Business Services Trainee Review

My job role includes offering support to all practice areas within the firm including: corporate, finance and litigation. I also create and edit pitch documents to be used by our lawyers to prospect for new business. I also support with event materials including PowerPoints, brochures and feedback cards. Furthermore, I research into prospective clients to provide valuable information for Partners and Associates for targeting purposes to approach and sell our services.

I have been able to refine my attention to detail and creativity when producing marketing/sales materials as this is of paramount importance when prospecting to high-end clients. I have also been able to develop my written and spoken communication as I collaborate with many internal teams when working on different projects. I have been able to learn how to project manage particular tasks, keeping to strict time frames and collating vast amounts of information.

Yes, I was given the responsibility to project manage over £200k worth of investment for client development. In doing so I had to collaborate with internal creative teams to create marketing materials to highlight the opportunity and then advertise this to the wider partnership. I was also responsible for contacting our highly valuable external clients which gave me excellent exposure.

I have weekly team meetings with the wider BD team as well as direst analyst team meetings to discuss capacity and manage our workload. I had excellent guidance and support in my initial stages of my placement which continued through out my time at the firm. The open culture helps with the openness of support and guidance from all teams.

The general atmosphere is very welcoming and friendly with all teams being very approachable. Alongside this welcoming nature it is also a very hard working environment due to the fast paced market we operate in alongside the lawyers.

Overall, I enjoyed my placement as I got to gain experience across all practice areas including finance, litigation and the corporate departments. This broad view of the market has helped me get the foundational knowledge to then progress in my career to then specialise in the future.

Yes

An understanding of the legal market is not mandatory when applying to a business role within Latham and Watkins. If you would like a role which is challenging and variable, definitely consider this role. Know the organization when applying, knowing what interesting deals have we advised on recently shows a great level of interest.