EARLY CAREERS in the United Kingdom
International training programme
Self-motivated and highly driven
You are proactive and strive for excellence. You pursue goals with purpose and determination, whether working independently or as part of a team.
Excitement for international law and business
You are curious about global legal developments, regulatory shifts and geopolitical trends.
Strong collaborator with social awareness
You are an excellent communicator, active listener and team player who contributes to an inclusive, supportive work environment.
Entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to challenge the norm
You think creatively, embrace new ideas and challenge conventional approaches. You thrive in challenging environments and aim to excel.
Ability to think critically, adapt and take ownership
You have an ability to assess situations from multiple perspectives, adapt quickly to change and take responsibility for delivering exceptional results.
Growth mindset, seeing setbacks as opportunities
You are resilient, reflective, and always eager to learn, leveraging setbacks as an opportunity to sharpen your thinking.
Transcript
Molly Stevenson, Early Careers Talent Acquisition Specialist, UK: Here we are, ready for the 2025 summer internship. Let's go.
Heidi Drinnan, Trainee Solicitor, Manchester: One of the biggest things to remember as an intern is that you've already got to this stage. It's such a huge achievement!
Ashleigh Alli, Pro Bono Manager: To make the most of the internship, just really go for it. Put yourself out there.
Rob Newman, Partner, Corporate, Birmingham: You really need to be open. Use this opportunity to start building that network.
Helen O’Connor, International Director of Knowledge and Insight: Everyone is excited to come into work and do things in a new, better way.
Ashleigh Alli: We're innovative. We're kind of forward looking, proactive, all of those things.
Helen O’Connor: Even if it's only a little bit every day.
Ashleigh Alli: But we also have something in common as well. So 100% - it's the people.
Ruth Hoy, Office Managing Partner, London: One thing about DLA is it's always moving. It's always reinventing itself. It's very good at looking at where it is now and where it wants to go to.
Jon Hayes, Global Co-Chair and Senior Partner: We want to recruit and employ people who know how to lead, work in a team, have an impact, make a difference.
Yunus Maka, Partner, Corporate, Manchester: So whether you enjoy doing sports law, media law, IT law, AI, there's a job for you somewhere.
Simi Oluborode, 2025 Summer Intern, Dublin: Everyone has been lovely. The speakers have all been amazing.
Aya Mohamed, 2025 Summer Intern, London: It's lovely having people come from all over the UK.
Matthew Mitham, 2025 Summer Intern, London: This is obviously a massive, massive firm across the world with loads of cross-border opportunities.
Leah Randell, 2025 Summer Intern, Birmingham: I've met so many lovely people. Everyone who's so passionate about going into law.
Rudrakshi Goswami, 2025 Summer Intern, Manchester: And this sort of blend between excellence and humility is what really attracted me towards DLA Piper.
Nathan Douglas-Smith, 2025 Summer Intern, London: Hearing from the partners, hearing from quite senior people how inclusive the culture is.
Sarah Coffey, 2025 Summer Intern, Edinburgh: I'm very excited to get to the home offices and do a bit more hands-on work next week.
Ashleigh Alli: One word?
Heidi Drinnan: Opportunity.
Helen O’Connor: Merit.
Aya Mohamed: Transformative.
Nathan Douglas-Smith: Inspirational.
Simi Oluborode: Exceptional.
Sarah Coffey: Insightful.
Rudrakshi Goswami: Fun.
Matthew Mitham: Exciting.
Transcript
Molly: Hi, I am Molly. I work in the Early Careers team here at DLA Piper.
Kathleen: I'm Kathleen. I work in the Early Careers Talent Acquisition team here at DLA Piper.
Molly: When you're submitting an application form, the number one thing is to make sure you proofread your application before you submit it.
You’ve spent so long on it and it's really frustrating to submit it and realize that you've spelt something wrong.
It's really important for us to make sure that the lawyers we recruit have really great attention to detail.
Kathleen: A big thing would be – do your research to really understand why you're applying to DLA Piper.
Molly: Know the firm. Know what we're about.
Kathleen: We obviously know that you want to work in the legal industry, but what specifically stands out about us as a firm.
Molly: Once you've spent some time doing that, I'd recommend getting your application submitted. Get a draft up and really take time to work through that.
Kathleen: So if you do attend one of our assessment centres, my top tips would be to really try and be yourself.
Molly: The most important thing to do at an assessment centre is to be yourself.
Kathleen: Don't try and answer questions the way that you think the interviewer wants to hear them. They're really looking for that authentic person and who you are.
Molly: We'll be out on campus, attending lots of events, working with lots of different societies across universities, up and down the country, and across the world.
So come and meet us. That's the best opportunity for you to find out about who we are and to really reinforce the reasons why you want to work with us.
Kathleen: We also have an Instagram page. That's DLA Piper Careers.
Molly: You can find out all about where we are on campus, the opportunities, applications, openings, closing, and lots of other exciting content.
Transcript
Trainee: The main thing I've learnt from my experiences at DLA Piper is how interconnected our world really is.
Our world is growing and so globalized now. It only made sense for me to start my career somewhere that is global at heart.
Trainee: It is a global law firm. So at the junior level that means you can do international secondments to work for six months in another country, which sounds ideal to me.
Trainee: What really drew me to DLA Piper was the firm's One UK Policy, which is the policy that work is shared collaboratively across all of the UK offices.
Even though I'm based in a regional office, I still have access to opportunities to work on really high-profile, really exciting matters and projects, even from a regional base.
Trainee: Obviously, coming into a job like this there's a huge amount of imposter syndrome that can come with it.
But I think with how supported you are at DLA Piper, that can help overcome that.
They're there to give you those little pushes which you might feel too scared to take on your own.
Trainee: There are so many opportunities to just put your hand up and ask to get involved in things. So whether that's saying, oh, Could I write an article for website? Could I get involved in this pro bono work?
Trainee: I wasn't a law student, I say with some pride. I did history.
Trainee: There's no one route into law and you don't have to fit a certain mold to become a lawyer.
I, for example, did a philosophy degree. I found that in applications and interviews I had so much to talk about because those were things that I was genuinely interested in.
Trainee: So I did politics, philosophy and economics at university. Initially, I was also a bit hesitant about choosing this career because it's quite different to the kind of things I did in my undergraduate degree.
Trainee: And a firm like DLA Piper especially really values broad perspectives and different backgrounds.
Trainee: The skills you have learned from your undergraduate degree are so transferrable to what we do as a firm, and what the industry does in general.
Trainee: They're really good at developing the softer skills which contribute to a good career. I've learned a lot about the sort of lawyer I want to be.
Trainee: DLA Piper has a really friendly, inclusive culture. That's something that's been really evident as a trainee. Even really senior partners will come over to you, will have a chat with you and that makes such a difference.
Trainee: Another thing that stood out to me about DLA Piper was their commitment to pro bono.
Trainee: The pro bono and sustainability work throughout the firm is etched from the very top to the very bottom.
And things like economic development, ensuring a just and equitable climate transition – these things run throughout the firm.
Trainee: I really got the sense that it wasn't just lip service, that they actually meant what they said, and it was very value driven.
Trainee: And it's specific initiatives.
Trainee: So the Manchester office is partnered with a nonprofit organization called Hope for Justice, which supports victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.
Trainee: When I was a trainee, I got really, really involved with Project Ukraine. We basically went out to try to give legal information to people trying to come to the UK.
There was no way that you could do any work like that anywhere else. And I loved it! And I ended up doing 300 cases or so.
Trainee: I've worked on the Carbon Tax Model Rule for the Commonwealth, assisting, drafting policy guidance for them. Even though, you know, it’s completely aside from my area of practice.
It's something that I got involved with because it's something the firm was doing that I'm interested in. And I felt like if I could add value.
Trainee: You go and you feel as though you're helping people in quite a direct way.
Trainee: It's law, which involves human beings, rather than abstract principles.
Trainee: And I don't think there are many other careers that can offer that. And there are not many other firms that can offer that either.
