Placement Student Review

I am a Placement Student within the Real Estate Finance team. Now that I am more experienced, I am staffed as the ‘junior’ on a given deal and am responsible for liaising with clients, lawyers, and other stakeholders as the deal progresses. I am also responsible for drafting the first draft of documents and coordinating execution. I am also part of our Charity and Fundraising committee.

I have developed enormously since having started at BCLP. My legal expertise has come on leaps and bounds, especially in the realms of mortgage, contract, and insolvency law. I have also developed my soft skills including how to email professionally, deal management, how to be proactive, and how to effectively communicate and work with my team. I feel empowered by all that I have learnt this year and know that my experience will be invaluable when I start my Training Contract.

The fantastic thing about BCLP is that there is no ceiling to what you can achieve. No matter how junior you are, you can take on as much responsibility as you can handle. I am now 10 months into my placement and have reached a second-seat trainee level. I have negotiated and drafted complex security documents as well as leading completion and advising clients on important matters. I know that as long as I can demonstrate my proficiency, there is no ceiling to what I can achieve here.

I had a dedicated supervisor who would check in with me weekly as well as throughout the week informally. She was fantastic at guiding me through this year and helping me develop. One of the partners in my team also took great interest in my development and both helped me secure a TC. The firm is incredibly supportive and wants you to succeed, everyone is happy to chat and offer advice, especially when going through the AC process (which placement students are accelerated to).

The culture is really friendly at BCLP. Everyone is invested in your success and loves to hear about your experiences in and outside of the firm. The firm employs a unique flat structure within the office. Everyone sits in an open plan space, the partners sit at exactly the same kind of desks as paralegals. This makes partners and associates incredibly accessible and promotes transparency.

I really enjoyed my placement year. I feel that I have grown so much professionally and personally, not to mention gaining a training contract as a result. I am incredibly excited to train at BCLP and to continue to be a part of this organisation, the culture is truly unmatched. The camaraderie between placement students, trainees, and paralegals is really special here, everyone supports everyone else. I would recommend this to any aspiring commercial solicitors.

Yes

Make sure you really research the firm; there are multiple characteristics that make BCLP different to other firms. It will impress Emerging Talent if you can talk authentically and knowledgeably about why the firm is right for you specifically. Make sure to keep abreast of market developments and the kinds of deals and sectors BCLP is known for. Finally, make sure that you have a good understanding of law firm structures and how they make money.