Summer Student Review

The 2 weeks spent at Pinsent Masons were a great and insightful experience. If you are looking at a career in commercial law, even as a possible future career path, then I would say without a shadow of a doubt you need to try and get a placement here. You have the experience and knowledge of two law firms rolled into one, with both market leading UK areas and also the international element. I had a great time and needed to do this placement to reaffirm my belief that I want to be a commercial lawyer.

One of the great things about Pinsent Masons is just how friendly everyone is. It doesn't matter what role they fill in the organisation or their seniority, everyone is approachable and there is not a single sense of stuffiness in the company. My department itself made me feel welcome right from my very first day and now, two weeks later, I feel like I am part of the team.

If you get a placement with Pinsent Masons, you will be assigned both a trainee buddy and a more senior supervisor. But don't think that these will be the only two people you'll speak to. I found myself talking to and getting work from just about everyone in my department. If you have a question, no matter how silly you think it may be, your buddy and supervisor will be more than happy to help you out.

Obviously this is something that varies day to day and also from department to department. What I found is you'll have periods where you are very busy and then other moments where you have nothing to do. What you need to remember though is that you only have two weeks in which to make an impression. So if you don't have work to do make sure you ask someone. There is always someone who has something for you to do so you can be as busy as you choose to be!

One of the best things about this short placement was the fact that you weren't just doing the coffee runs and the photocopying. Instead you will actually get to experience life in a commercial law firm, with real client contact and real work to do. From my experience, I was allowed to do tasks that would be billable if a fee earner had done them and these projects were not going to just be redone by another member of staff. You'll get a flavour of the real Pinsent Masons and know what you are getting yourself in for if you are considering do a traineeship here.

What you'll realise when doing this placement is that the real commercial world is miles away from the dusty textbooks you study at university. You have real cases and have to find real answers. A client doesn't care if you cite authority, they just want you to give them a happy answer. You'll get to experience doing the tasks that you would do as a solicitor - skills like drafting - which are complete necessities for world after university.

Again this depends on the department you are in and the particular period of time. I was in the employment department and found that everyone was very chatty. But you have to appreciate that this is a serious law firm where you need to put the hours in. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't have some fun in the mean time!

This is a difficult question to answer because Pinsent Masons have just merged with another huge law firm, McGrigors. Teething problems were evident but I don't doubt that anyone on next years placement will have a seamless two weeks. And even though we experienced some minor problems, you'll find that everything worked out in the end and a lot of work has been put in organising the talks, socials and tasks for you to do.

Pinsent Masons pay you for the two weeks, they take you out on numerous corporate socials and get fee earners to take time off to give you multiple presentations. You can tell that Pinsent Masons treat this placement very seriously and its obvious that this is their number one recruiting tool. So if you think you want to work for Pinsent Masons in the future, make sure you attempt to get a placement first.

Waiting to find out whether I have a traineeship, fingers crossed. If you are lucky enough to get a traineeship, the retention rates appear to be pretty high in comparison to other companies.

All the summer students got on well and the trainees are always keen for a night out!

You'll find that you won't spend much money at all, with the company bankrolling all your socials. The canteen is ridiculously cheap and Glasgow has quite good public transport - so don't let a lack of money put you off.

Right in the centre of glasgow - no complaints!

Like I've mentioned, you'll find that there are numerous social events planned for you - from bowling to cocktail making classes.