Three US firms have secured an agreement with London's City Law School to offer three-month internships to some of its students.

O'Melveny & Myers and Sidley Austin in London as well as Howrey's Brussels office have all agreed to offer placements to graduates on City's new masters course in international commercial law, which launched this month.

O'Melveny and Howrey are both offering a place in antitrust with Howrey providing a scholarship of E7,500 (£5,000) and O'Melveny a scholarship of £2,500. Sidley Austin, meanwhile, is offering an internship in international commercial law open to those students taking courses in M&A, antitrust and world trade law.

London shipping firm Thomas Cooper & Stibbard is also offering an international shipping law internship.

As the places are limited, students will have to enter a competition if they are to secure one of the positions.

The new course is designed to give students a grounding in commercial law and includes a 'City insider' programme to give students an understanding of how the City works, as well as a law and practice forum. It is open to graduates from the UK and overseas and has 55 students signed up this year.

Peter Kunzlik, director of City Law School, told Legal Week: "The opportunity to get an internship with a major firm is invaluable and the US firms are major players in the UK and London. We do not want to leave it at four firms though – we will broaden it out."