First-Year Vacation Scheme Participant Review

The insight was extremely enjoyable because of the company of my fellow law undergraduates from across England, as well as the insightful activities designed to give us a taste of life as a commercial solicitor. As it was held during the Easter vacation, it was a wonderful yet productive break from revision.

The firm was extremely hospitable towards us, providing us with a warm welcome at the start of the internship and keeping us well nourished and comfortable throughout our 4 days with the firm. More importantly, the firm provided us with the necessary materials and guidance to complete our assigned tasks and workshops. In addition, we received a token salary of 350 pounds to offset our living expense, which was a really thoughtful gesture from the firm.

Our trainee mentors gave us work that was stimulating yet manageable at our stage as first years. They were so down to earth and approachable. They were simultaneously working for their associates while taking us under their wings; thus, while being inquisitive was important, we took care not to bombard them with too many questions at work and reserved them for moments when we were winding down.

To a huge extent, way beyond poring through promotional materials will ever inform me.

Very well structured, with work shadowing sessions spread out evenly across a span of three days and interspersed with negotiations and introductory workshops.

Perfect. There was never a dull moment and the firm married learning and fun in the best way possible!

The firm provided us with top-notch workshops by its trainees and associates, even engaging former solicitor and current consultant [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] to give us an insight into the workings of the City of London and its prospects post-Brexit.

Work shadowing across three core practice areas (corporate, litigation and finance) provided us with a great taster of work as a commercial solicitor; however, due to time constraints, we only spent 2 hours in each department so a future fully-fledged vacation scheme in the penultimate term would give a fuller picture of life at the firm.

We got to interact with all layers of the firm, ranging from trainees to partners, paralegals to the graduate recruitment team over the course of 4 days in a myriad of settings.

This vacation scheme confirmed my desire to pursue the career path of a commercial solicitor.

This was such a positive experience; I would have done it again even if I weren't paid.

The entire vacation scheme was designed to let us network with trainees, ex-campus ambassadors and the graduate recruitment team.

The dinner with the graduate recruitment partners on the evening of day 3 was the perfect opportunity to let our hair down and to gain valuable insights into the firm.

This was briefly glossed over in the opening brief.

Yes, hands down. It's rare to gain such extensive insights into commercial law as a first year.