Summer Intern Review

The first week comprised a 4 day induction in the London office consisting of workshops, networking opportunities, social events and presentations by DLA partners and trainees. The rest of the internship was conducted from the regional office where we spent second week in a given department and third week in a new department for broad exposure. Had to complete a 15 minute pitch presentation and 15 minute Q&A, 2 hour written assessment, as well as 5 performance management tasks to be completed and monitored by your line manager with a feedback session at end of week. Also included daily webinar Insight sessions from global department heads.

The London induction was specifically geared towards developing skills necessary to complete the programme and succeed in tasks given to us while in our respective offices. Networking and Communication skills were heavily emphasised throughout which I feel I developed, through a networking and communication skills workshop. Negotiation skills were developed through a litigation simulation. Presentation skills and ability to think quickly on our feet under pressure were developed through intensive pitch presentation and Q&A task as well as written assessment. Learnt how to be flexible and adaptive to working environment as we had to balance the overarching programme tasks with work provided to us by our department teams.

The firm is very transparent in terms of its structure, work and revenue. Gained a great insight into the work done by the firm from a regional team level but also from an international group head level. Also given extensive talks about diversity and inclusion, ESG and pro bono work. Could have spent more time with teams left to get a deeper exposure to work, which I felt was sacrificed at times by too many insight sessions/information talks.

Found the atmosphere in the office open and collegiate albeit very intense and hardworking, people work very late. Lots of new people and lateral hires as office is newly opened so organic DLA culture has yet to fully embed itself. Firm very proudly does a huge amount of non billable work with respect to pro bono. Lots of diversity and inclusion networks and emphasis on creating an open, supportive, diverse atmosphere.

Wasn't sure what to expect, very different from domestic firms which is what I wanted. Love the international exposure. Enjoyed the programme overall but found elements very intense and tiring, definitely not for the fainthearted but probably an accurate sense of what work at a firm of this scale is like. There was a lot of continuous intense assessment which I felt may not have been fully necessary after the assessment centre and induction week. Nonetheless, thoroughly enjoyed my time with my team and getting stuck into real work.

Yes

It is a very rigorous process from start to finish so be prepared to earn your keep! They are looking for entrepreneurial, innovative, diverse thinkers so always be curious and ask loads of questions, think outside the box! A very high level of performance which challenges you a lot but extremely important to keep cool under pressure. Be prepared to meet a lot of people and undergo a lot of work, which can be overwhelming but very rewarding, rest up!