Summer Internship Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the firm, from the moment we all arrived in London we were blown away by the effort and investment DLA had put into the internship. On the very first day we took part in really fun networking activities that helped to break the ice and allowed friendships to form early on. During the week in London we had the most amazing intern dinner and once we returned to our regional offices the trainees ensured we were able to participate in the office social life.

DLA puts great emphasis upon ensuring all the summer students feel welcome and valued during their time with the firm. Everyone is given the opportunity and is encouraged to ask questions and to get invovled with whatever project your team is currently working on. I felt everyone in the office genuinely wanted to get to know me and they were truly interested in the opinions and insights I had to offer.

Before you start your internship with DLA you are assigned a 'buddy' trainee who keeps in contact with you to answer any questions you might have. Once you join the firm your buddy and all the other trainees provide a great network of support and they are all very approachable. Graduate Recruitment are also very supportive, they are in constant communication and provide the interns with a really clear timetable of events and presentations.

Everything I have learned while on this internship will assist me with developing my skills in presenting, drafting work and working to deadlines. I have improved my research skills and the internship has taught me how to priotise information and set out complex processes in a clear and precise manner.

This is definitely one of the most well structured internships. The Graduate Recruitment team are such an amazing force, they have everything so well organised from the assessment centres right throught to the internship itself. Everything is clearly timetabled and runs smoothly and they are also on hand to answer any questions along the way. The need to set objectives each week and to report back your feedback really helps to provide the internship with a strong structure.

The atmosphere was welcoming, friendly, enthusiastic and fun. Everyone I met had time to speak to me and seemed to be enjoying their work. In all departments teams worked together and enjoyed having a laugh together when they were not too busy. You could feel when someone had an urgent deadline but there was always a strong support network around them so I never felt I was in a stressful environment during my weeks in the office.

The firm invested in our training and development hugely. We received workshops upon diversity and inclusion education and presentation skills which were a fantastic way to develop our own skills. In addition, the presentations we received some of the most senior people in the firm allowed us to learn from their experiences and their advice was an excellent learning tool.

We received an excellent insight in to how it would be to work full time at DLA. This was through speaking to the trainees and finding out how they spent a typical day and how they had enjoyed each of their seats so far. But additionally, we had lots of opportunities to meet with and speak to senior asssociates and partners which was a great way to gain insight into how career progression operates within the firm.

DLA is firm that truly values and welcomes diversity and inclusion. We got a real sense for this on the internship with a presentation in London from the Head of Diversity and Inclusion. In addition, several of the presenters and even simply people within the office spoke of the importance of respect for one another and being a supportive team player as the two key features of the culture at DLA. I also feel a growing awareness and acceptance of mental health played into the culture at DLA.

The content of the day was fairly valuable at helping me to decide on my future career path. We received a constant flow of information while on the internship and we were provided with the opportunities to speak to lawyers from all practice groups to help shape our own career decisions.

DLA pays all their UK interns the same wage which I think is a great feature and truly supports their one UK policy.

There were lots of opportunties to network and meet other employees of the firm. In London this was done through formal presentations and dinners and informal breakfasts/lunches. In our own offices we were able to network constantly simply by joining meetings and calls or even offering coffee to everyone in the department provided an opportunity to speak to people you hadn't yet met.

There have been lots of fun networking social events. While in London we had a pizza night and an organised formal dinner which was amazing. Once we got to Edinburgh we had several organised breakfasts and lunches where we were able to meet associates and partners. We also had another formal dinner and joined the trainees for informal drinks during our last week.

We found out a lot about what people did outside of work while at the firm. We were invited to join the touch rugby group and there was also organised yoga. The trainees especially had a great social life together outside the firm and they were also keen to involve the interns.

I would undoutedly recommend this insight to a friend. Right from the assessment centre to the completion of the programme the entire DLA experience is impressive. I have learned a tremendous amount about myself and I have been inspired by the amazing people DLA lined up to speak to us. I have made great friends on this placement and feel DLA have really tried hard to set up an internship programme that is truly enjoyable and actually very fun.