Whatever you study at university, you will have some postgraduate study to complete before you begin your training contract with a law firm. This will give you the foundations for your legal career and enable you to make the most of your training contract from day one. If you have studied law at university, your training begins with the Legal Practice Course (LPC). This is generally a year-long programme but we offer all Clifford Chance trainees a shortened seven month course. If you have studied a subject other than law, your training begins with the one year long Graduate Diploma in Law conversion course (GDL), followed by the LPC.

Graduate Diploma in Law

This one-year conversion course will provide you with a foundation in legal knowledge and process and set you up to begin your LPC alongside graduates who have studied Law. In terms of the structure of your career, this extra year of study is the only material difference between graduates with law backgrounds and those without. There are no restrictions regarding where you study for the GDL, though we do encourage you to complete it at The College of Law, Moorgate where you will complete your LPC. Details of universities and colleges offering GDL courses are available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website: www.sra.org.uk

Clifford Chance will pay all your GDL course fees, as well as providing a maintenance grant to help support you during this additional year of study.

Legal Practice Course

All candidates - both law and non-law - must take the LPC before beginning a training contract. At Clifford Chance we have developed our own LPC programme in association with The College of Law in London and in accordance with the requirements of the SRA. This programme is run twice a year in July and January ahead of the relevant intake dates, February and August, respectively. All UK candidates (and certain overseas candidates) must take this course, unless you have already taken your LPC before applying to the firm.

The Clifford Chance LPC has been designed to introduce you to the kinds of issues and challenges that we tackle on behalf of our clients and to familiarise you with the documentation, templates and processes that shape major business transactions. It will also give you an opportunity to get to know your future trainee colleagues and begin building your personal networks.

Our LPC programme at The College of Law is also supplemented with a series of talks at our offices in Canary Wharf. By describing our work and the role of the trainees in each practice area, these talks are designed to help you put your course into context and further prepare you for the transition to your training contract and get to know more people in the firm. During your LPC you'll also have regular contact with our Graduate Development team, who will be available to answer any questions you may have about the Training Contract but also to provide you with both moral and practical support throughout your studies.

Clifford Chance will pay all your fees for studying the Clifford Chance LPC and provide a maintenance grant to help support you during your studies.