Student Review

I had a great time on the Spring Vacation Scheme at Baker McKenzie. I found out a lot about the firm, met many people who helped me understand more about the profession and the firm, and had a number of enjoyable social events. The firm managed to fit a lot into a 2 week scheme, and I would definitely recommend it.

I felt extremely valued in both departments I sat in during my vacation scheme. The work I did was genuinely interesting and I felt that I was contributing to the work of the firm with my activities. The employees at Baker McKenzie made me feel welcome and gave me relatively important and interesting work to do.

We were all assigned a trainee buddy during the scheme which was incredible useful in terms of support. We were able to ask them whenever we had a question or worry, and I felt that this support system a was extremely useful, particularly when I compare this to other schemes that I have heard about.

The vacation scheme helped me to develop a number of transferable skills. We had skills sessions and a presentation task which was particularly helpful when I went back to university and had a number of presentations in my final year. I am sure that the skills will also help me in my legal career in years to come.

The vacation scheme was very well structured. On the first day, we had introductory sessions and were given a timetable for the following two weeks which provided us with all the necessary information we needed. There was a great mix of work, skills, and social events which ensured a good work-life balance during the two weeks.

In general, the atmosphere at Baker McKenzie is particularly welcoming. It maintains a professional atmosphere without making vacation scheme students feel pressured. I think that the balance helped us feel at ease and be more confident in our actions and our work. I would recommend the vacation scheme to anyone looking for a supportive but fun atmosphere - I found this especially important as a non-law student.

We had the opportunity to meet a number of trainees, associates, and partners while at the firm. This helped us to understand what working at the firm will be like across a number of different levels. I feel that I have come away from the vacation scheme with a good understanding of what would be required of me.

The opportunity to spend 2 weeks at the firm helped me to understand the culture much better than before. It is hard to know if a firm talks about its culture to try and sell it to students without it truly existing, however this was not the case at Baker McKenzie. The supportive and friendly culture was exactly as described and I think that working at the firm helped me appreciate this.

It was decisive in confirming to me that law is the right career path for me. I studied French and Spanish at university and in my final year was still not 100% about my career. This opportunity helped me to be sure that I would both enjoy a career as a solicitor, and that it would suit me and my skill set. It also gave me confidence going into the GDL.

We had about 5 social events across the two week vacation scheme. These were a mix of internal and external events and helped us to