Magic Circle
Linklaters
A Magic Circle firm whose Hong Kong office runs big-ticket China capital markets, M&A and finance work, and whose four-week summer vacation scheme is the main way into a two-year Hong Kong training contract.
- Category
- Magic Circle
- Origin
- London, founded 1838
- HK presence
- Part of a 200+ lawyer Greater China platform (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai)
- HK strengths
- Equity & debt capital markets, M&A, banking & finance, disputes
The Hong Kong practice
What does Linklaters' Hong Kong office actually do?
Linklaters practises Hong Kong and US law from its Hong Kong SAR office, part of a Greater China platform that Legal Cheek puts at more than 200 lawyers across Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. In Hong Kong the firm is built around capital markets and finance: HKEX listings, investment-grade and high-yield bonds, acquisition and leveraged finance, M&A and private equity, with dispute resolution and regulatory work alongside.
The office sits on the biggest China-outbound and Hong Kong-listing mandates. In 2025 alone it acted on the third-largest Hong Kong IPO of the year and on China's US$4bn sovereign bond issued in Hong Kong (both below). Trainees rotate through four six-month seats, and in a capital markets or finance seat you would sit close to that flow: drafting prospectus sections, running verification, building conditions-precedent checklists, and handling the mechanics of signing and closing.
Chinese language is valued but not required. Legal Cheek reports Mandarin is preferable rather than a condition for future trainees, and the firm runs a separate London-China training contract for Mandarin speakers who want to qualify in the UK before moving back to the region. A six-month seat can be spent on international or client secondment; public listings cite the firm's London, Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai offices, plus past client secondments to the likes of Bank of China and BNP Paribas.
Trainee & vacation scheme programme
How do you get into Linklaters Hong Kong?
The summer vacation scheme is the primary route in. It runs four weeks in the Hong Kong office, targets penultimate- and final-year law undergraduates and graduates, and pays around HK$4,500 a week (confirmed on the firm's careers page). You sit with a Principal, work on live deals, and before you leave you are automatically put forward for a final training-contract interview.
The training contract runs two years across four six-month seats, with the option of an international or client secondment. Public graduate-recruitment listings put trainee pay at roughly HK$50,000 a month in year one, rising to HK$52,000 in year two, with PCLL tuition covered and a maintenance grant; the firm also runs a paralegal-to-solicitor qualification route. Intake is small: Legal Cheek and the firm's graduate-recruitment listings both put it at about 16 Hong Kong trainees a year, almost all recruited through the vacation scheme.
On selection, the firm is consistent about what it wants: strong academics (a 2:1 or roughly 3.4 GPA minimum), genuine commercial awareness, and the resilience to hold up on complex cross-border deals.
Watch out
Deadlines move every cycle, so check the Elite Pathfinder deadline tracker instead of trusting last year's date. If you land the scheme, the Vacation Scheme Academy covers how to convert it into an offer.
Recent matters worth knowing
Which recent deals has Linklaters' Hong Kong office run?
These are the deals the Hong Kong office has publicly advised on, and they are the raw material for a good interview answer. They cluster where the firm is strongest: Hong Kong listings and cross-border debt capital markets.
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China's US$4bn sovereign bond in Hong KongNov 2025
Linklaters was sole international counsel to the PRC Ministry of Finance on a US$4bn Rule 144A and Reg S issue listed in Hong Kong, oversubscribed roughly 30 times. Source: Linklaters press release. Source ↗
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SANY Heavy Industry's US$1.72bn HKEX IPOOct 2025
The firm acted as Hong Kong and US counsel to the sole sponsor and underwriters on the listing of the world's third-largest construction-machinery maker, the third-largest Hong Kong IPO of the year. Source: Linklaters press release. Source ↗
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World Bank (IBRD) HK$7bn bondSep 2025
Linklaters advised the joint lead managers on a five-year HK$7bn issue, the largest Hong Kong dollar bond by a supranational, co-led out of the Hong Kong SAR office. Source: Linklaters press release. Source ↗
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Ab&B Bio-Tech HKEX IPOAug 2025
The firm acted as Hong Kong and US counsel to the biotech on its Hong Kong listing, whose retail tranche was oversubscribed more than 4,000 times, one of the year's hottest new issues. Source: Linklaters press release. Source ↗
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IFC Hong Kong dollar social bondsMay 2025
Linklaters advised the joint lead managers on a first-of-its-kind public Hong Kong dollar social bond issuance by the International Finance Corporation. Source: Linklaters press release. Source ↗
Insider tip
The case study rewards people who can read a deal like these fast. Learn the framework in our commercial awareness guide, and the paid 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 Linklaters Hong Kong selection process look like?
Most public detail comes from candidate accounts (Glassdoor, Bright Network, graduate-recruitment guides) rather than the firm, so read it as indicative rather than gospel.
The application reportedly runs in order: an online form, a Capp online assessment of around 60 to 90 minutes, then the Watson Glaser critical-thinking test, with a short window (candidates report about five days) to finish the Watson Glaser once invited.
The assessment centre is where it gets real. Candidates describe a written case study, roughly 25 minutes reading and 35 minutes writing, where you pick out two legal issues and one commercial issue and set them out in an email to a supervisor. Shortly before the partner interview, a crisis is sprung on that same case study. There is an HR interview, and an interview with a partner and a managing associate that works through your case study in detail. Vacation-scheme students then get an automatic final training-contract interview with two partners and an HR representative.
Strip out the specifics and the pattern is clear. A Magic Circle Hong Kong assessment tests whether you can read a commercial problem fast, separate the legal issues from the business issue, write tightly against the clock, and stay composed when the facts move under you.
How to stand out
How do you stand out for Linklaters Hong Kong?
Because a Magic Circle Hong Kong process turns on a timed written case study and the Watson Glaser, your edge is structure under the clock, a real reasoning method, and an application specific to Linklaters' work. Here is where to put your preparation.
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1Treat the written case study as the main event. It rewards structure under a tight clock: the legal issues, the commercial issue, a clear recommendation. Knowing how firms mark case studies tells you what the markers reward, and you can drill that exact format in the Online Case Study Centre and the Mock Assessment Centre.
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2Take the Watson Glaser seriously. It is a real gate, and you get only a few days to sit it once invited. Our guide to mastering the Watson Glaser test shows the reasoning patterns to look for, and the Watson Glaser Academy builds them.
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3Make your application specific to Linklaters' capital markets and China finance work. Generic Magic Circle flattery reads as student mindset to the people marking it. The Law Firm Application Academy shows how to evidence real commercial motivation, and coaching pressure-tests your answers before the partner interview.
Quick answers
Linklaters Hong Kong, in five questions
How do you get a training contract at Linklaters Hong Kong?
The four-week summer vacation scheme is the primary route in. You sit with a Principal, work on live deals, and before you leave you are automatically put forward for a final training-contract interview.
How many training contracts does Linklaters offer in Hong Kong?
Intake is small: Legal Cheek and the firm's graduate-recruitment listings both put it at about 16 Hong Kong trainees a year, almost all recruited through the vacation scheme.
Does Linklaters Hong Kong use the Watson Glaser test?
Yes, candidates report so. The application reportedly runs an online form, a Capp online assessment of around 60 to 90 minutes, then the Watson Glaser critical-thinking test, with a short window of about five days to finish the Watson Glaser once invited.
What is the Linklaters Hong Kong assessment centre like?
Candidates describe a written case study, roughly 25 minutes reading and 35 minutes writing, where you pick out two legal issues and one commercial issue in an email to a supervisor, with a crisis sprung on the case study before the partner interview. There is an HR interview and an interview with a partner and a managing associate. Vacation-scheme students then get an automatic final training-contract interview with two partners and an HR representative.
What does Linklaters look for in Hong Kong applicants?
Strong academics (a 2:1 or roughly 3.4 GPA minimum), genuine commercial awareness, and the resilience to hold up on complex cross-border deals. Chinese language is valued but not required.