Clifford Chance

Careers

Where bright
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London Early Talent

A global experience at your fingertips. The future of internships is here.

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

Over 140,000 people have registered for our award-winning free internships. With over 30 tasks and 60 hours of modular content, they represent the future of virtual work-experience and progress towards breaking down barriers to the profession and creating meaningful learning opportunities for all.

The content has been created by leading experts from across our global network. It will not only expose you to international work in a way that has never been done before, but also enable you to develop the analytical abilities that will turn you into a leading lawyer of tomorrow.

This internship will offer you the chance to:

  • Upskill yourself by completing trainee-level tasks
  • Gain an insight into challenges facing our clients around the world
  • Learn first-hand from our trainees and lawyers around our global network.

The moment to take control of your future has arrived. By giving you access to inspirational lawyers, exceptional development resources and insights that will guide you for years to come, this is an internship that could make your career.

Community & Pro Bono

The Clifford Chance global pro bono & community strategy focuses on contributing towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by our theory of change, and in the spirit of SDG 17 – Partnership for the Goals – we work in long-term partnerships with some of the world’s leading NGOs and civil society organisations, and our clients,  in order to maximise our impact. We harness the skills and expertise of our people to deliver positive and sustainable contributions towards the achievement of the SDGs.

This global virtual internship is a collaborative effort between Clifford Chance teams, notably our Warsaw office, and our pro bono client, Reprieve. In this internship, you will learn about the Centre for Sport and Human Rights and our Refugee Support Scheme, with a focus on how our skilled lawyers are able to provide critical assistance.  This will give you key foundational knowledge of how our pro bono practice contributes towards the UN Sustainable development Goals and the kinds of matters we advise on.

"Making a pro bono contribution in the communities around the world where we do business is a core part of the life of Clifford Chance lawyers. I hope you enjoy getting a taste of this through the internship. The contents of the internship draw heavily on key elements in Clifford Chance's global pro bono practice and so offer a great opportunity to practice the sorts of skills that our lawyers use when supporting individuals who cannot afford to pay for legal services and advising leading NGOs around the world. The internship also offers real insights into how we do pro bono work and the very real differences that our work makes to our pro bono clients." Tom Dunn, Global Pro Bono and Community Director

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Risk and Resilience

Looking to sharpen your knowledge of how Clifford Chance offers expert advice to our clients on their most critical legal and business issues?

 What better way to learn about how we work alongside our clients than to hear from them directly in our first ever client collaboration in partnership with Swiss Re.

Swiss Re is a leading company in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Clifford Chance has collaborated with Swiss Re to create a unique internship with rare exposure to topical matters from the joint perspective of in-house and private practice legal teams. The Risk and Resilience internship is designed to help future lawyers develop practical skills in key areas including building a foundation and understanding of insurance and reinsurance, drafting and written communication skills, identifying and assessing ESG issues and exploring the variety of insurance and reinsurance policies available to cover climate related risk.

"The idea born when we were sharing ideas about our mutual commitment and excitement around both Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The internship which focuses on risk and resilience, was the perfect combination of both those things. We wanted to give as many aspiring lawyers as possible, an insight into working for a client such as Swiss Re and to understand the critical and fascinating role that (re)insurance plays in making our world more resilient to climate change. The platform breaks that down and does so in an interactive and interesting way." – Cheng Li Yow, Partner

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Discover our suite of cutting-edge virtual internships

Our Global Virtual Internships, will inform you about the legal and commercial implications of risks across industries.

The challenges our clients need help with are complex and borderless. To face these challenges effectively, our approach also needs to be multi-jurisdictional and inter-disciplinary. You will practise advising clients on how to protect themselves and deal with these risks responsibly and gain a practical insight into the work you will take on as a trainee.

Register

What past participants have to say...

I really enjoyed completing the Global Virtual Internships. I was especially fortunate to secure a LIFT internship with Forage, which spanned last half of 2022 before starting the LPC.

Completing the virtual internships massively improved my confidence in applying for a training contract. In particular, completing the Clifford Chance Climate Change Global Virtual Internship really gave me the chance to demonstrate my knowledge during my interview.

They really gave me an insight into the kind of tasks I could expect to take on as a trainee at Clifford Chance. I also found the exemplar models provided a great insight into the high quality and standard of work expected from a trainee at Clifford Chance.

- Reanne Thomas, Future Trainee
 

The virtual internships gave me a more precise sense of the day-to-day work involved in specific practice areas. The platform allowed me to delve into the kind of work I would be doing as a trainee. It also allowed me to gauge and get an understanding and feel of the people I would be working for at the firm. This gave me a good base of what was to come when I did start my actual career.

It was super easy to enrol in and completing the tasks was achieveable as I could do it at my own pace and could always go back to an exercise. It's flexible as you can complete it anywhere and anytime.

- Geoffrey Chen, Law Graduate

 

Our collaborators

Our collaboration with Swiss Re

As a world-leading company in insurance and reinsurance which insures, invests, operates, and shares knowledge in a way that tackles sustainability challenges and creates long-term value.

Their distinct mission is to apply deep knowledge, intelligent data and capital strength to anticipate and manage risk. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally. It's 14,400 employees provide a wide range of technical expertise, enabling them to develop unique solutions and drive growth.

"Swiss Re Legal is really excited to be partnering with Clifford Chance on this collaboration. We believe our teams have produced a novel, practical and we hope enjoyable joint module offering the rare opportunity to see legal work from both in-house and private practice perspectives. The virtual internship is a fantastic global initiative where students get to learn a great deal from these real-world tasks." – Hermann Geiger, Group Chief Legal Officer

Our collaboration with the University of York

The University of York is a trusted partner of ours and we have worked with them for many years – most recently, on our 2019 Out & Proud research in collaboration with Trendence UK, National Student Pride and Deutsche Bank.

York Law School is top-rated for research, teaching and learning. One of its distinguishing characteristics is its pioneering use of Problem Based Learning (PBL) – a modern, dynamic learning method where students experience law in its social and theoretical contexts and learn to work as a professional.

The University contributed towards idea generation for the internship tasks, reviewed the content once our lawyers had designed it and provided some useful guidance about PBL - which should help you if you decide to work on the tasks in a group.

"Working with Clifford Chance on this project has been a real eye-opener. Their total commitment to innovation and finding new ways of doing things is inspiring and really connects with the way we approach our teaching at York Law School. “ – Stephen Levett, Director of Professional Practice at York Law School.

Our particular thanks go to Stephen Levett, for his contribution towards our Global Virtual Internship.
 

Our collaboration with UEA Law School and CCP

Our Antitrust Global Virtual Internship has been designed in collaboration with the University of East Anglia Law School and the prestigious Centre for Competition Policy (CCP), which produces high-quality research and policy advice on a broad range of competition-law-related topics and issues. The modules draws on the rich practical expertise of our Antitrust team and the academic and research work of CCP to introduce you to the fascinating world of competition law.

Meet our Global Virtual Internships contributors

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Mary Elizabeth Bultemeier
“The Global Virtual Internships are exciting because they provide the opportunity to see what the firm's practice is really like and prepare students for a career in that practice.”

Mary Elizabeth Bultemeier

Law Clerk

"I would have loved to participate while I was a student because there is no better way to prepare yourself for actual tasks you might receive as a Junior Associate at the firm.

The tasks are challenging and interesting and will provide an excellent starting point for anyone looking to understand what working in commercial law looks like."
Elena Calsamiglia
“The internships effectively provide a concrete sense of the type and quality of the work required of trainee lawyers at a global law firm like Clifford Chance."

Elena Calsamiglia

Trainee

"At the same time, the tasks will urge students to keep an eye on future developments in their careers by drawing their attention to the most innovative legal issues like climate change. 

Although these are still emerging today, they are likely to be part of the daily working routine of future generations of lawyers.”
Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram
"Respecting human rights when conducting business is a basic element of business ethics and the joint responsibility of firms, states and social entities, which should cooperate to counteract human rights violations."

Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram

Advocate

"This is why it is so important that students applying to the firm know how to demonstrate knowledge of human rights law and appropriate social sensitivity to the problems of others.

These internships are detailed and dense in content which means any one that gives them a try for the first time should be guaranteed to come away having learnt something new."
Adrien Doerr
''The Global Virtual Internships offer a great opportunity for all those interested in the legal profession to gain an authentic and comprehensive insight into life at a law firm from the comfort of their own home."

Adrien Doerr

Trainee

"Particularly at an early stage of their educational journey, this will be an invaluable chance to gain some first-hand experience and at the same time showcases just how international and interlinked our work is.

Working on the content of the Antitrust internship was fascinating and enlightening. They offer so much insight and should allow individuals to really get a feel for the type of work undertaken by lawyers."
Eitan Myers
“The Global Virtual Internships are an opportunity for all regardless of their background, to gain an insight into the world of corporate law."

Eitan Myers

Trainee

"It allows people to work on typical trainee tasks and provides those either starting to be interested by law or already taking their first steps towards a legal career, with a unique and genuine understanding of the corporate world.

I think these internships differ from others in that they are so detailed and built round real work. They are a really amazing resource for anyone that is thinking about working in a commercial sphere."
Kristians Butins
“Our SABRE Global Virtual Internship provides a great foundation to build understanding about the complex financial and regulatory legal work that we do and challenges that our clients face."

Kristians Butins

Lawyer

"It is challenging to get legal internship or work experience opportunities at law firms, particularly, for more disadvantaged students or those changing their careers. Our Global Virtual Internship strives to break barriers by giving everyone equal access to the insight of the legal sector.

Looking back, I wish there were opportunities like these when I was a student trying to see whether I would like to pursue a career in law."

Access to Education

As a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we believe that education is vital for building a better world for all. As such, access to education is one of the three pillars of our global Community & Pro Bono Strategy. We believe that social progress cannot happen without everyone having access to quality education, therefore we support and run activities around the world with the aim of protecting and expanding access to education. Our Global Virtual Internships are open-access which means anyone can participate and have access to these programmes from anywhere.

Find out more