Vacation Placement Review

I enjoyed the department I was in and got a good amount of varied things to do including attending court on several occassions, legal research and letter drafting.

The team were all very friendly and welcoming. Perhaps because it is such a larg team it was difficult to get to know everyone.

I had a few meetings with my supervisor and was encouraged to set goals and objectives. I was assigned a 'trainee buddy' who was very helpful in terms of giving advice about assessments and also general career advice.

Not sure that the skills/information would assist in terms of degree studies but very useful in terms of getting an insight into the other skills that make a really good lawyer.

Very, there was a detailed plan at the beginning of the three weeks which set out all the assessments, social events, practice presentations etc and gave a good amount of time to get involved in the work of the department as well.

There was a good number of social events: partner lunch, golf night and pub quiz which were well attended and organised. The trainees in the firm were all very welcoming and good at getting everyone involved.

I was able to attend team training events. I suppose also the assessments give a good practical experience.

It might have been better to have more access to company systems etc which sometimes limited what I was able to get involved with although it was understandable why we couldn't have access to everything. Talking with the trainees and the 'practice presentations' gave a good understanding of all the different departments.

Strong emphasis was given to this on the introductory days and my experience largely reflected this in terms of people being approachable etc.

Undoubtedly the best way of getting to know what a career in commercial law would be like is to do a placement like this.

Trainee social events, lunch with partners, practice presentations and introduction from partners on the first meant there were plenty of opportunities to meet and talk with people form all over the business.

See above.

We had a talk on 'Corporate Social Responsibility' and also heard about other various after work events and end of month drinks.

If someone has a potential interest in a career in commercial law then I think this is a useful placement to do.