Future Trainee Solicitor Review

I had a really good time. I met a bunch of really nice people and enjoyed learning about the firm and about different areas of the law.

Everyone was very generous with their time and always happy to chat or answer questions.

I found everyone to be very helpful and supportive whenever I had questions. There were one or two tasks where I felt that the person setting me the work lost sight of the fact that I am not a trainee yet and so am not up to speed on all the acronyms and jargon, but mostly the guidance and support I received was very generous.

Getting the opportunity to work in a team on two different projects was particularly helpful. It certainly developed my teamwork and organisational skills, as well as boosting my confidence.

Having the induction week and then the two weeks in the departments was a good idea. Starting the days off with a talk also worked really well.

I found the atmosphere to be really positive. The Graduate Recruitment team clearly put a lot into planning the scheme in a way that we could spend lots of time in our departments and learning about the firm, while still being able to meet up with each other frequently and have a fun time.

Most other vacation schemes I have seen are two weeks long, rather than three, so DLA invested more time in us for a start. The professional skills sessions were another way in which they put effort into investing in us, as were the talks we had from the group heads and the CEO.

The cyber attack obviously made it difficult to get a sense of quite what a full time role would be like, but spending two weeks in different departments, the talks from the group heads and our opportunities to chat to trainees were really helpful.

It was great to be able to spend a week in two different departments as you got a feel for the culture of the firm as well as how the different departments have their own culture.

Yes, there were plenty of opportunities to meet up with partners (at the dinner and in our departments) and with trainees (as our buddies and at trainee drinks etc).

The drinks on the roof on the first day were great, as was the dinner with the partners on the second day. It might have been even better if there had been more social events in the evenings of the first week to get to know each other (i.e. our fellow vacation schemers) more quickly.

I found out a bit from talking to trainees, but naturally conversation focused more on the job itself.

Definitely. I felt like I learned a huge amount and was valued by everyone in the firm whether they were a trainee, a partner or the CEO. The graduate recruitment team looked after us very well and I had a really good time on the scheme.