A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 28 countries worldwide. Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.
We offer exceptional opportunities for our people; opportunities to work for the world’s leading businesses; to transform the status quo, and to deliver your best work, helping you and your career to thrive, while delivering unparalleled outcomes for our clients.
Whether you're helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth-running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel. We provide first-rate training and development, we are committed to an inclusive environment, and we provide support and ways of working that help you optimise your wellbeing. What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.
Application ProcessApplications open 8 September 2025 and close on 7 December 2025 (11:59pm HKT). All applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.You will be required to submit an online application which details your work and education history. You will need to submit your CV, a cover letter, and your most recent academic transcript.
You will then be sent an email which will contain a link to complete our online experience. The online experience will include verbal and numerical reasoning items and two short motivation questions to complete via video. The online experience is untimed and should take around 45 minutes. The online experience is designed to provide a realistic preview of what you may experience as a trainee at A&O Shearman as well as give us an insight into your motivations. As we review applications and invite students to next stage on a rolling basis, we strongly recommend that you complete this assessment
within a week of receiving the instruction email.
Selected candidates will be invited to a business case study interview.
Please note that you can only make one application each year to A&O Shearman Hong Kong, for either a Training Contract or Vacation Scheme.
Scheme OverviewOur Summer Vacation Scheme is a unique opportunity, designed to show you exactly what it’s like to tackle exciting challenges every day in an industry leading law firm. You’ll have the chance to develop real and valuable skills and experience global success as part of our friendly, supportive and dynamic culture. Throughout the scheme, you’ll have a range of learning tools at your disposal that will show you what it takes to excel as an international commercial lawyer.
We run two four-week Vacation Schemes in our Hong Kong office every summer, in June and July. Students will need to be available for the entire scheme.
• June scheme: 1 June - 26 June 2026
• July scheme: 29 June - 24 July 2026
Benefits:• Gain hands on experience in an industry-leading law firm
• Develop practical skills and knowledge
• Receive mentorship from experienced legal professionals
• Potential to secure a training contract and further your career with us based on your vacation scheme performance
Requirements:Education:
• Applications are welcomed from penultimate and final year law students, or final year non-law students at university in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other common law jurisdictions.
• We expect you to be heading for at least 2:1 or equivalent for your law degree or JD.
• Only candidates eligible for a 2028 training contract start date will be considered.
Skills:
To set yourself apart from the competition and to succeed in our high-performing firm, you’ll need to be:
• Open-minded
• Innovative
• Collaborative
• Critical thinker
Spoken Mandarin and Cantonese; and reading and writing skills either with simplified or traditional Chinese are highly desirable. Other Asian language skills are also relevant for this region.
More information on the attributes we look for can be found on our
Early Careers website.
The offer of a training contract is conditional upon a successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) course in Hong Kong. You must complete the PCLL course prior to starting your training contract at one of the university providers in Hong Kong – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The City University of Hong Kong or The University of Hong Kong
PCLL important information (particularly for overseas law students)
• If your law degree or JD is from an overseas university, you will need to complete PCLL conversion exams prior to starting the PCLL course.
• For those candidates who have accepted our training contract, we will reimburse your conversion exam fees for your first attempt.
More information can be found online at: https://www.pcea.com.hk/
