Winter 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 Winter Clerkship 

Our Winter Clerkship is a brilliant 2 week learning and immersion experience! It is a great opportunity to experience life at Chapman Tripp and figure out if working in a corporate law firm is for you. At the end of the programme, our 2026 Winter Clerks may be invited back to join our 2027/2028 Summer Clerk programme.

Over the course of the programme, our Winter Clerks undertake real work, participate in training sessions, enjoy social events such as sports events, volunteering and lunches, and get a feel for our firm. Our Winter Clerks are teamed up with a buddy and a supervisor to make sure they have all the support they need. And if you’re out-of-town, we’ll fly you to one of our offices and cover your accommodation for those 2 weeks.

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 just 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!