Vacation Scheme Student Review

Valuable insight was given both into the work done and the culture at the firm. The first 4 days of induction does, at times, feel a little excessive but it is a good way of warming up the people for the vac scheme and the work. Its hard to pick between doing a quick on the job induction and allowing more time for work and doing an induction like at DLA Piper.

Sometimes it was harder to procure work but then again that is understandable. I had a vac scheme at another law firm before this and there, associates, trainees and even a partner reached out to me to give me work and to meet up to have some one-on-one discussions. I guess with the size of DLA, that is harder to do.

The employees are generally very willing to explain and talk the interns through their tasks. Some might be more busy than others when you are around though but again, that is to be expected. Some departments might have more trainees which makes the explanation easier but sometimes it will be a partner or senior associate who will explain tasks as if you are an associate yourself.

Coming from non-law and being primarily interested in sampling the legal profession rather than actually pursuing it, I did not gain much in terms of assisting with my degree. I am a mathematics graduate and have not learned much in terms of mathematics based careers. But I did gain good insight into legal research and the work that solicitors carry out.

There is a good balance of talks and socials. The morning talks made sure that everyone got to hear and learn about various practice areas. The socials were good as well and well organised by the grad recruitment team. Maybe having one event in some more interactive place like mini-golf or something of the sort would be a nice touch but I appreciate that there are many interns which makes picking activities hard. The performance review is a good touch but not that well planned. The 2nd week (at least in London) means we are assessed on 3.5 days of work rather than 5)

As an intern, I did not expect much further investment than what was already being done as part of the scheme. I noted that explanations of tasks were generally good and readily available and there are always your buddy's to fall back on to help out. I would say the company invested enough time and money into the interns as it it.

Having talked with and worked with a number of people, I think I got a good idea of what working at DLA entails. We are encouraged to reach out to as many people as possible and to try find out as much first-hand information as possible whilst we are on the scheme.

The 4 day induction was sure to inform everyone of the culture and the environment at the firm. I think that from this point of view, it is a useful thing to do. But it did feel like advertisement sometimes. Working with the people was the main factor that helped me understand the culture at DLA Piper.

It is mainly up to us to structure our day in a way that would help us decide our future career paths. I came knowing that I will have to ask many people for insights to get a real feel for the legal profession. And that is what I did. So I would say valuable.

Good events and opportunities to socialise and network. As pointed out before, there are many interns in the London office which can make such events difficult. Maybe segmenting the scheme into 2 could help with bettering these events. Outside of events, employees were readily available for chats and consults regarding any questions the vac schemers may have.

Mainly during the induction talks but when I actually came down to work, I did not hear much about such activities.

Overall, I think this was a very good experience. It is perfect for someone who is fairly certain about going into law and wants to secure a TC. The overall treatment of interns is great. Grad recruitment is very proactive and energetic and always on stand-by if anything comes up. I would recommend this to a friend.