UK & international

DLA Piper

Q: How do you get a training contract at DLA Piper Hong Kong?

Through a single four-week paid summer internship. Interns are assessed for a place on the training contract across the internship itself, and the firm recruits roughly two years ahead of the actual start date. It allows one application per person, per year, to a single office.

Q: What does the DLA Piper Hong Kong training contract look like?

Two years across four six-month seats, with international secondments to offices including Thailand and Australia. DLA Piper sponsors the PCLL in full, to be completed before the training contract starts.

A UK-and-US-founded global firm whose Hong Kong office pairs a fast-growing capital markets practice with broad-based disputes, IP and employment work, and channels most trainees through one four-week paid summer internship, with the PCLL fully sponsored.

Category: UK & international
Origin: Formed 2005 by merger of DLA (UK), Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (US)
HK presence: China/HK practice since 1988; 130+ fee-earners at Three Exchange Square, Central
HK strengths: Capital markets & IPOs, disputes, IP, employment, real estate and tax (Chambers Band 2 across seven Greater China areas)

The Hong Kong practice

What does DLA Piper's Hong Kong office actually do?

DLA Piper's Hong Kong office is a broad-based practice with capital markets pulling ahead. Rather than one flagship group, Chambers' 2026 Greater China guide ranks the office in Band 2 across seven practice areas at once: dispute resolution, employment, insurance, intellectual property, hedge funds, real estate and tax. Its roots go back to 1988, though the firm in its current form dates to 2005, when UK firm DLA merged with Baltimore's Piper Rudnick and San Diego's Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich to create what was then one of the largest law firms in the world. The scale still shows: DLA Piper reports 80 offices in more than 40 countries and more than 4,000 lawyers, with global revenue near US$4.6bn in 2025. The Hong Kong office runs out of Three Exchange Square in Central; Legal Cheek puts headcount at 130+ fee-earners, led by managing partner Susheela Rivers, a real estate specialist.

The sharper recent story is capital markets. In February 2026 the firm hired Sherlyn Lau, previously deputy head of Sidley Austin's China corporate and finance practice, as APAC head of capital markets and corporate finance, bringing a 12-lawyer team with her, a deliberate push into Hong Kong IPO work as the city reclaimed the title of the world's busiest listing venue in 2025. The deal list below shows what that looks like in practice: five Hong Kong IPOs since March 2025, several run under HKEX's newer Chapter 18A (pre-revenue biotech) and Chapter 18C (specialist technology) listing regimes. Recent press releases name trainee solicitors on those deal teams directly (Bernie Wong on the Xuanzhu Biopharmaceutical and 160 Health listings, Lily Choi on Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining), so a capital markets seat here means real due diligence and verification work, not just watching from the back row.

The other Band 2 groups route trainees elsewhere: intellectual property, where three of the firm's Asia partners were named 2025 Managing IP Stars; contentious Hong Kong litigation; and the employment and restructuring advice multinationals need when they reorganise Asia headcount. Trainees rotate through four six-month seats over the two-year contract, and the firm's own materials cite international secondments to offices including Thailand and Australia.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2026

How does The Legal 500 rank DLA Piper in Hong Kong?

The current Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2026 guide ranks the firm’s Hong Kong practice across 16 practice areas. Open any area below to see the corresponding Legal 500 table and editorial.

These are third-party market rankings, not recruitment rankings. The tables can change with each edition; this summary was checked on 23 September 2026.

Trainee & vacation scheme programme

How do you get into DLA Piper Hong Kong?

Applications: summer 2027

Apply from 21 September to 20 November 2026. The internship feeds the firm's Future Lawyers Pathway, starting autumn 2029. The current process includes a strengths assessment and virtual case study; see the updated selection section below. Current recruitment source ↗

The Hong Kong route in is a single four-week paid summer internship, in-person, full-time, and interns are assessed for a place on the training contract across the scheme itself. There is no separate open training-contract application to sidestep it: the internship is the decision. It allows one application per person, per year, to a single office.

2029autumn start for the Future Lawyers Pathway

4week paid summer internship, the main route in

40hours a week your right-to-work permission must cover

Route inA single four-week paid summer internship, in-person, full-time. Interns are assessed for a training-contract place across the scheme, and the firm recruits roughly two years ahead of the actual start date. Source ↗
Intake sizeThe current programme page does not state a fixed Hong Kong trainee intake. Do not treat older figures as a guaranteed number of places.
Who can applyEligible law and non-law students, graduates and career changers. Your existing permission must cover 40 hours a week for the whole internship; internship visa sponsorship is unavailable.
The contractTwo years across four six-month seats, with international secondments cited to offices including Thailand and Australia. Source ↗
MoneyDLA Piper sponsors the PCLL in full, to be completed before the training contract starts. Source ↗
What they wantA strong 2:1 equivalent, typically GPA 3.4 or above. Mitigating circumstances are considered.

Watch out

Deadlines move every cycle, so check the current dates on the Elite Pathfinder deadline tracker instead of trusting last year's date. If you land the internship, the Vacation Scheme Academy covers how to convert it into an offer.

Recent matters worth knowing

Which recent deals has DLA Piper's Hong Kong office run?

These are the deals the Hong Kong office has publicly led or advised on, and they are the raw material for a good interview answer. They cluster where the firm is pushing hardest: Hong Kong IPOs, several run under HKEX's newer Chapter 18A and 18C listing regimes.

Luxshare Precision's HK$24.3bn Hong Kong IPOJuly 2026

DLA Piper advised Luxshare Precision on its H-share listing, which began trading on 9 July 2026 and raised approximately HK$24.3bn before the over-allotment option. Sherlyn Lau led the team. The transaction adds a major intelligent-manufacturing example to the office's A+H listing work. Source ↗
SEER Robotics' HK$1.067bn Hong Kong IPOJune 2026

DLA Piper advised sole sponsor CICC Hong Kong Securities on the Main Board listing of Shanghai Seer Intelligent Technology under HKEX's Chapter 18C specialist technology regime, with H-shares trading from 24 June 2026. Source ↗
Nsing Tech's HK$1.03bn A+H listingMarch 2026

The firm advised on the Hong Kong H-share listing of the Shenzhen integrated-circuit design and battery-materials group, led by newly arrived capital markets head Sherlyn Lau. Source ↗
B&K Corporation's HK$674m IPODecember 2025

DLA Piper advised joint sponsors Huatai Financial Holdings and CITIC Securities on the Main Board listing of the Qingdao biopharmaceutical group behind a pipeline of PDGF wound-healing drugs. Source ↗
Xuanzhu Biopharmaceutical's HK$781m IPOOctober 2025

The firm advised the sole sponsor and underwriters on this Chapter 18A pre-revenue biotech listing, whose retail tranche was oversubscribed more than 4,900 times, one of the year's hottest new issues. Source ↗
Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining's HK$2.8bn IPOMarch 2025

DLA Piper advised on the H-share listing of one of China's largest private gold producers, the largest Hong Kong mineral-sector IPO under Chapter 18 since 2023 and a dual Shanghai/Hong Kong listing. Source ↗

Insider tip

Deals like these are the raw material of a DLA Piper interview, but only if you can say what they mean. Learn the framework in our commercial awareness guide, and the Weekly News Digest breaks down one Hong Kong deal a week and tells you what to actually say about it.

Interview & selection intel

What does the DLA Piper Hong Kong selection process look like?

The current Hong Kong recruitment roadmap is: a non-assessed Realistic Job Preview, application form and CV, strengths-based online assessment, virtual case study, then an in-person assessment centre. A cover letter is not required.

For the roughly one-hour virtual case study, you analyse a business scenario and discuss a recommendation with an assessor. Case studies are provisionally scheduled for December 2026–January 2027, with assessment centres from January. These dates can change. The current roadmap supersedes older descriptions of a Watson Glaser test followed by a phone interview.

How to stand out

How do you stand out for DLA Piper Hong Kong?

Because offers are decided across a four-week internship you have to earn first, your edge comes from clearing the Watson Glaser cleanly, evidencing real motivation on paper, and going in fluent on DLA Piper's actual Hong Kong story. Here is where to put your preparation.

1Start with the firm's non-assessed Realistic Job Preview and follow the current invitation instructions. For the virtual case study, practise identifying the commercial issue, weighing options and defending a recommendation when challenged.

Watson Glaser Academy →
2Treat the written application and assessment centre as the doorway to the four-week internship. Prepare examples of reliable work, collaboration and responding to feedback. The Law Firm Application Academy helps turn those examples into evidence of motivation.

Law Firm Application Academy →
3Go in fluent on DLA Piper's actual Hong Kong story: a capital markets practice hiring hard right now, on top of Band 2 disputes, IP and employment work. Naming a real listing, ideally one run under the newer Chapter 18A or 18C regimes, reads as homework done. Build that command in the Online Case Study Centre and the Mock Assessment Centre, then pressure-test your delivery with in-person coaching.

Online Case Study Centre →Mock Assessment Centre →In-person coaching →

Quick answers

DLA Piper Hong Kong, in five questions

How many training contracts does DLA Piper offer in Hong Kong?

The current Hong Kong programme page does not publish a fixed trainee intake. The summer internship feeds the Future Lawyers Pathway starting in autumn 2029.

How do you get a training contract at DLA Piper Hong Kong?

Through a single four-week paid summer internship. Interns are assessed for a place on the training contract across the internship itself, and the firm recruits roughly two years ahead of the actual start date. It allows one application per person, per year, to a single office.

Does DLA Piper Hong Kong use the Watson Glaser test?

The current Hong Kong roadmap lists a strengths-based online assessment and virtual case study, not Watson Glaser. Follow your current invitation; older process descriptions are no longer reliable.

What does the DLA Piper Hong Kong training contract look like?

Two years across four six-month seats, with international secondments to offices including Thailand and Australia. DLA Piper sponsors the PCLL in full, to be completed before the training contract starts.

What does DLA Piper look for in Hong Kong applicants?

A strong 2:1 equivalent, typically a GPA of 3.4 or above, with mitigating circumstances considered. Check the current programme page for eligibility.