Clifford Chance |

Our Firm, work, and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. In a world where commercial success increasingly relies on globalisation, we offer clients a truly international perspective, and we offer our people a rewarding and stimulating career.

Our work has a real and meaningful impact, often demanding the kind of knowledge that only international, cross-practice teams can provide. With a formidable reputation in our field, organisations turn to us not just for legal expertise, but also for advice on their most critical business issues.

It’s collaborative, rigorous and inspiring. Our people are highly professional and resilient, with an entrepreneurial streak. And they are more than happy to share their expertise and knowledge. A common thread that runs through all of our six practice areas is a high performance, can-do culture. Partners are hands-on with the work, and newly qualified lawyers are expected to demonstrate leadership behaviour from a very early stage. Every single person is critical to the success of the team.

Your first 90 days at university can be a whirlwind. There’s no time to think about your future when you’re learning how to cook and do laundry on top of your studies! Here, SPARK alumna and Trainee Wanipa Ndhlovu talks about how she managed to build a network of supportive people and start making positive steps towards her career as a lawyer. You don’t have to wait until second year to start. Wanipa didn’t. Hear about some of the exciting opportunities that have come out of that decision.

We see inclusion as an intrinsic value of our firm. It is a matter of justice. It is also a core part of our identity. Our history as a firm has been anchored in innovative and diverse cultures and approaches which have both disrupted traditional attitudes and set global standards. Our goal is to deliver equality of opportunity, equality of aspiration, and equality of experience to everyone who works in our Firm.

Whether you’re a first-year student or a recent graduate, our global virtual internships will give you the skills you need to take that next big step in your career.

Life can have its ups and downs, but there is lots of support available. For example, as part of our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees, we have developed a unique and award-winning resilience programme for our Clifford Chance trainees.

We commit to investing in you from the very start to build the best foundation for your future. In fact, the sheer variety of development opportunities on offer is remarkable. They can begin even before your first day. We have partnered with over 50 organisations and core Clifford Chance business teams to offer paid summer internships to give you the opportunity to develop useful non-legal skills such as marketing, product management, and business operations which will help you to excel. From there, you can take advantage of our award-winning induction, regular feedback sessions, and a sponsor at Partner level.

We embrace a learning culture, and the Clifford Chance Global Academy provides classroom and online training for all staff. However, some things can only be learned by experience, and over a quarter of our trainees are on secondment at any one time, gaining unique international seat experiences.

We have a comprehensive Responsible Business Strategy in place. For instance, we align our operations to contribute towards a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on those areas where we can make the greatest contribution, and we intend to continue to do so through to 2030.