Trainee Lawyer Review

The insight was a great opportunity to find out the the business operates, as well as being a good chance to see what kind of work trainees are given. We were given responsibility to do work on actual matters and split into groups to produce a client pitch presentation. This exercise was a great way of getting to know other people on the internship, finding out more about the firm, its expertise, and experience, and developing research and presentation skills. Over the course of the ten days I went from knowing nothing about high-yield debt finance to feeling comfortable presenting on it!

The system of partnering interns with trainee buddies worked very well in giving interns guidance and advice where necessary. In my instance I was also very fortunate to share an officer with an associate who was extremely helpful and friendly, willing to take time to give me tasks and explain matters he was working on despite his clearly very heavy workload. The work I did was straightforward but nevertheless valued by the people I was doing it for, I felt as though my contribution was valued and appreciated and was at no point made to feel like a burden or a distraction in the office.

Any questions I had were answered promptly, completely, and understandably. These ranged from questions regarding the application process directed to HR, questions about life as a trainee directed to my trainee buddy, and questions about the firm and the work it does directed to the associate I shared an office with. For our client pitch presentations we were also given fantastic support - my group was able to talk to client relationship managers and senior partners at the firm who were all very friendly and supportive. I was very pleasantly surprised by the approachability of lawyers and other staff at the firm.

In terms of degree studies I don't believe the internship will be of any benefit, but this is neither what it is designed for, nor why I chose to do it. I believe the internship will be of some benefit when I start working at the firm after qualification, particularly with regard to research skills and tools and certain more specific matters (due diligence, company solvency checks etc.)

Fantastic. Social events organised by the HR team were a great way of getting to know trainees and other staff at the firm, as well as being good opportunities to bond with other interns. At the same time, these events were neither too frequent nor too time-consuming to prevent us being able to complete our work or client pitch presentations. All in all a good balance of social and work-related events. One very minor criticism would be the structure and number of internal talks. Had the internship been longer, even by only a few days, then I think the number of talks would be perfect. As it is I sometimes felt like I did not have significant chunks of time to be getting on with work at my desk since this time was punctuated with talks from partners, pro bono, marketing etc. The talks themselves were useful and informative, I wonder if a better approach may be to group them together a little more.

The atmosphere was very friendly. This was my first internship at a London law firm and I was unsure what to expect. In the back of my mind I had images of a The-Apprentice-esque scenario of everyone looking to score points and promote themselves over other candidates. Thankfully, I found this was not the case. Almost without exception everyone I spoke to was friendly and supportive, and whilst we all wanted to do as well as possible there was no question that this needed to be at the expense of others. Both HR and lawyers at the firm drove home the point that there were training contracts available to all of us should we be good enough, and thus there was no need to compete with other interns, instead cooperation was encouraged.

All necessary resources were made available to us, both physical in terms of materials, internet resources, the library etc. and personal in terms of advice and support from other lawyers, HR etc. It was clear from the outset that the firm was keen to support us and was willing to provide resources and remuneration to do this.

From a ten-day insight I could not have wished for a better insight into the firm and what a full-time role would entail. Clearly, had the internship been longer I would feel even better placed to make this judgement, but even during our short insight I felt like I understood what was expected of lawyers at the firm, what work they do, and the roles and responsibilities of a full time position at the firm.

Both through talking to employees at the firm, and through researching our client pitch presentation, I felt my understanding of the firm's culture increased significantly. It's always incredibly difficult to pick up the *real* culture of a firm from their website, so be able to see and experience the firm in the flesh was a great aid to understanding its culture.

I had already decided I was going to pursue a career in corporate law, this internship served to reinforce that decision.

Expenses were reimbursed for travel to and from the interview day. I was also paid for doing the internship, but unfortunately this went almost entirely on paying for accommodation!

Both through social events and day-to-day working there were ample opportunities to meet other employees at the firm.

Very good; a well-struck balance of informality and professionalism.

Yes, we were made aware of activities which employees got involved in outside of work, all of which sounded excellent.

I have already recommended this insight to several friends looking to pursue a career in law and will continue to do so.