Ashurst Perkins Coie - Playbook (Winter Vacation Scheme 2026)

Are you applying for an Ashurst Perkins Coie Winter Vacation Scheme?

Here's all the research you need to impress.

This Playbook covers:

🧠 Practice Area Strategy
🤝Why is the merger a big deal?
🤖 A unique use of Legal AI
❗ Top challenges and opportunities
🔍 How to Stand Out

Plus how to use this information to stand out in applications and interviews!

⏱️ Deadline: 11 September (Apply here)

The US Merger

What's going on?

Ashurst and Perkins Coie announced their intent to combine on 17 November 2025, partners at both firms voted "overwhelmingly" in favour on 13 April 2026, surpassing the two-thirds majority required, and the deal completed on 28 June 2026. Ashurst had openly wanted a US platform "for many years", in Jenkins's words. It got there just months after Perkins Coie had been the target of a US presidential executive order.

What's the signal?

• 📈 This is a scale-and-access play. Ashurst had a tiny US presence before the deal (roughly 55 lawyers across New York, Austin and Los Angeles); almost all of Perkins Coie's lawyers sit in the US.
• 💸 The merger is the fastest possible route into the world's most profitable legal market.
• ⚖️ Ashurst walked toward a firm mid-fight with the US administration because the strategic prize, US tech and litigation depth, outweighed the political noise.

How to use this in your Application: