Participant in the 2022 DLA Piper London First Year Insight Scheme Review

This three-day programme featured an insight into commercial law through talks by senior officials on the firm itself, the future of the legal industry, diversity & inclusion, sustainability & resilience and responsible business. The scheme also included a 'Demystifying Law' session in addition to interactive 'Litigation Simulation' and 'Sector' workshops, a Trainee Q&A Panel, a CV & Application Skills Workshop and an overview of the International Graduate Programme. During the Litigation Workshop, I was part of the Commercial Research Team, which involved reviewing documents and reporting the findings to the Negotiation Team.

The DLA Piper First Year Insight Scheme was a great confidence booster in terms of developing in-person networking skills after lockdown. My pre-existing organisation and teamwork came handy in the Litigation Workshop, which was a challenging and enriching experience requiring the co-ordination of a very large group of students. I thought that this, aside from testing one's note-taking abilities, was a new skill I took on board after the programme finished.

The programme had a selection of one-of-a-kind motivational speakers of the most senior positions in the firm. Alongside hearing about their personal journeys, I thoroughly enjoyed their business overviews, be it on practice areas, legal technology or pro bono, which were delivered in a simple, yet interactive manner, and also broken down through the prism of practical examples.

The atmosphere overall was great. The speakers (be it Partners/Business Development leaders/Associates, Trainees and the Early Careers Team) were all really friendly and accommodating. The programme had over 120 attendees, which at first I found slightly surprising as this was only my third in-person event. Nevertheless, the abundance of people meant that I was able to meet with familiar people I had encountered across other virtual events, which gave me more networking confidence and made my stay at DLA Piper even more enjoyable.

I greatly enjoyed the insight, it is a shame it has now ended - even though I spent only three days at DLA Piper, it felt as though I had been there for a lot longer!

Yes

Prepare your CV in advance and think of how you can summarise a business issues in simple terms. DLA Piper recruits on a rolling basis, so get your quality application early on. Prepare thorough company research notes and questions in advance. Behave sensibly from the moment you start the programme until the end and conduct yourself respectably. Do not be afraid to network with as many people as possible.