US firm

Latham & Watkins

Q: How do you get a training contract at Latham & Watkins Hong Kong?

Through the Hong Kong summer vacation scheme. The office runs two three-week schemes, one in June and one in July, and it doubles as the firm's main assessment window for a training-contract offer. It is built to feed the training contract.

Q: What does the Latham & Watkins Hong Kong training contract look like?

It runs two years and qualifies you as a Hong Kong solicitor through the PCLL. Trainees rotate through the core Hong Kong departments, corporate, finance and litigation, and can spend up to six months in an overseas office during the second year.

A top US firm whose Hong Kong office runs the IPOs, high-yield bonds and finance deals that connect China and Asia with global capital markets, and whose two three-week summer vacation schemes are the main way into a Hong Kong training contract.

Category: US firm
Origin: Los Angeles, founded 1934
HK presence: In Hong Kong 25+ years; Greater China platform (Hong Kong & Beijing), US, English & HK law
HK strengths: Capital markets, IPOs, high-yield & leveraged finance, private equity, M&A, litigation

The Hong Kong practice

What does Latham & Watkins's Hong Kong office actually do?

Latham & Watkins has practised in Hong Kong for more than 25 years, working US, English and Hong Kong law from One Exchange Square in Central as part of a Greater China platform that spans Hong Kong and Beijing. The office is built around capital markets and finance: HKEX IPOs and follow-on offerings, US-registered and Rule 144A / Regulation S deals, high-yield and investment-grade bonds, liability management, banking and private credit, leveraged and structured finance, private equity, M&A, and litigation and arbitration alongside. Chambers ranks it among the leading international firms for capital markets in the region and describes its Asia-Pacific high-yield practice as very strong.

The office works as a conduit between Asia and global capital. When a Chinese or Asian company lists in Hong Kong and wants to reach US institutional money on the same deal, or when a syndicate needs underwriters' counsel that can run HKEX rules and US securities law at once, Latham is one of the names on the shortlist. In the last two years it has acted for the sponsors and underwriters on some of the market's larger listings, from Huaqin's HK$4.55bn debut to WeRide's dual-primary robotaxi listing, both below.

For a junior, that deal flow sets the work. On a capital markets or finance seat you sit close to live listings and bond issues: running due diligence, drafting and verifying prospectus sections, building disclosure that has to satisfy both HKEX and US rules, and handling conditions precedent, signing and closing. It is document-heavy, deadline-driven work on large deals with lean teams, so trainees here tend to be handed real responsibility early. Chinese language ability is a genuine advantage given who the clients are.

Trainee & vacation scheme programme

How do you get into Latham & Watkins Hong Kong?

The Hong Kong summer vacation scheme is the primary route in, and it is built to feed the training contract. The office runs two three-week schemes, one in June and one in July, aimed at law students and graduates considering a Hong Kong training contract, and it doubles as the firm's main assessment window for a training-contract offer.

2three-week summer schemes (June and July) that feed the training contract

2year training contract, qualifying you as a HK solicitor via the PCLL

6months you can spend in an overseas office during year two

On the scheme you produce written work, take part in group exercises, sit through practice-area presentations, and get informal time to put questions to lawyers and trainees. The training contract itself runs two years and qualifies you as a Hong Kong solicitor through the PCLL. Trainees rotate through the firm's core departments in Hong Kong, corporate, finance and litigation, and can spend up to six months in an overseas office during the second year. The firm leans on close mentoring from partners, counsel and associates, and because the office is smaller than a full-service Magic Circle shop, a trainee is visible rather than lost in a cohort of a hundred.

Route inThe Hong Kong summer vacation scheme: two three-week schemes, one in June and one in July. It doubles as the firm's main assessment window for a training-contract offer.
Who can applyLaw students and graduates considering a Hong Kong training contract. Apply online rather than by email.
The contractA two-year training contract qualifying you as a Hong Kong solicitor via the PCLL. Trainees rotate through corporate, finance and litigation, with up to six months in an overseas office in year two.
What they wantA strong academic record, real commercial motivation and the drive to contribute early, people who are curious, driven and ready to make an impact from day one. Chinese language ability helps given the client base.

Watch out

The Hong Kong scheme opens and closes on Latham's own autumn-to-winter timetable, not the Magic Circle calendar, so check the current dates on the Elite Pathfinder deadline tracker instead of last year's date. If you land a place, the Vacation Scheme Academy covers how to turn it into an offer.

Recent matters worth knowing

Which recent deals has Latham & Watkins'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 strongest: HKEX IPOs, dual-primary listings and high-yield bonds.

Crealights Technology's HK$1.53bn HKEX IPOJune 2026

Latham advised the underwriters on Crealights Technology's roughly HK$1.53bn Hong Kong listing, which debuted on the HKEX main board in June 2026. Crealights makes optoelectronic interconnection products used in high-speed data links. Source ↗
Huaqin's ~HK$4.55bn HKEX IPOApril 2026

The firm advised the joint sponsors (CICC and BofA Securities) and underwriters on the roughly HK$4.55bn Hong Kong listing of Huaqin, an A-share-listed smart-device platform, which debuted on the HKEX main board on 23 April 2026 as an A+H company. Source ↗
WeRide's ~HK$2.4bn dual-primary HK listingNovember 2025

Latham advised the underwriters on autonomous-driving company WeRide's roughly HK$2.4bn Hong Kong listing, a dual-primary listing on the HKEX alongside its Nasdaq quote and the first by an 18C specialist-technology company with a weighted-voting-rights structure. The Hong Kong Department of Justice later highlighted the firm's role. Source ↗
Melco Resorts' US$500m high-yield notesOctober 2025

Latham advised Melco Resorts Finance, as issuer, on its US$500m 6.5% senior notes due 2033 with a concurrent tender offer for its 2026 notes, one of a run of Asia-Pacific bond and liability-management deals the firm closed that month. Melco is the Macau casino-resort group whose parent, Melco International Development, is Hong Kong-listed. Source ↗
CaoCao's ~HK$1.85bn HKEX IPOJune 2025

Latham acted for the joint sponsors and underwriters on the roughly HK$1.85bn Hong Kong listing of CaoCao, the Geely-backed ride-hailing platform, an offering of about 44.2 million shares at HK$41.94 each. Source ↗

Insider tip

Deals like these are only useful in a Latham interview if you can say what they mean. Learn the framework in our commercial awareness guide, and the paid Weekly News Digest delivers weekly breakdowns of deals exactly like these, what happened, why it happened, and how to use it in an interview.

Interview & selection intel

What does the Latham & Watkins Hong Kong selection process look like?

Latham publishes little about its Hong Kong hiring beyond the scheme dates and the online application form, and most public interview detail comes from candidate accounts (Glassdoor, graduate-recruitment guides) that lean on the firm's UK process rather than the Hong Kong office. Read it as indicative rather than gospel, and apply online rather than by email.

On the interview itself, candidates report a style that is heavily commercial. Common questions cover the obvious ground, why law, why commercial law, why Latham, why Hong Kong, why you, alongside competency questions on teamwork, leadership and communication. The one that catches people out is being asked to talk through a recent news story and tie it back to the firm, so a rehearsed answer with no live deal behind it lands badly. Vacation-scheme performance, including the written work and group exercises, feeds directly into the training-contract decision. Our guide to the Hong Kong vacation scheme interview walks through how these conversations actually run.

Strip out the specifics and the pattern is clear. Latham is hiring for genuine commercial interest and the judgement to hold your own on large, fast-moving capital markets deals, not for someone who can recite the firm's league-table rankings.

How to stand out

How do you stand out for Latham & Watkins Hong Kong?

Because the office lives on live capital markets deals and picks its trainees from the scheme, your edge comes from a real commercial story, rehearsed written work, and a specific reason for wanting a US firm's Hong Kong practice. Here is where to put your preparation.

1Walk in able to talk about a live Hong Kong deal. Latham interviews reward a real commercial story you can tie to the firm, and the office lives on HKEX IPOs and high-yield bonds. Staying fluent in the exact deals Latham runs turns the "recent news story" question into the easy part.

Weekly News Digest →
2Practise written work under a clock. The vacation scheme is assessed partly on written exercises, and capital markets seats are document-heavy from day one; it helps to know how firms mark case studies first. Drill structured writing and analysis in the Online Case Study Centre and pressure-test it in the Mock Assessment Centre.

Online Case Study Centre →Mock Assessment Centre →
3Be specific about why a US firm's capital markets practice. "Why Latham, why Hong Kong" needs an answer grounded in the US-securities-plus-HKEX model, not generic praise. The Law Firm Application Academy shows how to evidence real motivation, and one-to-one coaching pressure-tests your answers before the interview.

Law Firm Application Academy →In-person coaching →

Quick answers

Latham & Watkins Hong Kong, in five questions

How do you get a training contract at Latham & Watkins Hong Kong?

Through the Hong Kong summer vacation scheme. The office runs two three-week schemes, one in June and one in July, and it doubles as the firm's main assessment window for a training-contract offer. It is built to feed the training contract.

What does the Latham & Watkins Hong Kong training contract look like?

It runs two years and qualifies you as a Hong Kong solicitor through the PCLL. Trainees rotate through the core Hong Kong departments, corporate, finance and litigation, and can spend up to six months in an overseas office during the second year.

What does Latham & Watkins look for in Hong Kong applicants?

A strong academic record, real commercial motivation, and the drive to contribute early. Its own recruitment language asks for people who are curious, driven and ready to make an impact from day one, and Chinese language ability helps given the client base.

What does the Latham & Watkins Hong Kong interview involve?

Candidates report a heavily commercial style: why law, why commercial law, why Latham, why Hong Kong, why you, alongside competency questions on teamwork, leadership and communication. You may be asked to talk through a recent news story and tie it back to the firm, and vacation-scheme performance feeds directly into the training-contract decision.

What does Latham & Watkins's Hong Kong office specialise in?

Capital markets and finance: HKEX IPOs and follow-on offerings, US-registered and Rule 144A / Regulation S deals, high-yield and investment-grade bonds, banking, private equity, M&A, and litigation and arbitration. It practises US, English and Hong Kong law as part of a Greater China platform spanning Hong Kong and Beijing.