In the latest demonstration of its commitment to providing lawyers with fairly meaningful and, in this case, at the coal face tech training, Clifford Chance high performing trainees will now be offered a two-month law tech internship as the magic circle giant today (5 July) announces that it has launched a pilot with fast-growing online legal marketplace Lexoo.
Interns will gain exposure across the product, marketing, business development and operations functions at Lexoo, which will also provide training in coding and data analytics. According to today’s announcement, the interns will have direct client contact from day one and gain invaluable insight into the business and technology of law. The first cohort of interns have been selected from a group of Clifford Chance’s future trainees that had secured a place on the 2017 First Year Springboard programme, which offers exceptional first year students opportunities to gain an insider’s view into careers in law.
Daniel van Binsbergen (pictured), CEO of Lexoo: “We are really excited to launch this pilot. It’s important that tomorrow’s lawyers are prepared for the changes facing the legal industry, and this scheme will give interns a real insight into the cutting edge of legal technology. The business and technical skills developed through the internship will set these future lawyers apart from their peers at every stage of their career. Innovation is clearly at the heart of Clifford Chance and we are delighted to work with them on this pilot scheme.”
Laura Yeates, head of graduate talent at Clifford Chance said: ‘With innovation firmly on the agenda in the boardroom, we are pleased that this investment is being seen at every level of the firm- from partners to future trainees. The legal industry is evolving with new challenges and new opportunities. In order to give our clients’ the best service today and in the future, we are committed to ensuring our lawyers have the skills needed for a successful career.’
In April Clifford Chance launched a global Tech Academy that will provide fee-earners and staff across the firm with a combination of online training and face to face workshops to bring them up to date with the latest technology trends across its various client sectors. The online training programme includes two levels of coding training – one for those with basic understanding and another for those with intermediate knowledge. Not everyone was enthusiastic: responding to the news of the Academy on LinkedIn one reader said: “IT training? How about that thing called an IT department?”
We will shortly bring you details of Clifford Chance’s two new innovation units, which sees the firm spin off some of its more innovative activity outside of the firm.
