Wannabe Solicitor Review

The work was interesting and varied and I was kept with a relatively full schedule (especially in comparison to some other leading firm vacation placements). Being given real work and not menial tasks is a huge part of enjoying the placement because it gives you the impression that you are already becoming part of the team and integrating into the firm.

People were constantly asking whether I had any free capacity, this is a great feeling because I felt like I was a genuinely useful part of the team. On the other hand I was very aware that I was only a vacation student and my skill and experience is extremely limited, which sometimes led me to feel like my work was creating more of a job for the solicitors. However the team was excellent and they make you feel quickly integrated. I liked that the team I sat with were completely professional but still found time to have a crack with one another which made the experience all the more enjoyable .

Couldn't have been given more support. While it is almost always the case that the Partners are constantly in and out and very busy, my trainee buddy and the other lawyers around my pod were constantly asking whether I had stuff to do and they were always ready to take me aside for 20 minutes and explain the abckground to a small piece of work I would be doing. It felt like I was being taught and trained by the lawyers rather than just taking on the menial tasks.

I was kept busy, to a nice level. There was no mad rushes or immense time pressures, but this is preferable because obviously the stress of making a good impression and preparing for the assessment days is added on top of office work. The lawyers seemed to appreciate this and gave just enough work so that I was never sat around doing nothing but it also meant I never left the office after half 7.

I was probably given the level of responsibility which one would associate with someone partaking in a vacation placement. That is to say that there is the basic asusmption of some competence but no or very little expertise. The result then is perfect, I was given work that I could easily manage and this was always checked. There was never anything critical relying on the work I was doing, to me this seems more like good sense that anything else. Who would give an unexperienced twenty year old real professional work?

The experience on the whole taught me a lot. Regarding skills the greates things you learn are from the lawyers themselves, they are often not technical and simply relate to personal development and such, having the opportunity to recieve advice from a partner on how to become a partner is invaluable. I also gained a lot of experience in socialising in a professional environment, it's a difficult balance to get between friendly and professional and it becomes even more difficult when you have take into account people's sense of humour etc. Finally, I gained a real insight into the firm and rather life in a commercial law firm on a whole, it dispeled some rumours and myths I have heard and often hits with some hard truths. But at the end of the day it is the experience that is completely necessary to enable anyone to truly consider what they want their future to hold, for better or worse.

Everyone was very friendly and chatty but got down to business when necessary. Pinsents has the perfect balance between fun and professionalism and everyone is willing to have a laugh and noone takes themselves too seriously. They got the balance just right.

Seamless, from the application to the interview to the actual vacation scheme. Everything was on time and ran hitch free.

More than anything the firm invests a lot of time, when you consider they are setting aside hours of billable time over two weeks JUST to get to know you, the extent to which they invest in the vac schemers is spot on.

For anyone who wants to work in commercial law Pinsent Masons is the perfect choice! I loved my time here and in all honesty not many other places compete. After two weeks I feel like part of the team and would look forward to a career at Pinsents.

We had a few social evenings arranges, a few drinks in the firm and few lunches. Eveyrthing was organized well and there was always the perfect balance of trainees:vac schemers so that noone was competeing to talk to a trainee or lawyer.

Cheap all firm subsidised, however a night out in surrounding Spinningfields has the potential to be quite pricy, but Manchester has a wide array of cheaper alternatives for one to choose from.

Manchester can't be beaten! The classy bars of Spinningfields are great, there are plenty of clubs, pubs and venues, always something to do.

A few social evenings but that was the limit, there seemed to be an expressed anti-CR sentiment from Graduate Recruitment who didn't seem to want us to be involved in these events in work tme.