Vacation Placement Review

I absolutely enjoyed every second of the summer placement!!

The Oil&Gas team was looking after me quite well. Everybody was really approachable and friendly. They would acknowledge when I had a done good job and thus encouraged me to always give my best to produce high-quality work. Instead of giving me repetitive work, they would come up with ways to challenge me, so that I could use my strengths and develop my skills. They even let me deliver a presentation to the Aberdeen and London offices at the end of an internal VC team meeting. Additionally, so many events were organised specially for the summer students, that there was no way one would not feel valued.

The guidance/support I received was undoubtedly one of the best things about the placement. Prior to giving me a task, the lawyers would always provide me with background on the client, the deal/project and how my contribution would fit in the whole picture. This significantly enriched my knowledge of the Energy sector and PM's client base. They would always answer my questions and provide guidance when I had difficulties.

What I think would assist me much in future is the deeper understanding of the business and the role of corporate/commercial law firms that I gained. For example, although I was very much aware that the oil price much affected the industry, I had not really realised prior to my placement, how exactly that happened and what was the aftermath. Also, I witnessed how important it is to understand the business of the client and not just apply black letter law but instead assist the client in achieving his goals. PM are quite good at that!

The placement was very well-structured. We had an induction day in Glasgow, which enabled us to meet all vacation placement students across Scotland, as well as, lawyers from the Glasgow office. Every day would start with a presentation of a Practice Area, which provided us with an insight of the work done at PM and what is expected from a trainee in the respective seat.

Great! Everybody was really friendly and welcoming!

It was obvious that the company invests a lot in the VP Students, both in terms of finance and time. Numerous events were organised to help us develop our skills and knowledge. One such example is a presentation by the very-well known Oxford Professor Ed Peel. Also, what I see as the most important part, is that all the lawyers invest their time in explaining their work to us and educating us, despite the fact that they are quite busy throughout the day. The VP helped me to realise the importance of training with a firm (like PM), which puts such a great emphasis on the training and development of their trainees.

At some point, in the middle of the placement, I did not feel like doing a summer placement at a law firm anymore. I felt like I have worked there for ages. Constantly communicating with all the people on my team and working on the same projects hand in hand with them, really showed me what it would be like to have a full time role with PM.

Prior to doing the Placement I had some idea of what the culture of the firm is like, thanks to the firm's events that I had visited. Being at the firm every day and being able to speak to literally everyone there, both during work hours and at the social events, not only confirmed the notion that I previously had but also enabled me to find out more about the values of the firm, what makes it different from the other firms and what is the firm's DNA.

I think it was more the content of the whole period of three weeks, which confirmed my notion that I would like to be a corporate lawyer and that I would love to specialise in Oil&Gas law.

Yes.

Yes. The firm had several regular events that happened while I was there but on top of that there were plenty of social events organised specially for us.

I think all the social events offered wonderful opportunities to chat to trainees, associates and partners over a drink (or two). This is a great way to get to know the people who work at PM, sense the culture of the firm and evaluate, if you would fit in. To me, the social events were one of the most import parts of the placement.

Yes. I think the firm is very open and would like the employees to have hobbies and life outside of work. There are many opportunities to get involved in sports, charity and community work, for example.

Yes!