Law graduates and students

Why Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance offers you the opportunity to join a global law firm with one of the most pre-eminent legal practices in the world. Our Open Days and Vacation Schemes give you those first insights into a dynamic career in law. Our Training Contract will transform you from a talented beginner to a professional lawyer. Join us and you will experience, first hand, the 'one firm, one team' approach that makes working at Clifford Chance so different.

Are you ready to become part of a world-class team?

Middle East Graduate Programme

When you start your career in law at Clifford Chance you become part of one of the world's largest law firms. Undertake your training contract in the Middle East and you'll be sharing an ambition that has fuelled our growth and established our credentials as legal pioneers across the region.

We've designed the training contract to give you the breadth of experience you need to emerge as a confident business adviser.

Your four rotations will include two based in our London office, the firm's global headquarters, and the other two based in Dubai, the Middle East's key regional office and the region's financial hub. This will enable you to have a truly international legal experience working alongside leading sector professionals from across two continents and allow you to launch your career as an England & Wales qualified lawyer in the Middle East.

What's on offer?

As a trainee in the Middle East, you become a valued team member from day one. You will be close to the action with an active role in client relationships and business development early on. You will enjoy the challenge of working on a wide variety of international, market leading and landmark transactions, often collaborating with colleagues from other offices and practice areas.

Your experience in London will provide you with a sense of the phenomenal scale of our business and give you the opportunity to connect and collaborate with over a hundred of your peers alongside whom you will navigate your career. In all of your seats, you'll enjoy activities that develop and enhance your legal and business skills, as well as your commercial awareness. The role will be varied day-to-day including tasks such as drafting and proofing documents, attending client meets and you may even run some smaller transactions for our clients.

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What are we looking for?

We're looking for graduates who are genuinely interested in a career in law and committed to a career in the Middle East. Whilst regional focus is important to us and Arabic language skills can be useful, our business is global and we welcome diversity in your experience and background.

It is your potential to become a world class lawyer that is key rather than your knowledge and understanding of the law itself or your field of study.

In order to apply for our Middle East Graduate Programme, you should have a strong academic record. To us, that means having 340 UCAS points at A Level (or equivalent) and obtaining or being on target for a 2:1 (or equivalent) degree result or higher. The subject of your degree however is not important.

The Training Contract for 2023 is targeted at penultimate year law students and final year non-law students (undergraduate degree). If you are an applicant who does not fall into these target groups, you can still apply but your application will not be prioritised at this stage and, as such, you will not be sent a Watson Glaser test at the moment. If your application is going to be considered, you will find out no later than 14th December 2020.

Please note you cannot apply for both a Middle East and a London training contract in the same academic year.

On applying, you will be asked to upload a CV and covering letter – this is a mandatory system requirement but is not reviewed for any graduate roles. Anything you upload here will not be read by the graduate team.

The recruitment process

The first stage of our assessment process is to complete the online application form attached. Shortly after submitting your application, you will receive an email from us asking you to complete an online Watson Glaser critical reasoning assessment. This takes approximately 30 minutes and should be completed within 7 days of receiving our email with instructions. Should you be successful at this stage, you will be invited to attend one of our Assessment Days, which are held in Dubai and in London according to your location at the time. These assessment days are designed to identify motivated, creative and focused individuals who are passionate about law and delivering top-class legal advice to our clients.

Watson Glaser practice test

Before you take the Watson Glaser test, it's a good idea to practise as much as you can so you are familiar with the format and the type of thinking involved.

You can click below to practise as many times as you need. Your practice attempts do not form part of the assessment and Clifford Chance will not see the results. As well as the practice test, there are lots of other online resources that you may wish to use. Some of them are free, but some require payment. Click here for additional resources.

Try a test