Clifford Chance offers fast-track route to TC assessment day through new ‘immersive challenge’

Exclusive: Accelerated vac scheme

Clifford Chance has launched a new “challenge” that will see students who impress fast-tracked to a training contract assessment day.

The Magic Circle firm today unveiled a new programme, dubbed ‘The Challenge‘, which it describes as a “first-of-its-kind immersive opportunity” designed to give TC seekers a realistic insight into life as a junior lawyer at Clifford Chance.

Students will work together on a series of trainee-level tasks for a fictional global client, tackling evolving commercial issues, responding to unexpected challenges and using AI tools to support their work. They will also team up with the firm’s lawyers from across its international offices.

An accelerated vacation scheme of sorts, The Challenge runs for just three days, compared with the two or even three weeks typically required by traditional programmes. The first day is delivered virtually, while the remaining two will see students working from the firm’s Canary Wharf headquarters.

The programme is being piloted in London, with 30 places available for penultimate-year law students and final-year non-law students, and the firm says “outstanding” candidates could be fast-tracked to one of its training contract assessment days.

Commenting on the launch, London office managing partner Chinwe Odimba-Chapman said:

“The work we do at Clifford Chance is inherently global, collaborative and focused on helping clients navigate complex challenges. The Challenge has been designed to reflect that experience, giving participants the opportunity to work across borders, tackle evolving commercial scenarios and gain an authentic insight into how we work and what a career at Clifford Chance can offer.”

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