Summer Clerkship - Auckland 2026

About Chapman Tripp

Chapman Tripp is New Zealand's pre-eminent law firm. We deliver the highest levels of legal and business performance to our clients - we are strategic, commercial, decisive and personal. Our lawyers work on projects that are helping define New Zealand's future.

We believe that our people’s unique experiences, different perspectives and paths they have taken with Chapman Tripp, make us the leading law firm that we are today. The work experience and foundational support we provide at Chapman Tripp is the base for our people to create their own journey during their time in the firm.

About our Summer Clerkship 

Our 12-week Summer Clerk programme is a great way for students to immerse themselves in life at Chapman Tripp! Throughout their time in the firm, our Summer Clerks build working relationships, receive great training and most of all, get involved in in-depth, meaningful work.

We keep our intake to approximately 30 Summer Clerks across our three offices, ensuring all of our Summer Clerks receive real-work, and have the potential to be offered a Law Clerkship at the end of the summer. Our Summer Clerks rotate through two teams over the course of their clerkship. Before the programme begins, we provide information about each team so Summer Clerks have all of the details they need to make an informed decision about their rotation preferences.

While our Summer Clerks are busy getting stuck into the work and meeting clients, we also provide some fun experiences along the way, including volunteer work and a number of firm and Summer Clerk social events – from team sports nights and dinners, to an orientation day.

Our application process

Our application process gives us every opportunity to get to know you and for you to get to know our firm and people. Below is a guide on how our process works:

1. CV: Please provide a copy of your updated CV, sharing with us your work and life experiences, key skills and interests, and anything else you think we should know.

2. Academic Transcript: We don’t require a formal certified copy of your transcript (a scanned print out or screenshot is fine). Please upload this in the same document as your CV.

3. For all Summer and Winter Clerkship applications:

a) We require you to answer our application question (500 word limit) around a legal topic that has captured your curiosity, whether from the news, your readings, or a lecture. You may use AI to help structure your response and check your grammar, but we encourage you to write in your own voice and style. 

b) We are also asking candidates to submit a short 'About Me' video. Think of it as a cover letter brought to life. Here we would like for you to describe a time when your curiosity and determination drove you to explore a new idea or tackle a challenging problem. How did your initiative and willingness to investigate lead to a positive outcome, and what did you take away from the experience?

Please note this video should not exceed 2 minutes; anything over 2 minutes may not be viewed.

Thank you for your interest in Chapman Tripp. We look forward to getting to know you!