UK & international
Simmons & Simmons
A London-founded international firm whose Hong Kong office has built genuine specialisms in investment funds, ETFs and employment law, running two three-week vacation scheme sessions each summer into a small, four-seat training contract.
- Category
- UK & international
- Origin
- London, founded 1896 by twin brothers Percy and Edward Simmons
- HK presence
- Open since 1979; 120+ people at One Taikoo Place, the firm's Greater China base alongside Beijing and Shanghai
- HK strengths
- Investment funds & ETFs, employment, financial markets (securitisation, derivatives), dispute resolution
The Hong Kong practice
What does Simmons & Simmons' Hong Kong office actually do?
Simmons & Simmons opened in Hong Kong in 1979, and the office has grown to more than 120 lawyers and staff working out of One Taikoo Place under Jonathan Hammond, who heads the office and the firm's wider Asia practice. The team sits inside the firm's Greater China network alongside Beijing and Shanghai, acting for multinational companies, international investment banks, fund managers and government-linked bodies such as the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation.
What sets the office apart from the bigger Magic Circle names it competes against is its investment funds and ETF practice. Simmons & Simmons says its Hong Kong team has advised on around 81% of all the exchange-traded funds ever listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, well over half of them. Source ↗ Legal 500 ranks the group in Tier 2 for investment funds and singles out its retail-fund and ETF work, Source ↗ running from routine fund authorisations up to the city's first crypto ETFs and first covered-call active ETFs. Employment is the other standout: Chambers ranks the Hong Kong team Band 1 for employment among international firms in Greater China, Source ↗ handling deferred-compensation clawbacks, discrimination claims and workplace investigations for multinational employers across Asia Pacific. Corporate & commercial, dispute resolution, and a financial markets team rebuilt around a January 2025 securitisation and derivatives hire complete the practice. Source ↗
Trainees rotate through four six-month seats across Corporate & Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Employment and Financial Markets, so what you actually touch depends on where you land: fund launches and ETF documentation near the funds team, tribunal and HR dispute work in employment, or M&A and joint-venture drafting in corporate. One seat can be swapped for a secondment, to a client or to one of the firm's international offices.
Trainee & vacation scheme programme
How do you get into Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong?
The summer vacation scheme is the main route in, and the firm advertises it on its Hong Kong early-careers page. It runs as two separate three-week sessions each summer, one in June and one spanning June and July, open to penultimate-year (preferred) and final-year law students. You're attached to a supervising partner or associate, given a buddy trainee, sit in on client meetings, and do real research and drafting work rather than shadowing.
- Route inSummer vacation scheme, run as two separate three-week sessions each summer (one in June, one spanning June and July). This is the main route into the training contract. Source ↗
- Intake sizeOne recruitment guide puts each vacation scheme session at around eight students, so the funnel from scheme to training-contract offer is narrow.
- Who can applyPenultimate-year (preferred) and final-year law students. A strong, consistent academic record (a 2:1 or equivalent) is the baseline.
- The contractTwo years across four six-month seats: Corporate & Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Employment and Financial Markets, with one seat swappable for a client or international secondment. Source ↗
- MoneyA placement allowance in the region of HK$7,500 for the three-week scheme. Trainee pay is public: HK$49,000 a month in year one, rising to HK$51,000 in year two. Source ↗
- What they wantAmbition, an entrepreneurial and international outlook, curiosity, and the resilience to run a piece of work end to end. Cantonese or Mandarin is a practical advantage given the Greater China client base.
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 Simmons & Simmons' 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 office is strongest: exchange-traded funds and structured finance.
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Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation's Bauhinia 3 infrastructure dealDecember 2025
Advised the bank syndicate on the third issuance in HKMC's Bauhinia infrastructure loan-backed securities series, US$427.9m across five note classes backed by 33 infrastructure loans in 12 countries, including the series' largest sustainability tranche at US$117m. Led by Karen Lam, who joined the firm as head of Hong Kong securitisation and derivatives in January 2025. Source ↗
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ChinaAMC's spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFsApril 2024
Advised China Asset Management (Hong Kong) on the ChinaAMC Bitcoin ETF and ChinaAMC Ether ETF, among the first spot virtual asset ETFs brought to market in Asia, built on Hong Kong's open-ended fund company structure. Source ↗
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Mirae Asset's first covered-call active ETFsFebruary 2024
Advised Mirae Asset Global Investments on the Global X HSI Components and Global X HSCEI Components Covered Call Active ETFs, Hong Kong's first covered-call active ETFs, tracking the Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index. Source ↗
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CSOP Saudi Arabia ETF, Asia's first Saudi equities fundNovember 2023
Advised CSOP Asset Management on the CSOP Saudi Arabia ETF, Asia's first exchange-traded fund tracking Saudi equities, debuting on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and following the FTSE Saudi Arabia Index. Led by funds partner Ivy Yam. Source ↗
Insider tip
Weekly deal breakdowns like these, what happened, why it matters, and how to talk about it in an interview, sit at the core of the paid Weekly News Digest.
Interview & selection intel
What does the Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong selection process look like?
Publicly, Simmons & Simmons says less about its Hong Kong process than some competitors, so most of what follows comes from assessment-prep sites and candidate forums rather than the firm itself. The reported shape is three stages: an online application, a blended online assessment, then an assessment centre.
The reported sequence starts with an online application (CV, cover letter, a handful of written questions), then a blended assessment of 60 to 90 minutes combining psychometric testing (verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, a situational judgment test) with a pre-recorded video interview of around four questions. One assessment-prep provider puts the drop-out rate at this stage as high as 60 to 80%, so treat it as a genuine cut rather than a formality. Some recruitment guides list Simmons & Simmons among the firms that use the Watson Glaser critical-thinking test as part of that suite, though this isn't confirmed for every intake.
Candidates who clear the blended assessment move to an assessment centre built around an in-tray exercise, a case study exercise, and a final competency-based interview. Strip away the branding and the pattern fits a firm built on funds and employment work: it tests whether you can process a written scenario fast, reason cleanly under time pressure, and hold a sensible commercial conversation, not whether you can quote case law.
How to stand out
How do you stand out for Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong?
Because a blended online assessment cuts most of the field before a lawyer reads your application, your edge comes from drilling that reasoning pattern, rehearsing the in-tray and case study against a clock, and engaging with the office's real specialisms rather than generic prestige. Here is where to put your preparation.
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1Do not walk into the blended assessment cold. The reasoning and situational judgment tests reportedly cut most of the field before a lawyer ever reads your application, so drill that pattern until it is automatic. The Watson Glaser Academy builds the same critical-reasoning muscle these psychometric tests measure.
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2Rehearse the in-tray and case study format against a clock. It rewards the same skill as the firm's day-to-day funds and employment work: reading a pile of information fast and producing a clear, structured recommendation, and it helps to know how firms mark case studies first. Build that in the Online Case Study Centre and pressure-test it in the Mock Assessment Centre.
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3Skip the generic "Magic Circle prestige" answer. Simmons & Simmons isn't a Magic Circle firm, and its Hong Kong office is genuinely known instead for funds, ETFs and employment work. An application that engages with that, and explains why it interests you commercially, reads as real research. The Law Firm Application Academy shows how to build that evidence, and one-to-one coaching pressure-tests it before the competency interview.
Quick answers
Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong, in five questions
How do you get a training contract at Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong?
Through the summer vacation scheme, which is the main route in. It runs as two separate three-week sessions each summer, one in June and one spanning June and July, open to penultimate-year (preferred) and final-year law students.
What does the Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong training contract look like?
It runs two years across four six-month seats: Corporate & Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Employment and Financial Markets, with one seat swappable for a client or international secondment.
What does Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong pay trainees?
Trainee pay is public: HK$49,000 a month in year one, rising to HK$51,000 in year two. Vacation scheme students report a placement allowance in the region of HK$7,500 for the three weeks.
Does Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong use the Watson Glaser test?
Some recruitment guides list Simmons & Simmons among the firms that use the Watson Glaser critical-thinking test as part of its blended online assessment, though this isn't confirmed for every intake. The blended assessment combines psychometric testing with a pre-recorded video interview.
What does Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong look for in applicants?
The firm's language leans commercial: ambition, an entrepreneurial and international outlook, curiosity, and the resilience to run a piece of work end to end. A strong, consistent academic record (a 2:1 or equivalent) is the baseline, and Cantonese or Mandarin is a practical advantage given the Greater China client base.