Legal Intern Review

I am really enjoying my internship - at first 10 weeks seemed like an endless stretch but I'm always kept busy and the work is very interesting so the days go very quickly and I find myself learning more and more each day. The people around me are fantastic and really make the internship as good as it is.

I feel very valued by my colleagues - they don't treat me like a temporary employee but rather an actual member of the team. I am always included in everything, whether that be team meetings or lunches for someone's birthday. They all seem interested about what I want to do in the future and university life and make my days easy and happy.

My manager is lovely and will always take the time to explain things to me if I ask, and answer any questions I have. He is also very supportive when it comes to me needing a day off or to leave early etc - he appreciates that some things just can't be avoided and trusts me to make up my time when I can.

I think it was a real mix - on some days I would be quite free and would end up researching some general things that I had heard and wanted to find out more about, like hedge funds for example. On other days, I would go from meeting to meeting to working lunch and then another meeting which meant I barely had a moment to breathe! I enjoyed this but I would've liked it to have been more spread out, although I understand that in the real world things often work like this.

I feel like I was given just enough responsibility - I was trusted to do things by myself, but this was then always checked by my line manager and so it wasn't like I could dramatically mess things up or cost the business millions. It felt like I was able to do things by myself but it was also good to know that there was that 'safety net' there to check things for me and steer me in the right direction.

I think the skills and training will benefit me so much. I was placed in the legal department, and I study law, so obviously I picked up some of the legal terminology that I will learn when I continue my studies. However I was also able to develop softer skills, such as learning how to communicate with different people, and simple things such as how to draft a professional email and minute take effectively.

The general atmosphere was open and friendly. Although everyone worked very hard, there was always some chatting going on and a lunch being organised, which made it a really relaxed place to work. I think that this gave me the motivation to work hard, as if it was very dull I think that motivation and energy would be lacking and it would have been so much harder to concentrate.

I think that it was well organised in terms of my day to day work in my team, however there were some communication issues between Reed and the Lloyds scholars team and my line manager - they often organised events which meant that I would not be in the office, sometimes for days at a time, and because it was Lloyds-organised I would only confirm with my line manager as I believed that he would have already been informed. This wasn't the case, however, and so sometimes it was a bit annoying for him only finding out about these things a few days before. Also, communication before the internship was very poor, I didn't know where I would be until very late on, and start dates etc weren't confirmed until I asked for them, meaning that I had to change several plans that I had already made.

I think that the company invested a lot and it was really beneficial to my personal training and development. There were many opportunities to explore different departments within the office, I was taken out of the office several times to explore other law firms and was even given some training on different subjects. I was even sent on a placement to Herbert Smith Freehills, which meant that I was able to show the skills that I had learnt in a practical situation, and I really appreciated this as it was something that I otherwise would not have been able to do.

I think that future employment prospects within the organisation look good, as Lloyds have a Graduate scheme which you can be referred onto after completing an internship. However, the only downside to this is that you can only be referred to the grad scheme if you do an internship in your second year, and because I want to be a lawyer, I will not be able to complete a second year internship as I will hopefully be on vacation schemes at external law firms. However, for those who do complete a second internship, this is a great opportunity.

There was a good social scene between fellow colleagues on my team, with many team lunches for various occasions - even a welcome lunch for me when I first started. Between the other interns there was a good social scene, although this was mainly organised amongst ourselves as there were no organised social events for us by the firm - besides one farewell lunch that has been organised by a grad on my floor. However, at the induction event we were placed into charity teams of ten people, and these were the people that I spent a lot of my social time with during the internship, including lunches etc.

Cost of living is very high in all of London, and I found travel to the City of London to be particularly expensive. I have to say that I think it is very unfair that Lloyds will provide accommodation for those who live too far away to commute, for free, and yet I have had to spend more than £500 in travel costs - it doesn't seem fair that I have to pay and those living in accommodation can walk to work for free. In terms of socialising, I found that prices of drinks etc were pretty standard as I am used to these prices, living in Essex, and our wages were more than enough to allow for a couple of drinks after work or a lunch out here and there.

As I was living at home, I didn't really experience the nightlife whilst on my internship, but I know form previous experiences that there are a vast amount of different clubs, bards, cinemas, bowling alleys or theatres right around the corner from where the office is, right in the centre of London. There were also two intern balls on the Thames, which made a real change to the usual clubbing scene and was a lovely thing organised by some grads.

Yes there were many things going on for charity, including charity ping pong and a legal 'festival' in the park, both of which were really popular and well attended. I think that opportunities such as these are very important for getting to know people in a different environment to the office, and I really enjoyed getting involved. We, as interns, also had a 'Charity Challenge', and so we got involved in a variety of different activities such as a 10k bridge run and cake sales etc.