DCC stands for Digital, Creative and Commerce, and it is the name for the commercial team at Lewis Silkin. It comprises over 50 lawyers advising across the media and creative industries. With opportunities to gain experience in sectors ranging from technology and AI to streaming, sports, advertising, events, podcasting and gaming, the seat offers exceptional breadth and variety for trainees.

Getting Started

When you join the DCC team, you will find a collaborative, cross-disciplinary environment where no two days look the same. The team’s structure spans sector-focused and subject-matter specialists, enabling you to rotate between different types of work and industries. Your supervisor will help you map the areas that interest you, introduce you to the relevant sub-teams, and guide you through the team’s knowledge resources so you can hit the ground running. The team will support your involvement in the sectors that interest you most, but you’ll also be encouraged to gain as broad an experience as possible by working with a wide range of colleagues.

What makes the seat stand out?

The defining feature of a DCC seat is its range. You will move between core commercial contract work to dealing with advertising matters, including drafting response letters to the Advertising Standards Authority. The seat exposes you to fast-evolving and exciting areas, such as AI-enabled services, streaming distribution frameworks, sponsorship activation, and talent deals, while keeping you grounded in foundational contract and regulatory issues. The industry facing nature of the practice offers early client contact, genuine responsibility, and the satisfaction of seeing tangible outcomes from your behind-the-scenes contract drafting. 

Scope of Work

The team advises clients on a wide spectrum of issues, from general day-to-day commercial agreements, including sale of goods and services and drafting or reviewing terms and conditions, through to IP-heavy deals such as sponsorships and branded content agreements, and advertising-specific work like media buying agreements and advice on advertising regulation and clearance. Trainees will see how core contract law principles are applied across different sectors, and how advice is tailored to the commercial strategy of each client.

Types of Trainee Tasks

As a trainee, you will:

  • Be involved in drafting and reviewing commercial contracts, terms and conditions and service schedules
  • Assist with IP-heavy arrangements, capturing rights, approvals and deliverables in sponsorships and branded content, and support sector-specific work such as media buying frameworks, talent agreements, content licensing, and regulatory clearance queries 
  • Help scope and coordinate multi-jurisdiction projects, liaise with local counsel, track responses and documentation, and keep clients updated on timelines
  • Join negotiation calls, prepare issues lists, run comparisons to identify revisions and record agreed positions for mark-ups
  • Undertake targeted research to support client advice and contribute to team know-how, including drafting articles and helping prepare materials for knowledge updates
  • Proofread a variety of commercial documents, conduct line-by-line reviews for accuracy, and spot drafting or formatting errors that need to be addressed before execution.

Why should I choose a seat in DCC?

If you want a seat that blends variety, responsibility and industry proximity, DCC delivers. You will build a strong foundation in commercial contracts while gaining exposure to creative, brand and tech-driven work. The seat encourages you to think commercially, and gives you repeated opportunities to develop your drafting and client communication skills.

What skills will you need?

A seat in DCC will require our trainees to have and develop a wide range of skills including:

  • Collaboration and learning agility – the team covers a wide range of sectors with different members of the team experts in different matters, so you'll need to work closely with several different associates, partners and clients to ensure you get a wide range of experience.
  • Organisation – trainees will often get involved in wider coordination projects where we help our clients obtain foreign law advice from local lawyers; this requires you to stay on top of correspondence, track responses and documents received, and collate invoices.
  • Negotiation – trainees often sit in on negotiation calls for commercial agreements, and you can start to test these skills by thinking of solutions and proposing compromises.
  • Attention to detail – trainees regularly proofread a whole range of contracts and other commercial documents, which can be lengthy and complicated and often involve a line-by-line review to ensure there are no errors.
  • Commercial awareness – think broadly about the client’s sector and tailor advice to their specific commercial and strategic needs to ensure that your drafting or advice serves the intended purpose for the client.
  • Research, presentation and article writing skills – trainees often complete research tasks to support client work and support our Knowledge Lawyers with Know-how updates.

Final Thoughts

A DCC seat is an opportunity to work at the intersection of creativity, technology and commerce. You will gain hands-on experience across industries, develop a robust commercial skillset, and contribute to projects that shape how brands, platforms and rights owners operate. It is a varied, client-facing seat that rewards curiosity, attention to detail and practical judgement - ideal for trainees seeking a commercially focused experience. 

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