Seasonal Clerkships
IMPORTANT CHANGES TO LIV SEASONAL CLERKSHIP AND TRAINEESHIP GUIDELINES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
There have recently been significant changes to the 2010 LIV Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines for Seasonal Clerkship recruitment, in particular to the key dates.
Full details are available in the Important changes to LIV Guidelines document.
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Information on Seasonal Clerkships
Seasonal Clerkships are basically a period of paid work experience at a firm. They are an opportunity for a firm to get to know you and for you to get to know the firm. In this sense they are like a long interview!
You would usually apply for a Seasonal Clerkship in the second semester of your Penultimate year of study. They run for 3-4 weeks and there are three opportunities during the penultimate year - Summer (before Christmas) and Summer (after Christmas) and Winter (of your final year). If successful you are able to do clerkships at all three periods.
Some firms do allow students to apply in the year prior to their penultimate year - individual firm websites will have this information.
Seasonal Clerkships are becoming increasingly important to your successful transition from university to work. Not only are they great work experience and look good on your resume, they are often now the first phase of many firms' recruitment drive for Trainees, with many firms selecting their Trainees totally from their pool of seasonal clerks.
If you have successfully completed a Seasonal Clerkship with a firm that is a signatory to the 2010 LIV Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines, that firm is able to make you a Priority Offer for a Traineeship. This means that you do not have to interview for the Traineeship and you will be notified of your success one month before the regular offers for Traineeships are made.
Key dates for 2010 are:
| Applications open | Firms can open applications whenever they like - |
| Applications close | Firms can close applications whenever they like - Usually |
Seasonal Clerkship offers made | Monday 13 Setpember 2010, 9am |
The Law Students' Society runs a series of seminars on Seasonal Clerkship applications to coincide with the application dates. These will be detailed on the Careers section of the LSS website.
The LSS also produce the Seasonal Clerkship guide. Click here for the 2009 edition.
Further information on Seasonal Clerkships
LIV Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines 2010
List of firms that adhere to the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines 2008