Summer Intern Review

A really well-organised placement with a lot of valuable opportunities to get a real perspective of how the firm works on a day-to-day basis. Everyone was lovely and the culture and community at the firm is always so positive. You get some really quality work and meet a lot of great people.

It's amazing to me that I can spend three weeks in a firm and feel like I've always belonged there. I felt really sad to leave my first practice area and will definitely miss everyone in my second week too. Everyone has been really supportive and has encouraged us the whole way through.

There was a lot of support from graduate recruitment and you could always ask any question and get the help/advice you needed. I think the guidance in the actual practice areas depends more on where you are and is subjective to the work the firm has available to you, but I always felt I was able to ask both of my supervisors for help given my non-legal background.

I'm not sure that the skills I've gained will help me with my studies given that the work is much more practical than academic. It's definitely been more of a focus on getting to know the firm and the people and how to work in the environment, rather than an actual skills building exercise for me.

Perfect. Graduate recruitment have got this spot on. I'd say there was a really good balance between the first week of presentations and training, combined with the two weeks you spend actually in the office. There were also a good number of social events and they were evenly spread out so you were constantly talking to new people.

Really positive atmosphere at the firm, everyone is very encouraging and wants to remind you that it's all just a lot of fun and it's true. The first week meeting everyone from the regional offices was great because you get to know everyone from across the UK, and then you're thrown into something completely different the second and third week. But the variety is what makes it so that it's always something new and interesting.

They definitely invested a lot the first week giving us insights into the cultural aspects of the firm. I think there was less practical, work-related investment, probably simply because this is harder to do. I definitely feel I learnt a lot, especially in practice areas that I'd never learnt about before and there's a real skill in explaining things to people who haven't necessarily done law before and people really want to help you.

Definitely being in different practice areas both weeks gives you an insight into what the culture is like in each practice area. I think the fact that it's two weeks makes it inherently difficult to see what a full-time role would be like but I think you get the best idea of it as you could on a vac scheme.

100%. The whole first week revolves around making sure you meet people and here about the non-work aspects of the firm and then when you're actually in the offices, you see how people are when they're working etc. People are also really friendly offering/agreeing to meet up with you to discuss the firm and their experiences of it which I felt was really generous given that everyone is so busy.

I definitely still want to be working here and in law. The work they do here is of such a high quality and I completely feel welcome. Every day just convinced me more that this was for me and I couldn't have asked for a better experience I don't think.

The pay was much more than you'd get at a regular work experience placement. Your lunch is always paid for, any social events, dinners etc are all paid for. My train to and from the city was paid for. The regional offices were also put up in a hotel in London for the first week.

There were loads of opportunities for networking. The first week was full of chances to meet each other and other employees at the firm. We had a lunch with trainees one day and a couple of dinners which partners attended. It might have been nice to do a few more evening socials with trainees.

My only comment on this would be that sometimes at the dinners or events organised just for us there were only a few people from the firm actually there and so it would be one person answering the questions of about 10 people at once which meant it was quite hard to get valuable time to talk to people individually, if ever. But the people who did come were always really lovely and honest about their experiences with the firm.

Not massively, I'm not sure that they do a lot of activities outside the firm because they spend so much time here already. I think I've seen signs for music lessons and there are probably sports teams etc but I don't really know how that works or what people are involved in.

Definitely would recommend to anyone even considering working for DLA. I've met a lot of amazing people, both other interns and people already at the firm and I hope those connections will last a long time. I have massively enjoyed my time here and the experience has been so valuable.