leading law firms, offering local and global clients expert advice on all aspects of commercial law. The Firm has unrivalled scale and depth of legal resources across five continents and five core practice areas.

Give yourself the best start 

As a Trainee at Clifford Chance, you will experience the challenging high-performance world of commercial law and gain the breadth of experience you need to emerge as a confident solicitor in England and Wales.

You will have four six-month rotations, the first being spent in our London office and the remaining three in our Middle East offices, giving you the opportunity to explore the firm’s practice areas. Seat choices will be within our core areas of Corporate, Global Financial Markets, Real Estate & Construction, Projects, and Litigation & Dispute Resolution.

Whilst your experience in each seat will be very different, in all of them, you will develop your legal and business skills, gain insight into our high-profile clients, and enhance your commercial awareness.

The tasks you undertake could include drafting and proofing documents, conducting due diligence on a client's acquisition target, attending client meetings, preparing documents for a court hearing, researching titles and leases on a real estate portfolio, or creating a data room ahead of a major transaction. You may even run some smaller transactions for our clients.

Unbeatable support and development 

Before you've even started your Training Contract, you will have the opportunity to apply for our LIFT programme (learning internships for future trainees). We have partnered with a select number of organisations and core Clifford Chance business teams to offer paid summer internships to our future trainees, with the sole aim of supporting your professional development.

We're committed to best-in-class learning and development opportunities for our Future Trainees, and this includes both PGDL and SQE prep sessions that enable you to maximise your career development, build your networks, and leave feeling equipped with the skills and confidence necessary for PGDL and SQE success. During the SQE, we host a number of Practice Area presentations to help you make informed seat choices.

To set you up for success, each Practice Area also delivers a skills session to explain key trainee tasks and ensure Trainees are best placed to add value from the day they start. In week one at the Firm, you will also take part in our five-day Trainee Induction programme.

At the start of each seat, you will receive specialised training in that sector and a dedicated supervisor. Throughout your Training Contract, you will be closely supported by the Early Talent Development team, your Supervisor, your Resource Manager, and your Monitoring Partner. They will all be available to act as mentors and advisors on a full range of subjects, but it will be up to you to make the most of this support network.

You will also have access to learning and development support from the Clifford Chance Academy, arguably the legal sector's leading in-house learning and development facility.

Am I eligible? 

Our Training Contract is open to penultimate-year law students, final-year law and non-law students, and graduates. You must have achieved or be on track to achieve a 2:1 or above, and be eligible to start in August 2027 or February 2028. Your intake may be decided by the recruitment team. For further information on eligibility, please refer to our FAQs on our website.

Required experience and skills

Outside of our academic requirements, you do not need any specific experience or legal knowledge to apply for this role. What you will need, however, are: 

• Astute business awareness and excellent problem-solving skills
• The ability to distinguish between legal and business issues
• An inquisitive mind and the ability to articulate and share knowledge and ideas
• The desire to provide exceptional service, and put clients at the heart of everything you do
• Outstanding leadership and collaboration skills and a natural enthusiasm for being part of a team
• The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced, high-pressure, high-performance environment
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• An eagerness to learn from those around you; to gain exposure within the Firm and beyond
• Pride in your work and a willingness to take responsibility for your own career.
• A genuine interest in the role, the Firm and its clients, and an understanding of how they align with your own skills and ambitions.

Our Training Contract is open to law and non-law students. 

If you have not studied a law degree then you will need to complete the PGDL prior to joining us as a Trainee. Please note that if you are a Scots or Irish law student or graduate, you may be required to do elements of the PGDL. 

You will also need to complete the SQE prior to joining us as a Trainee, irrespective of whether you have already completed the LPC. If you have already completed the SQE, you will still need to complete the Clifford Chance Plus Programme, which is a bespoke course designed by our lawyers in collaboration with the University of Law.

Both the PGDL and SQE are funded by Clifford Chance and we will provide a maintenance grant to use during your studies. More details can be found on our website. If you have already completed the PGDL and/or SQE, you need to have passed on first attempt.

About the Firm

Clifford Chance is one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the Firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our One Firm global strategy is focused on targeted growth led by the needs of our core clients, those who we can best support with the breadth and depth of Clifford Chance’s expertise, across the sectors and geographies, which matter most to them.

Our Firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part of an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

Equal Opportunities

At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our Firm, and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally, regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment, including pay, promotion, training, transfer, and every other aspect of employment.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration, and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our Firm. Find out more here.

Apply now > 

Please remember, you may only make one application to a scheme or role (either London Training Contract, Middle East Training Contract, or SPARK). Multiple applications will not be considered.

Please also be aware that we only review your application form. If you upload your CV, this will pre-populate some of your application; however, your CV will not be reviewed. Please do NOT upload a covering letter, as this will not be reviewed.