A deep dive into Clifford Chance’s Global Virtual Internships

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Nov 01, 2021

Written By Robert Greene

Get ready to step inside an international law firm and travel the world, all from the comfort of your home: with the Clifford Chance virtual internships you can experience being a trainee with one of the world’s most successful global law firms, at the click of a button.

What are the Clifford Chance Global Virtual Internships?

Clifford Chance and the University of York have teamed up to create a 25-hour virtual programme that gives participants a flavour of life as a trainee at the top international law firm.

“It’s an opportunity to tell you and teach you about what we do and how we operate,” explains Global Senior Partner Jeroen Ouwehand, of the four free online internships.

Over the course of these virtual placements, students can develop key trainee skills, meet potential future colleagues and make informed decisions about how to move forward in their careers. “This programme will give you a great insight into not only the types of work that we do, but also provide you with an introduction to some of our fantastic team members,” says David Tsai, Partner in the Hong Kong Office. “This is a great opportunity to learn and ascertain if we are the right firm for you.”

What do the internships involve?

Each of the four self-assessed online internships present participants with a range of tasks based on real-life work, with real-life partners at the firm stepping in to give Instructions via video.

The four internships are:

Climate Change Global Virtual Internship

Cyber Security Global Virtual Internship

Business and Human Rights Global Virtual Internship

Sustainable Finance Global Virtual internship

Each one takes approximately 5-7 hours, and students can work at their own pace and in their own order, starting or stopping exercises as they please, or even choosing to complete just one or two of the four options: freedom of choice is key here.

Despite being virtual, the programme has very real benefits: on completion of each task participants are given model answers with which to compare their submissions – enabling them to improve their approach – and at the end of each internship they are presented with a certificate, which they can add to a CV or LinkedIn profile, boosting their employability.

Opportunities with Clifford Chance

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Climate Change Global Virtual Internship

Arguably one of the most pressing issues today is tackling climate change, and this virtual placement aims to arm students with the experience with which to help. As Umberto Penco Salvi, Corporate Partner in Clifford Chance’s Milan office, explains: “In every part of the world, people are struggling to understand the best way to stop this very negative trend of climate change.”

In the Climate Change Global Virtual Internship, students are assigned three tasks, each carefully crafted to help them develop specific skills.

The first involves pending US climate change legislation: students must research new climate-related laws that could affect Clifford Chance’s clients if or when they come into force, honing their research and analytical skills.

The second task asks them to brief a client on their climate-related disclosure duties – developing analytical and client communication skills – and the final one sees students review the Heads of Terms for an emissions reduction purchase agreement, advising a client on the changes necessary to protect their needs. Here, they have the opportunity to develop issue-spotting and contract review skills.

Cyber Security Global Virtual Internship

“[Cyber security] types of incidents are highly complex, highly regulated and also highly damaging for our clients if they go wrong,’ says Jonathan Kewley, Partner and Co-Head of Clifford Chance’s Tech Group. That’s why the Cyber Security Global Virtual Internship is especially important, giving vital experience over three tasks.

The first – fairly dramatic – exercise requires students to develop practical guidance for a client on how to respond to a dawn raid on an Information Commissioner’s Office, focusing on research and presentation skills.

Next, students must assess the legal consequences of a data leak, honing legal and risk assessment skills, which are key competencies.

The third task sees students advise a client on a data-related damages claim, giving them the chance to flex their drafting skills.

Business & Human Rights Global Virtual Internship

“There’s overwhelming agreement that boards have a responsibility to take a public stance on political events that have negative human rights or diversity implications,’ says Stephen Nickelsburg, Partner in the Clifford Chance Washington office. “The regulatory environment is moving fast and clients will need robust due diligence and reporting procedures to deal with it.”

This is where the Business and Human Rights Global Virtual Internship comes in, spread over four tasks. The first sees students advise a client on whether they are required to comply with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, focusing on the important issues of human trafficking and slavery. It should enable students to develop their research and drafting skills.

For the second task, students tackle a European Directive about the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information, advising a client on its principles while honing research, drafting and analytical skills.

The third exercise asks students to advise a client on the risk of a target company in a M&A transaction being associated with human trafficking; the focus here being the development of commercial awareness and communication skills.

Finally, students take on the task of determining whether a national court ruling is a violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Research and analysis are two key skills which students should develop from tackling this fourth exercise.

Sustainable Finance Global Virtual internship

“ESG-linked financing is rapidly becoming the developing field which our firm would like to highlight to yourselves as future legal practitioners,” says Partner David Tsai, referring to finance linked to Environmental Social and Governance performance.

In this final internship, Sustainable Finance Global Virtual internship, students will complete four tasks and arm themselves with the skills to face this developing field head on.

The first requires students to amend a term sheet with the client’s comments. Focussing on the negotiation of a sustainability-linked loan, this task is geared up to help students improve their attention to detail.

The second presents participants with a loan default on a wind farm project in the Philippines, asking them to produce a short note summarising the key issues and suggested steps. Ending with a call with the Hong Kong-based client, students will flex their research and communication skills. These skills are foremost in the third task too, in which students must leave a voicemail for a client giving high-level advice on green and sustainable bonds in the People’s Republic of China.

The final task on the internship involves helping a bank navigate environmental risk management guidelines. Students are required to carry out research and summarise their findings in a PowerPoint presentation for the client to use as training material, which again gives their research and communication skills a boost, as well as their presentation prowess.

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