Summer Clerk Review

I really loved the three weeks I spent at Baker & McKenzie. The work I was given was challenging and interesting, but equally I never felt that I was completely out of my depth. Everyone at the firm was immensely friendly and inclusive, whether this was in the office or on one of the social events. All of the vac schemers got along really well, and it was nice to be able to share this experience with a group of such lovely people.

I felt very valued during my time on the vacation scheme. It was really good to be given work on current projects, rather than just being given a variety of past tasks to keep me occupied. Getting involved in department work made me feel very involved and integrated within the firm, as I knew that the work I was doing was making a contribution, however small it may have been.

The way I was supported during the vacation scheme was one of the most stand-out things of my experience. Members of the Graduate Recruitment team were always on hand at any vac scheme or office-wide events, which helped make me feel more comfortable as I knew I could turn to them if I needed to. Within the office, I also thought having both a supervisor and a trainee buddy was really effective. Being able to ask questions and seek guidance from members of the department helped boost my confidence in the work I was doing, and get really useful feedback for the work I had done.

I have just finished a non-law undergraduate degree (in History), so the skills I have developed on this vacation scheme obviously won't help me there. However, within the next year or so I will undertake the Graduate Diploma in Law, and I am very hopeful that I will find things slightly more familiar now that I have some real experience in law. Specifically, this vacation scheme is the first time I have encountered and work with case law, and so I feel more confident in tackling the more black-letter law modules that I will undertake in the GDL.

I think the vacation scheme has been very well structured. Having talks every day on what lawyers in different departments do is a very good idea; we are only able to sit in two departments, but these talks allow us to gain insight into a variety of other fields. I also think having more skills-based sessions such as networking and presentations supplemented our experience well. The only thing I sometimes found difficult was because we had so many useful talks, we were sometimes in and out of our office a lot which made it hard at times to sit down for a dedicated period of time to work. Having said that, I would far rather be in that situation, than feel like I've left a full-service law firm without seeing as many aspects of this full-service as I could.

The culture at Baker & McKenzie has always been one of my favourite aspects of the firm, and being here for three weeks has only augmented that feeling. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming and helpful. There is a real community feel to the firm that I just love. This was apparent in the departments, but especially on socials and other out-of-office events. It was nice to be able to see how this atmosphere is down to the people in the firm and how they act as individuals, and not just a requirement during office hours.

I think Baker & McKenzie invested very heavily in the vacation schemers. When we had our talks, they were presented by trainees, associates, partners, PLCs, all of whom took time out of their days (often beyond the hour allocated) to make sure we were really informed on their department and answer any questions. The skills sessions were similar, and were also incredibly helpful.

I think the work I was given gave me really good idea of what it would be like to have a full time role at Baker & McKenzie, at least certainly as a trainee. While a lot of the work I did was very new and exciting to me, some was also fairly standard tasks such as proof-reading. I actually really liked this balance, as it showed that even as a vac schemer you were doing the work you would be doing as a trainee, not all of which is glamorous! Also, being so exposed to the firm's culture gave a really good insight into how the firm operates.

The vacation scheme helped hugely with this. I had already been exposed to the firm's culture at Baker & McKenzie events at my university during the application process, but being in the firm for a prolonged period of time, and participating in activities with other firm members really cemented this.

The scheme has been incredibly helpful in helping me decide my future career. Having done a non-law undergraduate degree, I still felt slightly concerned that I would get to the end of the vacation scheme as would realise law wasn't for me. However, coming to the end of this scheme has shown me how much I enjoy working in a law firm, and how much I want to pursue this as a career in future.

I think I was certainly paid adequately for this experience. The salary we were given allowed me to cover my transport comfortably, which was especially useful given that in the first week I had to travel around a lot to attend both this vacation scheme and my graduation from university.

We were very lucky that over the course of our vacation scheme we were also invited to office-wide events such as the summer party and the trainee party. This allowed us to meet a lot of people who otherwise I may not have encountered, especially those who were above trainee level.

We had an organised networking event with another company's interns which was actually really enjoyable. I had been concerned that meeting people in this way would feel forced and uncomfortable, but it was actually very relaxed and friendly. At our social events, there was a very open atmosphere, which allowed us to meet new people very easily.

One of the talks we had that was not related to the different fields of law was Diversity and Inclusion. This talk was incredibly helpful at showing the various initiatives that employees at Baker & McKenzie could get involved with, from sports to charity to social groups. I really liked having this insight; it showed the firm to be not just an office but also a mini community where there is a lot of opportunity to get involved in new things

I would definitely recommend this vacation scheme to a friend. I think there is a really good balance between doing a lot of interesting work in a department, gaining insight into other fields of law and also getting to know a lot of people at the firm and hear about their experiences.