All applications should be submitted through our application portal. Click ‘apply now’ for all available opportunities.

Yes, we review applications on a rolling basis. We recommend early submission within the application period as we offer places as we receive applications.

We give priority to penultimate-year law students who are on track for a 2:1 degree or equivalent. If your academics fall below our criteria and you have extenuating circumstances, please include these in the extenuating circumstances box within your application and they will be taken into consideration.

We look for many skills including determination, enthusiasm, time management, flexibility, attention to detail, an interest in business, willingness to work as a team, and a sense of humour. When writing your application, make sure you link your experiences to the types of skills we look for. See our website for more information on what skills make a great lawyer.

As an increasing amount of our work involves the PRC, fluency in Mandarin is becoming more important. If you’re interested in pursuing a career in this region, we recommend you improve your spoken, reading and writing skills in Mandarin. Communicating with clients in spoken Mandarin and written Chinese will bring you many opportunities to gain from a variety of work experiences. We also offer Mandarin classes for our Hong Kong trainees.

Yes. We accept applications from candidates requiring a work visa and we will assist with your application during your training contract and qualification.

See our website for more information on our upcoming events or follow us on our socials.

Every year we offer up to eight two-year training contracts.

The recruitment process for the internship scheme is exactly the same as the process for a training contract. Therefore, you don't need to apply for a training contract if you have applied for an internship.

We’ll consult with you before you training contract starts to discover which of our practice areas most interest you, while making sure you still benefit from well-rounded training. Corporate, Finance and Dispute Resolution seats are compulsory as they’re the foundation to a career, regardless of whether you choose to qualify in them. You can choose to complete an Intellectual Property and Information Technology, or an Antitrust, Competition and Trade practice seat. All trainees are required to complete a three-month seat in our Beijing or Shanghai office, and a six-month seat in our London office.

Upon qualification, you will be invited to submit your qualification preferences to our Trainee Development team. There is no interview process and you would be able to submit up to three preferences. When submitting your qualification preferences, you will identify what seats you have enjoyed during your training contract.

If you accept our offer of a training contract, Freshfields will reimburse you for the PCLL course tuition fees and we will also provide you a maintenance grant during the year of your PCLL study.

Visit the Hong Kong Conversion Examination Board at http://www.pcea.com.hk/ or contact the PCLL course providers (for example, HKU, CityU or CUHK).

Our internship programme has various assessment areas. The first is a research task which you will work on with a partner or a counsel. The second is a language test which we will test your proficiency in English and Mandarin. You will also work with other interns to prepare a pitch and present to a panel. We will collect feedback from those you have worked with during your internship. At the end of the internship, there will be a one-hour interview with a partner, a counsel/ senior associate and a member of the HR team. All these assessments determine whether you will be offered a training contract.