Clifford Chance

Overview

Clifford Chance is a Magic Circle global law firm with a large multi-jurisdictional platform and deep sector expertise across finance, TMT, energy, ESG and major transactional practices. The firm emphasises a ‘one firm, one team’ global approach, combining deep legal and commercial intelligence to help clients grow, transform, protect and defend their businesses. Its global footprint and innovation capabilities (innovation hub, delivery centres, legal tech) plus high-volume training and thought leadership make it a go-to adviser on cross-border capital markets, banking, antitrust, major corporate transactions and regulatory work.

• Headquarters: London
• Lawyers: approx 3,407 (733 partners; 451 senior lawyers & consultants; 2,223 associates & executives)
• Partners: 733
• Trainees: 100
• Offices: 33

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

• Banking & Finance
• Capital Markets
• Competition & Antitrust
• Corporate & M&A
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Employment
• Tax
• Financial Services & Regulation
• ESG & Sustainability
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Real Estate
• Investment Funds
• Intellectual Property
• Infrastructure & Projects
• Insolvency & Restructuring
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Technology & Digital
• Media & Entertainment
• Transport & Logistics

Geographic Focus: A truly global footprint serving major financial and corporate centres across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The firm operates an integrated international network (33 offices across 22 countries) and routinely handles cross-border mandates, secondments and multi-jurisdictional matters for global corporates, banks, sponsors and sovereign entities.

Training Contract

Two-year training period is emphasised across several jurisdictions (the Beijing example cites a two‑year training period). The firm operates a multi-seat rotation model where trainees rotate through a number of practice groups/seats (seat duration and exact allocation vary by office and practice). Trainees are allocated to seats in practice groups across corporate, finance, litigation and specialist teams, supported by mentors, buddy systems and formal learning. The firm offers both office‑based and client secondments and international mobility across its global offices.

• Starting Salary: £56,000 (Year 1); £61,000 (Year 2)
• NQ Salary: £150,000
• Trainee Intake: 100
• Qualification Rate: 76% (latest trainee retention/qualification rate published in supplementary data).
• Academic Requirements: Minimum degree: 2:1. Minimum A-level requirement: No minimum. The firm recruits law and non‑law graduates and emphasises commercial aptitude and potential alongside academic performance.
• Application Deadline: 19 November 2025

Seat Options

• Capital Markets
• Banking & Finance
• Corporate & M&A
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Tax
• Employment
• Real Estate
• Financial Services & Regulation
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Technology & Digital
• Investment Funds
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Infrastructure & Projects
• Energy & Natural Resources

Sponsorship

PGDL/GDL grant: £12,500. SQE grant: £17,500. (Amounts published in supplementary data.)

SQE Support

SQE financial support includes a published SQE grant of £17,500 (supplementary data). Specific training provider details and precise study‑leave arrangements are not listed on the provided pages.

International Opportunities

Trainees have access to international secondments across the firm’s global network of offices. The firm reports a 31% chance of a secondment abroad for trainees, reflecting regular opportunities for cross‑jurisdictional placements and global mobility.

Client Secondments

Clifford Chance offers client secondments; the available figure for chance of client secondment is 36% (trainees sometimes undertake placements with major corporate or financial institution clients).

Mentorship

Formal mentoring and buddy systems are in place across offices. The firm references allocated mentors, trainee networks and trainee committees to support development and wellbeing.

Apply on the Clifford Chance website →

Programmes & Schemes

Notable Matters

What Clifford Chance Looks For

Key Competencies

• Commercial awareness
• Attention to detail
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Resilience and drive
• Strong academic record (2:1 or equivalent)
• International mindset and cultural awareness
• Communication and client service skills
• Curiosity about technology and innovation

Evidence Signals

• Participation in a vacation scheme or summer internship
• Relevant commercial or finance internships and work experience
• Pro bono or community engagement
• International experience or language skills
• Demonstrable interest in legal technology or process improvement (projects or coursework)
• Mooting, negotiation or client-facing experience

Benefits & Wellbeing

• Trainee salary Year 1: £56,000
• Trainee salary Year 2: £61,000
• Newly qualified (NQ) salary: £150,000
• PGDL/GDL grant: £12,500
• SQE grant: £17,500
• Annual leave: 25 days
• No annual target hours (no billable target policy reported)
• Access to global learning and development (1,870 legal and business skills training courses delivered in FY25)
• Access to global virtual internships and internal talent community
• Wellbeing support and a Global Head of Wellbeing and People Experience
• Access to innovation resources (delivery centres, legal tech and continuous improvement teams)

Wellbeing

Dedicated wellbeing leadership (Global Head of Wellbeing and People Experience), mental health and wellbeing campaigns and resources (including firm blogs and internal initiatives), and regionally run wellbeing activities. The firm highlights case studies and firm‑wide mental health awareness activity as part of its people development and inclusion agenda.

Awards & Recognition

• 88 rankings in Chambers USA Guide 2026 (1 June 2026)
• Celebrated success at the Chambers Africa Awards 2026 (29 May 2026)
• 16 deal of the year honours at the Green Street Infra Global Awards 2025 (23 April 2026 announcement)
• Clifford Chance lawyers recognised at Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards 2026 (8 April 2026)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The firm maps objectives and KPIs through its Responsible Business reporting and submits an annual Communication on Progress to the UN Global Compact. The inclusion approach is embedded across the Code and the global people and talent strategy, with public reporting (UK Diversity Statistics and Pay Gap Reports) and targeted affinity network programmes.

• Enable (disability and neurodiversity affinity network)
• REACH (Race, Equality and Celebrating Heritage network)
• Accelerate>>> (global gender parity group)
• Arcus (global LGBT+ network)
• Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme (UK membership)
• Clifford Chance Scholarship for Diverse Students in Europe
• Global Board Diversity Tracker
• Reporting library (UK Diversity Statistics 2025; UK Pay Gap Report 2025; Responsible Business Report 2025)

Pro Bono

Clifford Chance has an active pro bono programme with country and global pro bono highlights (examples include advising the Gay Project on expungement legislation, supporting the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre on its first community space, and advising HERA United on establishing a professional women's football club). Pro bono statistics and reports are published in the firm's reporting library.

Innovation

Clifford Chance places significant investment in legal tech, delivery and process optimisation: global delivery centres, a Continuous Improvement team (35 professionals globally), a data‑science capability, document automation tools (CC Dr@ft), legal project managers and client toolkits (Financial Markets Toolkit). The firm publishes innovation insights and case studies demonstrating AI, machine learning and automation use in due diligence and real‑estate diligence. Insider ratings rate the firm extremely highly for legal tech and innovation engagement.

• CC Dr@ft (document automation / CC Dr@ft)
• Innovation Hub and Innovation Capabilities (Legal Technology, Data Science)
• Delivery Centres (India and UK)
• Continuous Improvement (Lean and Six Sigma approaches)
• Legal Project Management (LPM)
• Data Science team
• Financial Markets Toolkit
• Talking Tech and Tech Group insights
• Venture Development Programme collaborations (example: R3)

Quick Application Angles

• Highlight specific cross‑border experience and commercial awareness: reference the firm’s recent cross‑border mandates (for example advising Expedia on antitrust aspects of its CarTrawler acquisition or the TenNor IPO in Hong Kong) to demonstrate you understand the scale and international nature of their work.
• Emphasise technical excellence plus commercial judgement: Clifford Chance values strong academics (minimum 2:1) but pairs that with commercial intelligence. Use examples where you combined legal/technical knowledge with business outcomes.
• Showcase legal tech or process improvement interest: the firm scores highly on legal tech and runs CC Dr@ft, Continuous Improvement and delivery centre programmes — applicants who can speak to practical tech experience or efficiency projects stand out.
• Discuss inclusion and networks: mention relevant affinity networks (Accelerate>>>, Arcus, REACH, Enable) or how you’ve contributed to inclusive initiatives — the firm places visible emphasis on inclusion and publishes detailed diversity reporting.
• If applying to an APAC seat or office, reference local schemes and mobility: mention interest in the Hong Kong or Singapore internship/vacation programmes and your willingness to pursue international secondments (the firm reports ~31% chance of secondment abroad).