Winter Vacation Scheme Review

The insight was a valuable experience for gaining insight into life as a trainee at the firm. HR makes you feel very comfortable at the firm, and trainees and associates help to the extent that their workload permits. The firm hosted a number of talks on the various different departments, giving a clear insight into what is expected in that Dept, and the type of work a trainee will typically be involved with.

Vacation Scheme students are encouraged to get involved with as much in the firm as possible. I was given the task of reading through and checking documents that would be used in the future, which just demonstrated the type of work a trainee will get involved with. Associates are keen to get you involved, as they know that you are the potential future of the firm, and want to test your abilities. Overall, I felt as valued as an intern can on one of these schemes.

HR really take the lead on this early in the week, giving you all the information you need to succeed. They are a great Dept at Stephenson Harwood. You are also given a trainee buddy, who checks in to see that you are on the right track, which is a nice compliment to the work that HR does.

The information I received may help with my legal studies, helping to frame the legal knowledge you accumulated and understand how it must be implemented in the real world. There is a huge difference between absorbing case law and legal principles, and actually enforcing/applying those in practice, and the talks given by associates help to enforce that.

It was well structured. Timetables are handed out at the beginning of the scheme, with all of the various talks and meetings that you need to attend. The one thing to comment on is on the Winter Vac Scheme, which is only a week, there is not much opportunity to complete any actual legal work at your desk, but that is simply the nature of a week long vac scheme.

The general atmosphere was collegiate and welcoming. Everyone at the frim was in an extremely busy period, as law firms tend to be rather hectic around Christmas. Yet despite this, everyone in the Department was welcoming and made time to sit down and talk through their work, if only for the five minutes they had to spare.

There was not a massive amount of training on the vac scheme, but I would say that was fairly standard across the board for all firms. We were given basic IT instructions and how to use the firms' software, but other than that there was not a huge amount. This did not impact on the experience of the vac scheme.

Massively. Regular contact with trainees and recently qualified associates enables the vac schemers to have all their questions answered and really develop an understanding of life at the firm. It displayed the type of work expected of a trainee, alongside the environment they work in which is a massive attraction for Stephenson Harwood - where the type of work combined with the culture is the main attraction.

100%. The vac scheme is almost tailor made to display the firm's culture, which is collaborative, collegiate and relaxed. That is not to say that the firm has relaxed standards, which are extremely high, but more that these standards are enforced in a friendly manner. It was very successful in communicating it to the vac schemers, and was one of its greatest strengths.

Extremely valuable. The exposure to associates and the talks given by them offers an insight into the day-to-day life of a commercial solicitor. It highlights the most exciting aspects of the job, and some of the more remedial tasks that need to be done, which really helps distinguish the career as one that is either for you, or not.

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Yes. There were three lunches held during the week with trainees, supervisors and other members of the firm who wanted to get involved. There was also a drinks event held with current trainees which provided an informal setting to answer the questions vac schemers wanted answering outside of an office setting.

They were a useful insight into the firm. Some were formal and some were informal, which provided a nice balance to have questions answered and understand more about life at the firm. There could perhaps have been more networking opportunities with members of the firm, but everybody was so busy during this period it simply may not have been feasible.

Yes. We were told about the various sports teams that members in the firm get involved with outside of work, with a range of partners, associates, trainees, paralegals and support staff getting involved. We were also told about the charitable work that the firm does, which is a credit to the firm and shows how seriously it takes this aspect of its commercial obligations.

Without a doubt. If you are looking for a scheme in order to learn more about the firm, challenge yourself and make connections, this is a scheme you should look into. The application process is fairly difficult, and applicants should be warned that half-hearted applications will get you absolutely nowhere, but it was a valuable experience.