DLA Piper is one of the world’s largest full service commercial law firms with offices in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield. We now have more than 7,000 employees working from over 60 offices across Europe, Asia and the US.

THE FIRM

Our current vision is to be the leading global business law firm.  In 2006 The Lawyer awarded us ’Global Law Firm of the Year’ at their annual awards, proving we are moving closer to that vision.  Our clients include some of the world’s leading businesses, governments, banks and financial institutions. An emphasis on providing high quality service and teamwork, offers a challenging fast paced working environment.   DLA Piper offers trainees the opportunity to apply for international secondments to our Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow and Singapore offices and we also offer a number of client secondments. 

A number of independent bodies, including The Financial Times have recognised DLA Piper as being a good place to work.  We also hold the ’Investors in People’ accreditation, demonstrating commitment to our employees and their ongoing development.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

There is no ’standard’ DLA Piper trainee, however we do require a strong academic background and look for good communicators and team players.  As well as this the ability to think on an international and commercial level is important - as is an appetite for life!

TRAINING PROGRAMME

From induction to qualification and beyond, DLA Piper ensures that its employees develop the necessary skills and knowledge to survive in a busy client-driven environment.  Trainees  complete four six month seats during the course of their training contract. The compulsory Professional Skills Course is run in-house and is tailored to meet the needs of our trainees.  This combined with on-the-job experience plus regular reviews and feedback, provides trainees with an excellent grounding on which to build their professional careers.  We aim to retain as many trainees as possible after qualification and in September 2007 nearly 90% of our qualifying trainees stayed with us.

VACATION SCHEMES

The firm operates a formal summer vacation, which runs between June and August each year.  The schemes run for two weeks and allow a thorough insight into DLA Piper. There are 200 places available nationwide.  Applications should be made via the firm’s online application form and the closing date for summer 2008 is 31 January 2008. 

Contact

Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4DL
Tel: 020 7796 6677
Fax: 0121 262 5793
Email: recruitment.graduate@dlapiper.com
Web: www.dlapiper.com