Vacation scheme student Review

I had a variety of interesting work, a lot of which was relevant to my studies as well (I had to remember quite a lot of contract law from first year!) The scheme is fairly structured, with inductions, presentations, training and social events timetabled in. The social events (curry, drinks and bowling) were very well organised, and paid for by the firm!

The staff are all very friendly and the firm organises inductions and social events so you get to know your trainee. My trainee also emailed me before the placement to introduce herself. However, this is a commercial law firm and everyone can be busy at times, so there were occasions when there was no-one to tell me what to do.

I had training and inductions on the first two days explaining the computer system, telephones, style guide, etc. Supervisors and trainees give feedback and are involved in the assessment process - but aren't always around.

The staff were often too busy with their own work to find something appropriate for me to do. Being a City law firm, there were peaks and troughs, so I might find myself checking emails or exploring legal databases for hours with nothing else to do, only to be given a big task just before the end of the day and having to stay late.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility for reading contracts, writing advice notes, attending court, drafting letters and sitting in on client conference calls. Some of my work was sent on unedited to the client, which was exciting!

The placement gives a good insight into commercial law from the perspective of a rapidly expanding law firm. I managed to avoid photocopying and making tea for the most part and the work I was given helped me improve my writing style and served as revision for some of my modules as well. I'm sure being a trainee won't be this interesting, however!

New open plan office means that you can't get away with going on BBC Sport, as one person complained! Atmosphere is friendly but everyone does have a lot of work to do.

Lots of structured activities (inductions, training, presentations, assessed activities, interviews, socials). The assessments (which go towards deciding whether the firm will offer you a training contract) could have been better run, since often it wasn't clear what was required, and the interview experience depended totally on which interviewer you got.

The firm wants to get its money's worth out of you so we were all instructed how to use the phones, computers and file management system, plus we were given a style guide. There wasn't really any training or development after the first two days though.

This did not put me off becoming a commercial lawyer - the place seems very friendly and there are good career development prospects. The placement included a training contract interview, so fingers crossed!

The trainees elect representatives for each intake who organise social events. There were a number of sporting and CR events during my time there - softball, touch rugby, rowing and a treasure hunt at Kew Gardens to name but a few!

It's London! Cheapest pint in the nearest pub was £3.70. The firm pays £200 per week but accommodation and transport will eat up your salary if you're not a local or have somewhere to stay for free. Still, the firm pays for most things on the social events, so it didn't work out too expensive.

You're just down the road from some nice (if expensive) bars and pubs where all the City types hang out. Brick Lane is within five minutes if you fancy a good curry.

Softball, bowling, touch rugby, rowing, football, drinks, curry and a corporate responsibility event - there was a lot on!