DLA Piper China Summer Internship 2025

The role

Overview:

Explore the intersection between law and business. Find out how an international law firm makes an impact in China and across the world. Develop the foundation of skills you need for a global legal career. You’ll do all this and more during your summer internship in either our Beijing or Shanghai office. 

Your time with us:

This isn’t just a chance to shadow our people. You’ll play a real role in our teams and take on real responsibility from day one. Whether meeting with clients, or developing your professional network, you’ll experience the cutting edge of the legal sector and how law can unlock potential across the world and in your own career. That includes seeing how a purpose-led organization makes a difference through our pro bono work and sustainability commitments. 

The internship is your chance to see if law is a career, you can thrive in. You’ll be giving your career the best platform by developing your personal and professional skills that will be valued in any sector you choose to continue into. 

During your internship, you will:

• gain work experience at the assigned practice groups in your chosen office location. 
• Experience the complexities of our work and discover how you can make a real impact around the world. You’ll see how we think across borders to find creative solutions for our clients. 
• Join a forward-looking, friendly team while collaborating with colleagues across the world.
• Develop your knowledge and skills through structured learning and development opportunities and our supportive culture.
• Be supported by a strong network of supervisors, buddies, and mentors to develop your confidence and identify your own personal and professional goals.
• Be part of an international early career’s community full of talented colleagues who’ll become part of your global network.
• Have opportunities to engage with initiatives beyond your role, including legal tech, sustainability and pro bono work.
• Enjoy an environment where your wellbeing is always a priority and you can always deliver your best.

What we look for:

In addition to the eligibility criteria, we’re looking for individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds who have the potential to thrive at our firm. 

These include, but are not limited to:

• Have an interest in international law and business.
• You are a law student from the PRC top tier law school, either in your penultimate or final year, and will graduate in 2026 
• You have an excellent command of both spoken and written English and Putonghua Mandarin 
• Strong communication, organization and interpersonal skills 
• A self-starter who is highly motivated and pro-active with your learning 
• You are available for a full-time internship during the 2025 summer vacation (July to August 2025) and the 2025 / 2026 school year 
• Have a growth mindset. You’ll see setbacks as learning opportunities, and you’ll proactively look for ways to grow and develop. 
• Enjoy taking ownership of tasks and thinking critically. 
• Be self-motivated by a strong desire to achieve your personal and professional goals. 

You’ll have the freedom to discover your own path and make an extraordinary impact beyond the borders of traditional law. Tomorrow’s legal industry can’t hire yesterday’s skills. 

Come and show us your strengths in action, and following your time with us, selected summer interns will be offered a position on the post-summer internship that starts in September 2025. Candidates with exceptional performance demonstrated during the internship programme will be offered an employment opportunity with DLA Piper after their graduation in 2026. 

Unlock your potential and start your journey to building a different kind of legal career. 

Application Closing Date: January 10, 2025.

ABOUT US

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.