I shall open by saying Happy New Year and that I hope you all
had a great Christmas! It seems quite unbelievable to me to be
saying that I am now three months into my third seat of the
training contract. The time has really flown by, even from my first
blog entry, but on reflection a lot has happened in that time.
As promised in my last blog I thought I would answer a question
that a lot of future trainees think about… what will the working
hours at a magic circle law firm be like? Although it depends
largely upon which department you are in, I can honestly say that
it has been easier to manage my time than some people told me it
would be before I joined. Every trainee will be busy at times
throughout their training contract, however, if you have been
particularly busy for some time everyone understands that things
need to be more balanced. There can also be times where a trainee
can be quite quiet. However generally is it a good thing to be busy
as it means you are very involved in the deal. One of the ways that
I think Linklaters differentiates itself from some other firms is
that your contribution and efforts are always taken into account.
If you do have to work late, it is usually with the rest of the
deal team, including the partners, so there is a really good team
spirit. There is also great administrative support to ensure that
you are only at the office late when working on things that
actually require you to, rather than just photocopying and hole
punching.
Also as mentioned in my previous post, I can confirm that
banking lawyers actually can’t sing. The evidence was the Banking
Department’s karaoke night that took place last month. Despite the
sounds produced being capable of breaking glass, much fun was had,
and it was a really good opportunity to get to know some of the
younger members of the mainstream Banking practice. The
Restructuring & Insolvency group also had a Christmas dinner
which was really nice. I was sitting next to a partner and some of
the lawyers who have largely been out of the office working on the
administration of Lehman Brothers in Canary Wharf.
Yes, Christmas did come to Silk Street, and with it brought that
man in a beard and red hat (that would be our head of department
dressed up as Santa). We have a secret Santa in the department, and
I got a collection of Latin Jazz CDs… a big thank you to my secret
Santa. They are good to listen to and help me to imagine myself in
hotter climates at this time of the year.
Until February…