UK & International
RPC
In Hong Kong, RPC is the insurance-disputes firm: Band 1 for contentious insurance, a two-week summer scheme that doubles as the assessment, and just two training contracts per intake.
- Category
- UK & International
- Origin
- London; in HK since 2012, launched as Smyth & Co in association with RPC
- HK presence
- Band 1 for contentious insurance (Chambers Greater China 2026)
- HK strengths
- Insurance & reinsurance disputes, commercial litigation, employment, data & TMT
The Hong Kong practice
What does RPC's Hong Kong office actually do?
RPC is a disputes and insurance specialist, and its Hong Kong office is where that specialism runs deepest. Chambers Greater China 2026 ranks the firm Band 1 for contentious insurance — alongside rankings in litigation, employment and data protection & privacy — and The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2026 recognises it across eight practice areas in Hong Kong, from insurance and international arbitration to fintech regulatory, white-collar investigations and a new TMT ranking. If you want to defend professionals, insurers and financial institutions when things go wrong, this is one of the strongest addresses in the city.
The office has a distinctive history. It launched in 2012 as Smyth & Co in association with RPC, when 13 lawyers from Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert crossed over to build the practice; a decade on, the firm reported it had grown to 65 people, including 37 lawyers, in Hong Kong. Founding name partner David Smyth still appears among the firm's ranked insurance lawyers in Chambers. Day to day, the work is professional-indemnity defence, coverage disputes, regulatory and white-collar matters, commercial litigation and employment — plus a corporate and commercial practice that supports the insurance client base.
For a trainee, that tilt matters. You are joining a contentious shop, not an M&A factory: the summer scheme places you in the Insurance & Commercial Disputes and Corporate teams, and the training contract keeps insurance and commercial work at its core. If your application reads like a capital-markets pitch, you have picked the wrong firm — and interviewers here will notice within minutes.
Summer scheme & training contract
How do you get into RPC Hong Kong?
The front door is the Hong Kong Summer Scheme: a two-week placement where you are, in the firm's words, fully integrated into the Insurance & Commercial Disputes and Corporate teams. It doubles as the assessment — the training-contract exercises run during the scheme itself — and in the last cycle applications closed on 31 March 2026 for candidates eligible to start a training contract by 2028. Direct training-contract applications ran until 31 January 2026.
- Route inTwo-week summer scheme in the Insurance & Commercial Disputes and Corporate teams, with work-shadowing, training sessions and firm-wide networking. Assessment days are normally held as part of the scheme.
- Intake sizeTiny: 2 training contract opportunities per intake in Hong Kong.
- Who can applyCandidates eligible to start a training contract by 2028, with at least a 2.1 degree or equivalent.
- LanguagesFluency in Mandarin and English, plus the ability to read and write Chinese. This is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have.
- The contractFour six-month seats across core Hong Kong practice areas, including insurance and commercial, with a possible international secondment. Trainees get a supervising partner and associate, a mentor and a dedicated trainee development team.
- How to applyApplication form via the firm's cvMail portal — details on the RPC Hong Kong summer scheme page.
Watch out
The dates above are last-cycle references — firms reset their windows every autumn, and a March deadline tempts people into applying late in a rolling market. Check the current dates on the Elite Pathfinder deadline tracker before you plan anything.
Recent news worth knowing
Which recent RPC Hong Kong moves should you know about?
Insurance defence work is mostly confidential, so RPC's public trail is leadership moves, rankings and regulatory commentary rather than deal announcements. That is exactly the material an interviewer expects you to have read — and it tells a consistent story about where the Hong Kong office sits inside the firm.
-
Hong Kong's Antony Sassi elected global managing partnerJanuary 2025
RPC elected Antony Sassi — a Hong Kong-based litigator and the firm's Asia managing partner since 2019 — as its next global managing partner, succeeding James Miller from 1 May 2025. A firm that hands its top job to its Hong Kong office head is telling you how much Asia matters to it. Source ↗
-
Band 1 for contentious insurance in Greater China2026 guide
Chambers Greater China 2026 ranks RPC Band 1 for Insurance: Contentious — with three ranked lawyers, including founding name partner David Smyth — plus rankings in litigation, Hong Kong employment and data protection & privacy. Source ↗
-
Eight Hong Kong practice areas ranked in The Legal 500November 2025
The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2026 recognised RPC across eight Hong Kong practice areas — insurance, litigation, international arbitration, employment, data protection and cyber security, fintech and financial services regulatory, white-collar investigations, and a new TMT ranking. Source ↗
-
Briefing the market on the IA's referral-fee crackdownSeptember 2025
When the Insurance Authority issued a circular targeting referral fees paid by licensed insurance brokers — with a compliance deadline of 1 October 2025 — RPC's Hong Kong team published the analysis insurers read. Regulatory shifts like this are the commercial-awareness raw material for an RPC interview. Source ↗
Insider tip
News like this only helps if you can say what it means for the firm's clients. Learn the framework in our commercial awareness guide, and the Weekly News Digest breaks down one Hong Kong story a week and tells you what to actually say about it.
Interview & selection intel
What does the RPC Hong Kong selection process look like?
RPC publishes its process, which is rare and worth taking literally. You apply with an application form via the firm's cvMail portal. The scheme itself is the assessment centre: during the two weeks you complete training-contract assessment exercises — a group discussion, a group presentation and a written test. Do well and you progress to a motivation interview with a People team member and an Associate, then a panel interview with Partners.
Read that sequence like an examiner. The group exercises test whether you can hold your own in a room without dominating it; the written test, at a firm that demands written Chinese and English, is a genuine filter, not a formality. Our guide to how law firms mark case studies shows what assessors are actually scoring in exercises like these.
With two training contracts per intake, the partner panel is where offers are decided — and at a disputes firm, expect your motivation for contentious work to be tested hard. Why insurance? Why defence-side? Why RPC and not a general commercial firm with a disputes team? Our walkthrough of the Hong Kong vacation scheme interview covers how to survive exactly this kind of questioning.
How to stand out
How do you stand out for RPC Hong Kong?
Two offers per intake means near-misses get nothing. Your edge comes from proving you understand what a contentious insurance practice actually does, performing in group settings under observation, and writing cleanly in two languages. Here is where to put your preparation.
-
1Make your written application a disputes application. Name the work — professional indemnity, coverage, regulatory investigations — and show you know why an insurer instructs RPC rather than reciting the firm's history back at it. Most rejected applications here read like they were written for a corporate firm; our guide to the top mistakes on HK applications shows the fixes, and the Law Firm Application Academy drills the written craft.
-
2The scheme is the assessment: a group discussion, a group presentation and a written test, marked while you think you are networking. Rehearse case-style group work under time pressure before you arrive — the Online Case Study Centre gives you real problems to practise on, and the Mock Assessment Centre replicates the room.
-
3Two interviews stand between the scheme and an offer — motivation first, then a partner panel. With an intake this small, generic answers are fatal; one-to-one coaching is the fastest way to pressure-test your "why disputes, why RPC" story before it counts.
Quick answers
RPC Hong Kong, in five questions
How many training contracts does RPC offer in Hong Kong?
Two per intake. RPC states it has 2 training contract opportunities per intake in its Hong Kong office, which makes it one of the smallest published intakes in the market.
How do you get a training contract at RPC Hong Kong?
Through the two-week Hong Kong Summer Scheme, which doubles as the assessment: training-contract exercises run during the scheme itself. In the last cycle, candidates eligible to start a training contract by 2028 could apply until 31 March 2026 via an application form on the firm's cvMail portal, and direct training-contract applications were open until 31 January 2026.
Do you need Mandarin for RPC Hong Kong?
Yes. RPC asks for at least a 2.1 degree or equivalent, fluency in Mandarin and English, and the ability to read and write Chinese. That written-Chinese requirement filters out more candidates than the degree class does.
What does the RPC Hong Kong selection process look like?
During the summer scheme you complete training-contract assessment exercises: a group discussion, a group presentation and a written test. Successful candidates then progress to a motivation interview with a People team member and an Associate, followed by a panel interview with Partners.
What does the RPC Hong Kong training contract look like?
Four six-month seats across the firm's core Hong Kong practice areas, including insurance and commercial work, with the possibility of an international secondment to one of RPC's overseas offices. Trainees get a supervising partner and associate, a mentor and a dedicated trainee development team.