International secondments

The most interesting and complex legal work crosses national boundaries and continents. There are only a few international legal practices capable of handling such challenging work. We’re one of them.

All of our second year trainees have the opportunity to apply to spend six months abroad. This is not compulsory and if you want to stay based at the London office you can. We currently send trainees to Brussels, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Singapore. Around 30 trainees will go on either an international or client secondment at each seat change, so you have a good chance to take up a secondment if you wish to do so. Secondment opportunities are constantly reviewed as we respond to business needs, so always check this website for the latest information.

What some of our lawyers say about their international secondments

Hong Kong – “I spent my third seat in Hong Kong with the corporate department and really can’t recommend it highly enough. I was involved in a variety of both transactional and advisory work, although much of my time was spent working on the secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of an Australian-listed energy company. The environment in the Hong Kong office and across all our international offices is highly supportive and collaborative. A seat in Hong Kong also represents an amazing opportunity to spend time living and working in a completely different culture. Given that I want to qualify into the corporate team, the experience helped me to consolidate my learning in this area.”

Dubai – “Working in Dubai was a fantastic experience and definitely one of the highlights of my training contract. The Dubai office is obviously smaller than the London office, but as the deals are just as big, the responsibility you are afforded is significant and you are often expected to liaise with clients first-hand. One of the valuable skills you pick up is learning how to adapt to a different business culture. This is something that you often run into when working for an international firm such as Hogan Lovells. Of course, Dubai is a fun city with a great luxurious lifestyle to enjoy, not to mention an overabundance of sun and sea. I was also lucky to be able to travel throughout the Middle East during my holidays.”