Ziqi Zhou joined the firm in 2017 as a legal assistant, starting her training in 2020. She is an associate in the Antitrust, Competition and Trade department in Hong Kong. She studied law at the Tsinghua University and the BPP University, and finished her training contract in 2022. 

Training contracts here have eight seats so you’ll experience a diverse range of cases and clients.  

Different seats expose you to many aspects of transactions and company life cycles.   

You steadily build an understanding of how legal advice fits into the full picture of the client’s business needs. 

Colleagues encourage questions and are happy to chat informally about their careers. I feel lucky to be here and have access to these insights.  

All of this makes you a well-rounded legal professional, even if at a junior level. It’s a solid base from which to grow your career. 

At Freshfields, you are on the front line.  

You’ll be involved in complicated cases and transactions from day one. Every day is different and it pushes you to grow professionally. 

Trainees are encouraged to listen in on calls, even if it’s something they’re not directly working on.  

Freshfields offers an international platform to grow professionally.  

When I started, I had limited experience of studying or working outside of mainland China.  

At Freshfields you’re immersed in an international environment. The firm offers language and culture classes and you work with people across multiple jurisdictions on a daily basis. Secondments give you exposure to different legal markets and a diverse mix of colleagues. 

Freshfields is a supportive and social environment to train in. You emerge from your contract ready to work on interesting cases alongside skilled and friendly colleagues.