Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the insight, we had a week in London and two weeks in Manchester (the local office you apply for). It has been the most structured and interesting internship that I have ever been on. There was a good deal of interaction between all 7 UK offices and so I have made friends from different cities now.

I felt like I was a part of the teams at all times, and I felt like I was valued because I was working on live matters that the other lawyers were working on at the time. I also had the opportunity to attend training sessions, networking sessions and to attend court.

There was a lot of guidance and support given during the induction week in London, and any questions we had would be answered quickly by the graduate recruitment team. Once we were in our local office we had a trainee buddy who we could direct our questions to and our supervisors were friendly so they could offer support as well.

I felt like the soft skills that I developed from this internship, such as improving my ability to network, present in front of a panel and work in teams, will really help me in my future career. You also learn how to work in a professional manner with your department team and manager.

The insight has been the most strutured insight I have ever heard of or been on. There were many events put into our calendars, which was nice as it kept every day exciting and challenging. There were no major logistical falures and the whole process seemed to run smoothly.

The general atmosphere in London was quite tense during the days, as there was an element of competition and it was made clear to us the grounds on which we were being assessed, which has it's pros and cons. During the nights the atmosphere was relaxed and people got on very well. In the local office the atmosphere was relaxed.

The company invested heavily in the interns, as shown by the sheer effort they put into making us feel valued. We had 4 nights in a hotel in central London paid for, trains paid for, food for the entire three weeks (Lunch in the local office, a £15 pret voucher, £20 meal reimbursement and breakfast+ lunch and sometimes dinner in London) paid for.

The insight gave me a great understanding into what life would be like as a trainee at the firm. We got involved with social and work events with both the Manchester and Liverpool office, had good insights into multiple practice groups and met a large amount of the senior management (of both the wider firm and our local office).

Similar to the above, because of all the events and interaction with a wide variety of people, we had the best possible exposure to the firm and the culture. I felt like I truly understood the firm after I had finished the placement. The best thing was being able to organise meetings with members of staff (informally) in order to question them and learn about their lives at the firm.

I got involved with some good live work when at the firm, and naturally had to work with different members of the teams to get things done. I also sat in on client calls and conference calls and so the overall exposure I received helped me a lot in confirming that a career in the law was for me.

There was a lot of networking events which I enjoyed. We had specific events which were for networking with trainees, and then different events to network with partners and also the Liverpool office at their summer party. We also had the opportunity to meet the previous graduate class of 2017 and 2016.

We were provided with great quality food, at all networking events, and we also had a wide variety of drinks to choose from. At the external networking events in the restaurants we had fantastic food which was paid for by the firm. My only advice is that for the dinner in London the company should have the seating plan change so that different interns have the opportunity to sit directly next to a member of staff.

We learned about the pro bono projects the company does and how trainees can get involved with such projects out of work. We also learned about the sports teams and choir that are popular with the company. Finally we learned about the department specific training days and social events that trainees can get involved with.

Absolutely.