Vacation Placement Student Review

The insight was a very enjoyable experience. The structure and support on offer meant that everything ran smoothly within your team and throughout the placement as a whole. The workload on offer varied from research tasks to drafting and covered all the bases that I expected when making my application. It would be a lie to say that there hasn't been some degree of paperwork and admin tasks but these have all been for the benefit of the team or for projects you have involvement in. Once you get a grasp of how things work it is hard not to enjoy yourself.

There is a good deal of trust put in the work you do by everyone from trainees to partners and this makes you feel like a valued part of the team and the firm. This is not because you are given softball tasks but because they know the difficulty of getting a vac scheme so trust and value you for the ability you have shown already. Feedback is constructive, even when the infamous red pens come out, and gratitude for jobs done well is never left wanting. Outside of the work aspect you are also valued. I managed to get to the Wednesday of my second week without buying a single lunch!

The structure of the placement is that you have a trainee buddy (I had two) and a supervisor who seems to be an associate or above. They are responsible for delegating work, introducing you to the team and helping you with any issues. The concept of no silly questions is very much in force too so the guidance is as accessible as it possibly can be. I have asked questions about everything from Sheriff Court procedure to how to work the coffee machines and the answers are always forthcoming. The open office helps with this too as you aren't confined to emailing and hoping someone has capacity to help. Being able to walk over and chat about something you are struggling with or need assistance with makes everything less formal and less stressful.

I was given and was doing the work that is usually assigned to trainees so the skills that I developed will be very much applicable wherever I may end up for my traineeship. The application of the skills to the degree is probably less close as the research style is different in focus, but the organisational points will definitely help.

The event structure has been well set out but also incredibly flexible. IT Training, for example, is a required module but can be done around work you are being allocated and doesn't need to be done in one long block. Similarly, networking sessions and presentations have all offered lunches meaning you don't have to take time away from your team or risk missing the session entirely. The work within the team is less structured but is always followed up by supervisors or trainee buddies to ensure you are meeting deadlines. This helps you to organise yourself whilst still having the fall back of the basic structure given by Grad Recruitment.

"Fun never stopped" is an interesting way to describe a law firm placement but a ten star rating is accurate! I am unsure of how other offices operate but the Glasgow PM office is incredibly warm and welcoming. I was in the Construction Advisory and Disputes team which has a good mix of senior and junior levels who all get on like a house on fire, benefitted by everyone sitting together.The relationship with the current trainee group also helps the atmosphere of the office outside your team, with big groups getting together to eat lunch and socialise. The atmosphere is top notch!

The second induction day, performed "in-team", helped to develop research skills for commercial application. An exclusively Pinsent Masons investment in vac scheme students has been the drive towards innovation. I spent three or four hours on my placement discussing trends in innovation and being shown innovative products being worked on by the CAD team. This reflects the firm ethos but is a level of training and insight which definitely makes you more attractive for any job you go for in the legal market. All fee earners who I did work for were also keen to go through my work with me, giving advice on structure, drafting, wording, and a plethora of other things. Again, this develops you into a more rounded candidate for any trainee role.

Being embedded within the CAD team, and particularly having two trainees delegating work, meant that I was exposed to a wide range of tasks which trainees are commonly given. These included researching various areas of law, drafting letters, proofing submissions, bundling, and creating presentations on legal updates to present to the Infrastructure group. Although I was only in the team for three weeks, I worked on arbitrations, adjudications, court cases and client advice. I saw each of these from every perspective, from being in calls with partners to working with trainees to meet submission deadlines for document discovery. I feel I have a good insight into what a full time solicitor would do at PM.

The company culture uses the usual buzzwords in its marketing but it is fair to say that these are very much in force in the Glasgow office. I was present at internal presentations and group meetings and the external marketing is echoed there.

I had already decided on my future career path but this definitely drove home the point.

The pay was above the market rate for vacation schemes in Scotland. Expenses were available for those travelling between offices for induction days or for travelling from outwith your home office.

There were opportunities, such as networking lunches and coffee breaks. These were well delivered but due to the time constraints it was often impossible to talk to more than two or three people in any great depth. People are happy to field questions by email if you didn't get the chance to meet them but it would be good if there were some more relaxed networking events which PM employees were freed up to attend.

As above, they were well organised and well intentioned. Social event wise there were drinks on the first day, an event (escape rooms and dinner) in the second week, and a farewell drinks event on the last day. You were free to do more outside of this schedule and many of us did. There could definitely be more events planned but the issue, as said above, was that people were busy and didn't have time set aside for these.

We had presentations about CSR, firm sponsored charity trips, and local community outreaches. The ability to get involved in these wasn't widely publicised but this is understandable given the short time we had in the firm. There were also invites to play in firm sports, but again these were limited by the time we had with the firm.

Absolutely. In comparison to other experiences I have had in the Scottish legal market concerning vacation schemes and placements, PM is ahead of the curve.