Join Linklaters and you become part of one of the world’s most prestigious law firms – a global network of exceptionally talented, highly motivated lawyers working as a team and learning from one another to fulfil our ambition of becoming the leading global law firm.
We are pursuing our ambition by focussing on building strong, long-term relationships with our clients, with our colleagues and with the communities in which we operate.
While many law firms are strong in particular areas, Linklaters is the only firm to have market-leading global teams across the full range of corporate, finance and commercial practice areas. This, partnered with our culture of innovation, teamwork and entrepreneurship, means that we have built strong relationships with the world’s leading companies, financial institutions and governments and are asked to advise them on their most important and challenging transactions and assignments. You can read more about the type of work we do at our website www.linklaters.com/ukgrads
A truly global firm, Linklaters has 19 practices across 27 cities worldwide, giving you the opportunity to connect with a diverse range of international colleagues and clients on a daily basis. As part of your training contract you will have the opportunity to be seconded to one the firm’s international offices or to the offices of one of our clients, giving you first hand experience of this global dimension.
Linklaters recruits a diverse mix of the most talented graduates from a wide range of universities and backgrounds. The training contract is structured around four six-month seats, designed to build your knowledge, experience and contacts in a broad range of practice areas and to equip you for your long-term career.
Linklaters has high expectations of its trainees and recruits talented and motivated graduates who expect a lot from themselves. In return, we offer our trainees global opportunities, entrepreneurial freedom, world-class training and incredible rewards.
For more information please visit www.linklaters.com/ukgrads
Linklaters Clerkship - Jonathon Turner, UNSW
As an Australian penultimate year law student the opportunity to gain an insight into the culture and work practices of a prestigious international commercial law firm whilst spending four weeks, over November and December, in London, a city renowned for its history, cosmopolitan credentials and culture, was of immediate appeal. Once I began to research the firm and the clerkship programme offered by Linklaters it quickly became apparent that this would be an invaluable opportunity to further my professional and personal development.
The Australian clerkship proved to be a thoroughly rewarding and exciting experience and something I would unreservedly recommend to anybody interested in corporate and commercial law in the international arena as it is a fantastic stepping stone from which to launch your legal career. Not only are flights to London and accommodation paid for, you’re paid a good salary too. Together with your fellow clerks you will be welcomed into the firm and given numerous opportunities to challenge yourself and to develop your commercial awareness and legal skills. Not only will you be involved in innovative and complex legal work for international clients but you will be given the freedom to immerse yourself in the many facets of London life. During the clerkship I was able to attend a number of firm activities which included attending the theatre in the West End, watching Chelsea play in the Champions League, a cocktail making evening where I learnt to make the perfect mojito and an ice skating event. The clerkship is also a fantastic opportunity to meet like minded people and develop relationships, both professional and social, which will continue well after your return to Australia.
My time during the clerkship was split between: gaining first hand work experience, training and development sessions, assessment tasks and an assortment of social activities. During the clerkship you sit in two different departments to enable you to gain a broader understanding of the culture of the firm and to meet and build relationships with a wider variety of people. The ability to engage with two different practice areas within the firm was something that immediately attracted me to the scheme. During my time in the corporate and intellectual property departments I assisted with and gained exposure to a number of different matters which involved attending a settlement conference, observing meetings with executives of some of the world’s leading financial institutions and multinationals, attending a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice and assisting on a client pitch.
The summer clerkship confirmed to me that I wanted to commence my career at Linklaters. The inclusive and supportive culture that I experienced during my clerkship was a fundamental reason for deciding to accept their offer of a training contract. The prospect of achieving dual qualification and the ability to gain exposure to challenging multi-jurisdictional transactions reinforced my desire to join the firm.
Having commenced my training contract, after returning to Australia to complete my university studies and my college of law qualifications, I feel secure in the knowledge that I am commencing my career in a firm that provides excellent training and development programmes, is supportive of my pursuits and interests outside the office, will enhance my commercial awareness and technical skills and will constantly challenge and excite me. The Linklaters Australian clerkship is the foundation upon which I hope to build a successful and exciting legal career.
A day in the life of a Trainee
Name: Verity Doyle
Background: Studied Economics/Law at the University of Queensland
Job: Legal Advisor (the job title for an Australian trainee) at Linklaters LLP, working in the private equity team in Mainstream Corporate
0910 Arrive in the office and meet some friends for breakfast in the firm café. The trainee grapevine is abuzz with secondment and seat planning in full swing and I hear I have friends going to Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Singapore and Hong Kong for their next seat (trainees at Linklaters do four rotations, called “seats”, of six months each). Having only moved over from Australia six months ago, I’ve opted to stay in London for my next seat, but now feel I might be lonely (although with over 200 trainees in the London office at any one time, this probably isn’t a real risk).
0930 Arrive at my desk and sit down to work on the Legal Vendor Due Diligence Report I’ve been preparing for the last week. We are acting for the sellers of a media company and preparing for an auction process. Today I am on a deadline to finish reviewing the main contracts this company has with its clients in the UK and abroad, and to compile them into a document which will be sent around to the parties who have expressed interest in buying the business. I’d heard nightmare stories thrown around about due diligence before I started, but I’ve worked on a few due diligence exercises during this seat and found it very interesting getting to understand the detail of how a business you previously knew nothing about works. All the better when it’s an exciting business like this one.
1045 My principal (direct supervisor who I share an office with), is at a meeting in Germany on another deal and has asked me to dial in to the meeting. On this deal we are acting for a private equity house attempting to buy a business and I’m happy to be asked to dial in because we’re at a critical point in negotiations. A few weeks ago I spent some time trying to understand some complex shareholding arrangements and in this meeting they are using my summaries to discuss how they might proceed in negotiations with various governments and other shareholders.
1300 Lunch – a training seminar on private equity M&A processes which is being run by a managing associate I have worked for. During the presentation I realise how much I have learnt in the last six months. Before I started I could have understood no more than 20% of the discussion but now I can follow almost everything and see how the concepts being discussed have played out in my work.
1400 Back to my contract summaries – I need to buckle down to get them done so I can attend our team social this evening.
1600 A quick coffee with some fellow trainees. The group of us are going to Cowes Week (a sailing regatta) with the firm’s sailing club this weekend and we meet to discuss how we will get down there.
1900 Finish my contract summaries and leave the office. I’m headed to our private equity team event which is drinks and a few rounds of computer simulated golf. I’m glad I already have a job because my golf skills leave a lot to be desired!
