Spring Vacation Insight Scheme - Shipping department Review

Really enjoyed the insight. Its been highly relevant to my law degree, and it has particularly been a great experience to work in a large law firm located in London.

My supervisor [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] has done a really good job of making my work feel appreciated, and he has given me numerous tasks, which he needed answers to or opinions on, while he was working on present cases, so I have very much felt valued.

I have rated this a bit lower, since I have actually not received that much guidance this week. However, this must be understood positively, as they purposely chose to give me a good amount of responsibility, and let me work independently. However, I could always ask for help or guidance if I needed it, but it has been great being thrown out in a number of tasks at the same time.

To a large degree. I have considered working in either shipping or M&As and it has given me good knowledge of how it would be to work in a shipping department. I have learned much about contract law, litigation, mediation etc. which are general and broad terms applicable for many areas of my law degree.

There wasnt much structure, other than the first day. However, in the part of the shipping department I was a part of, there are numerous tasks to work on and a high energy level and good pressure during the day, so I quite a few cases already on the first day, that I had to work on, and even more on the following days. So it wasnt necessarily structured, but being a lawyer, you will have to be able to cope with many tasks at once. Also, how much you get out of the insight scheme depends on how much you want out of it. I got the opportunity to join a mediation, and took the opportunity right away, and I knew some other people in the department were going to court, and I asked if I could come along, which was luckily possible, so I spent an entire evening preparing for court. It is all about taking the opportunities you have, but that also makes it less structured, which is fine.

The atmosphere in this department has been really good. My supervisor was great, and there is a large degree of diversity with a number of people from Denmark or with good knowledge of Denmark and Danish clients, so it is easy to become a part of the team. Some people are very busy, and that reflects the atmosphere. That means I have had much longer days than many other insight workers, but it has been a great experience gaining insight in a busy department, and I could definitely see myself here.

I have been trained individually by my supervisor, who has given me a lot of responsibility, but been very open to questions or explaining to me how to perform a task.

I think many people found that the insight was hard working 9-5. However my work times were more like 7.45-19 or 20pm. Being an insighter I was also told that I didnt have to stay long, but I really wanted to gain the full experience of working in a law firm and in a busy environment.

Very much. It is in a sense very informal as it gives you the feeling of a flat structure, where it is easy to talk to partners, and where the partners are all happy to give you a good experience. At the same time it is professional, and during the mediation when meeting other parties, you can feel that ReedSmith is a professional and well liked.

Very helpful. Shipping and M&As are of great interest to me, and even though shipping is a particularly tough niche area to work with, and it was quite challenging, it has definitely given me a good idea of what it is like to work in the field, and I really enjoyed it.

I was not paid or reimbursed expenses.

It was great to have coffee with a trainee from M&A. Also it was easy to get to know other employees from the department, maybe also due to the fact that shipping is a very large department.

It was good networking on the first day with both other insighters as well as the lawyers/associates who came to get us. And I am sure it will be really nice tonight as well.

Not really actually.

Absolutely. Any day.