Hong Kong Trainee Solicitors Program

Our Hong Kong office recruits trainees two years in advance. Applications for our 2027 trainee intake will be considered from October 1, 2024. Applicants should be in their penultimate year or beyond. Graduates and post-graduates are also eligible for consideration. Please visit our Hong Kong Summer/Winter Vacation Scheme page to apply. We review applications on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

If you are unable to join our vacation scheme, we invite you to submit your cover letter, resume and latest academic transcripts to hkrecruiting@sullcrom.com for direct training contract application.

Our generalist approach will provide you with a thorough and broad-based training in the legal, technical and organizational skills required to be a successful all-rounded corporate lawyer. Our practice areas include the following:

• Mergers and Acquisitions, in which we help clients structure, negotiate, complete and implement all types of M&A transactions, including public takeovers, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, partnerships, minority investments and strategic alliances, across all industry sectors.
   
• Capital Markets, in which we advise issuers and underwriters on some of the largest and most significant securities transactions, including initial public offerings and follow-on offerings involving shares, bonds or other securities.
   
• Advisory, in which we advise some of the largest and most high-profile Hong Kong companies in their compliance with Hong Kong regulatory requirements.
   
• Private Equity, in which we advise some of the world’s leading privately managed funds on all aspects of the investments they make, including issues related to M&A, consortium arrangements and financing.
   
• Credit, Leveraged and Acquisition Finance, in which we advise borrowers and lenders on all types of financing arrangements, including debt financing for acquisitions, debt refinancing and restructuring, and leveraged buyouts.

• Debt Restructuring, in which we work with debtors, creditors and bondholders in navigating through situations involving companies in financial distress, including liability management exercises, out-of-court and in-court restructurings, and negotiations with relevant stakeholders, which often involves cross-jurisdictional elements and collaborations with our global offices.

S&C is committed to helping you develop into the best possible lawyer. We will provide you with an unparalleled foundation for your career. At S&C, you will be encouraged to acquire leadership skills more quickly than you would at other law firms. You will have decision-making authority and client responsibilities as early as practicable. We believe that hands-on experience is the best training.

After you arrive, you will take part in an induction program introducing you to the way we work in Hong Kong. You will learn about our information technology, library and research tools, legal assistants and other office resources. You will also attend our orientation program in New York, learning more about the Firm and getting to know your colleagues in the S&C network.
 
Throughout your training contract, you will attend regular formal group training sessions on the key building blocks of commercial legal practice. These will include sessions presented by our partners, associates and external speakers, and knowledge sharing sessions with lawyers from our global network.

At S&C, you will have the opportunity to explore a diverse range of practice areas, allowing you to follow your interests without being confined to a single discipline.

As part of our team, you will play a pivotal role in tackling some of the most high-profile and complex transactions in the market. Working closely with small teams of partners and associates that often include U.S.- and Hong Kong-qualified lawyers, and lawyers across our global network, you will gain invaluable exposure to the international breadth of our practice.
 
From an early stage, you will be encouraged to take real responsibility. We believe in having our lawyers take on responsibilities in accordance with their abilities, not just the number of years post qualification. You will prepare and draft written advice; participate in meetings and conference calls; deal with clients on a regular basis; review and draft contracts, notices, letters and other documents; review and draft public disclosure documents; co-ordinate the signing and closing of transactions; carry out research into specific questions of law or practice; and participate in discussions on tactics and strategy.

Our partners and associates embrace an “open door” policy and will always be happy to find time to talk to you. The broad range of our practice means that all of us, even the most senior lawyers, encounter new issues and challenges on a daily basis, and a collegial and supportive approach is key to our continued success.

You will have the opportunity to work with a variety of lawyers who approach problems in different ways. This rich experience exposes you to a wide range of attributes and working styles, which you can adopt as your own in a way that best suits you, providing you with the tools and confidence to advance your career.
 
Life at the Firm is not all hard work. Lawyers enjoy regular social, sporting and cultural events and are encouraged to pursue outside interests and passions.

We offer one of the most attractive trainee salary and benefits packages of any major law firm in Hong Kong.
 
Our current policy is to pay our prospective trainees’ course tuition fees for the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) course in Hong Kong. A maintenance grant will also be provided to prospective trainees. All these benefits are provided on the basis that prospective trainees join us after passing the PCLL course.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive suite of employee benefits, including private health and dental insurance; life insurance; business travel insurance; paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave plans; a subsidized gym membership; and 22 days of leave (plus public holidays) each year.