A great way to start out.

Yanghui is studying Law at LSE. She’s participated in the Linklaters 2007 summer vacation scheme.

Welcome.

Before I joined the Linklaters vacation scheme, I knew Linklaters was an ambitious, determined and global law firm. I didn’t, however, expect it to be so friendly. I can honestly say I never felt like a small fish in a big pond – everyone was so welcoming and my entire group made me feel completely at home. I settled in quickly and was given useful reading materials that helped me understand further the nature of the challenging work Linklaters is involved in. It was also a great experience meeting the other vacation scheme students. We socialised a lot and even played a giant game of 'connect four' at the first evening drinks party.

A valued contribution.

I was involved in a wide variety of tasks and felt like a real part of the team. The tasks involved everything from various research responsibilities to drafting a letter to the Office of Fair Trading outlining our client’s position, and helping to give pro bono employment advice at the Disability Law Service. I enjoyed meeting and working with the trainees and associates at the firm, and getting a real sense of the culture at Linklaters. The quality of work that was given to me was great as it involved quite a high level of responsibility. This allowed me to make a tangible contribution to the team – much like the work of a trainee.

An inspiring experience.

From listening to Simon Davies’ talk and working with the people in the London office, I really felt that everyone strived to be the best they could be and were all working towards the common goal of making Linklaters the premium global law firm. The quality of the work the lawyers were involved in really impressed me, as they were working on some of the largest and most complex deals around – deals that would appear on the front page of the newspapers. I really liked the global nature of the deals.

Throw yourself in.

The vacation scheme was great and I thoroughly recommend doing one at Linklaters. You get to work on interesting tasks, alongside approachable and intelligent people. My advice to anyone thinking about joining would be to give it all you’ve got. Ask lots of questions and get to know the people in your team as well as those on the vacation scheme. Chances are you’ll be friends with them for a long time.