西瓜视频

Candidates on the First Year Programme spend two days in Spring at the London office. The daily itinerary consisted mainly of talks from lawyers of varying seniority in a variety of different departments. Aside from this, we were assigned a trainee buddy and spent lunch on the first day with them, we also had a couple of more interactive group sessions on our table carrying out due diligence and reviewing documents looking for legal risk. There was also a social activity at the end of day one which involved going to a bar which had virtual clay pigeon shooting.

I gained a lot of knowledge and insight into the legal profession and the various department areas, and practiced some skills that would be useful as a trainee including doing due diligence on documents. Additionally, I expanded my network talking to others in my cohort as well as lawyers at the firm.

It was immensely useful to find out more about the firm and the breadth of different roles. The differences in the day to day activities carried out by lawyers in different departments was far greater than I imagined, and it was useful to find out how specialising in different areas and roles can shape your career. It also gave me a valuable insight to begin to think about what type of lawyer I would like to be and is suited to my personality and skillset.

I have nothing but good things to say about the culture. From the moment I arrived to the moment I left everybody was incredibly welcoming, warm, and respectful. Additionally, it was evident from the talks and speaker sessions they put on that they genuinely value and place an importance on kindness and creating a corporate culture in which everybody feels comfortable.

It was the only insight I have been to so I don't have much to compare it with but I genuinely enjoyed the programme. There were a lot of breaks and opportunities to socialise with the cohort which was really enjoyable and they had a lot of variety in the sessions and speakers to keep it interesting. The social activity on the first day was also thoroughly enjoyable and it was nice to socialise with the others in a more formal setting.

Yes

Make sure you are very aware of the way the legal landscape is changing with regard to technology and AI as being forerunners in this is something the firm really emphasised and are keen on. As well as this, make sure that despite any nerves you are making a real effort to be warm and personable in your interview as I believe they are looking for genuinely kind people who can contribute positively to the culture at the firm.