‘Outstanding’ students may secure permanent role
Simmons & Simmons has launched what it says is a first-of-its-kind dedicated AI law internship, aimed at aspiring lawyers and students with a strong interest in technology.
The two-week programme will place interns in both tech-focused and legal AI roles within the firm’s London-based AI team.
Students will work on AI projects alongside Simmons’ tech specialists, gaining experience in AI law, governance, enablement and transformation. The scheme is designed to build both technical and legal skills, and introduce students to the latest AI tools.
News of the internship follows comments made earlier this summer by Julian Taylor, Simmons’ senior partner, who urged training contract hunters not to be dazzled by six-figure City salaries but to focus on how firms are using AI, which he said could define their future careers. The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2026 shows Simmons’ offers a newly qualified salary of £120,000.
Applications open on 15 October for eight places on the programme, which begins in April 2026. It’s open to penultimate and final-year undergraduates, as well as postgraduates and graduates, and is particularly aimed at those studying law, STEM or related fields. “Outstanding” participants may be offered future roles at the firm.
Minesh Tanna, Simmons partner and global AI Lead, said:
“This is the only dedicated AI internship of its kind in the UK — offering young professionals a rare opportunity to work at the heart of a law firm with world-class expertise in both AI law and governance, and legal technology. This is all about developing the pipeline of future talent, but we also want to inspire students and make them aware of the many varied and incredibly exciting career paths in AI in the legal profession.”
A Legal Cheek reader recently asked how junior lawyers are using AI in their day-to-day work, as part of our popular Career Conundrums series. One respondent shared that they had supervised several vacation scheme students over the summer, noting that all of them seemed to rely heavily on AI. However, they offered this caution:
“Try to get to a point where you can still reach the answers without it. Using AI extensively early in your career might leave you unable to reason, research, or draw conclusions independently.”