Legal Support Co-ordinator Review

Pinsent Masons is a fantastic place to work. I received training and guidance from day one and the work was really interesting.

The work I carried out, particularly the research, stretched me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways I never thought possible. It just proves how much my colleagues were willing to put their trust in me and contribute to my overrall experience.

I had two supervisors over the course of the 9 months I spent at Pinsent Masons. I sat right next to my first supervisor for the initial 5 months, which helped me become familiar with the work and the firm's systems. My second supervisor did not sit next to me but was very hands on with giving me appraisals every two months and asking me how everything was going. In addition, the team was helpful in explaining the context to the cases I was working on, which increased my interest in and understanding of the law.

There were some days when I was frantically busy but these were few and far between. Most of the time, I was kept busy but I was given enough time to complete each task.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement, but this did not come as a surprise, given that I was trained alongside the trainees. Having just left school, I of course lacked the law degree, but there are many, many practical aspects to office work so the lack of legal knowledge only meant that I was given a bit of leeway when performing research/drafting documents. I was given huge amounts of responsibility when, for example, I met clients or gave talks and presentations to students about the firm.

The discipline it takes to get up in the morning and go to work for nine months, the attention to detail required when carrying out tasks, showcasing your ability, being able to adapt to new people quickly, multi-tasking and time management...all these are valuable skills which I have gained from my placement at Pinsent Masons.

Great atmosphere. Friendly people. It probably helps that we are not as large as some of the big American law firms. There is a lot of individual attention. Whenever I was working beyond my contracted hours, there was sure to be a sympathising colleague ready to help or telling me to go home and finish in the morning.

It was very well organised. I was allotted a mentor and a supervisor, and was taught how to work nearly all the systems (including time recording, file saving and research on our internal knowhow bank) from the start.

The company trained me on nearly all the Pinsent Masons systems from the very beginning. In terms of development, my supervisor sat next to me for the first five months, and in any case the other solicitors and trainees were very helpful.

There were three other Gap Year interns in the London office, all of whom I got on really well with. For a start, we had lunch together every day. We also participated in work-related events outside the office, such as trips to court, talks and charity work.

Very expensive but worth it.

London obviously has many bars and clubs. The problem is that it ain't cheap.

There were many opportunities to work on corporate responsibility projects.