I’ve had some other good news as well… I am off to a major international investment bank for my next seat to work directly under the Head of Litigation of the entire bank. I did have the chance to apply for many overseas placements, however this secondment really was not one to miss in terms of experience. I am a little nervous to be out of the Silk Street environment, however I’m sure things will be fine once I find my feet, and of course the firm provides great support to people it sends to clients. I will give you an update in April, but until then… wish me luck!

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…

But it’s not all work at Linklaters! (My motto: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy) Actually, later this evening is the Annual R&I Client reception, which is being held in Tower 42, the tallest skyscraper in the City of London. In true Linklaters style, I’m sure it will be a smart affair, with the great and good from the banking sector in attendance. The other event that I’m really looking forward to is my department’s ski trip which will take place early next year. From what I hear, it will be great fun and a great way to get to know colleagues better.

As mentioned in my last post, I think that one of the best things about working at Linklaters is the amount and quality of the training. From day one I felt that the firm’s commitment to training was second to none. On the vacation scheme we had training seminars every morning, which were always followed by the famous vac scheme breakfasts (they know that the way to a trainee’s heart is through their stomach). Next up was the Linklaters LPC, which I cannot recommend highly enough. The firm ensures that the best tutors teach the LPC at the College of Law at Moorgate (a stone’s throw from our Silk Street office), with the course’s content being designed specifically for Linklaters' future trainees. This means that you get a good familiarity with the firm's precedent documents before even starting the training contract. Plus there are extra modules built into the course that the standard LPC does not cover in order to give Linklaters’ students a head start in more of the firm’s practice areas. This makes the Linklaters LPC more challenging than the standard LPC course, however also more rewarding and relevant for practice at a magic circle law firm. The training doesn't stop there, as each department has training courses for new joiners, as well as there being a major training seminar normally being held every week. Today, I attended a presentation in our auditorium given by an investment banker on the topic of market recovery.

Next time on “Andrew reveals all” … the truth about the hours culture in law and how banking lawyers really can’t sing!

I was expecting Tokyo to be worlds apart from London and difficult to negotiate initially, given the scale of the city amongst other things, but the evolution from seasoned Londoner to wannabe Tokyo urbanite over the last three weeks has been pretty smooth. I’d like to credit that to the many months of travelling under my belt having made me instantly adaptable to anywhere I land up, but in truth it has been largely down to the wonderful HR team here who have made the transition seamless.

The working environment is noticeably different here compared to London. Our Tokyo office is (understandably) much smaller than the London office and everyone is more visible in the sense that we are all on the same floor in our building, promoting more frequent face-to-face contact with people from all departments. This has certainly helped me to get to know more people quickly, and everyone has been very welcoming from the start – the famous Japanese hospitality has been in constant flow! More broadly, I’ve noticed that people tend to start and finish work later: the 9-to-5 working model doesn’t hold true here, and you’re more likely to get caught in the rush hour at 7.30pm than at 5.30pm.

From a personal perspective, my initiation into Tokyo working life has been gradual and varied. Amongst other things, I have been involved in drafting a shareholders agreement which will govern the relationship between parties on an oil and gas-related project financing and presenting some urgent legal advice to a bank client on whether they themselves were at risk of defaulting on a loan agreement under which they had borrowed money. I have also been heavily involved on the marketing side in organising a presentation which some of the Tokyo partners will be delivering to a delegation of senior bankers and assisting in preparing a pitch which will be delivered to a potential client to secure a role on a large cross-border transaction.

As the sole trainee in the Banking team here, I have relished being given a lot of responsibility in a variety of matters – perhaps it really is the spice of life!

And so (finally!), I began life as a trainee lawyer just over 6 months ago, working in the Corporate department for the first of my 4 trainee seats. Despite the global economic downturn, there was little indication of this within my group given the levels of work activity I witnessed around me. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself working on a couple of large M&A deals, which kept me occupied for most of my seat. I hadn’t anticipated getting much exposure to M&A work, so the fact that I did is testament to the strength of the firm’s Corporate practice in a highly competitive legal market.

I arrived in Tokyo just over a week ago, where I am doing my second trainee seat in the Banking group. In my short time here I can already state that Tokyo is an amazing city, a thriving metropolis which seamlessly fuses the traditional with the modern - the next 6 months promise some great times!

I look forward to sharing some of the unique working and cultural experiences I will undoubtedly have out here in Tokyo. Until next time, sayonara!

Look out for my next blog when I’ll be telling you a bit more about the daily life of a property litigation solicitor (Hint: fewer film premieres, but the odd outing in wellie boots and a hard hat!)…

After university I went to the College of Law in London to do the Linklaters-specific LPC, which I cannot recommend highly enough, and which I’ll talk more about in a later blog. Although I started work at the firm in September 2008, I feel like I’ve been part of the Linklaters fold for a lot longer as you are at law school with all the other Linklaters trainees in your intake and there are a lot of social events and training sessions organised by the firm during the LPC year.

In September 2008 I started my first seat in the Mainstream Corporate department, where I worked on some of the biggest deals to ever hit the press. As Linklaters picked up so much of the work surrounding the financial crisis, I really felt like I was at the hub of a firm that was being trusted with the most important and complex work in the world. It is common for firms to say that the deals they do are reported in the financial press, however, the deals I worked on in Corporate were the headlines of the national press everyday. Needless to say it was a busy time and we all had to work very hard, but I was given real responsibility and I couldn’t have asked for better work in terms of quality.

My second seat was in the Competition/Antitrust group. As an advisory seat it was very different from the transactional work I was doing in Corporate. Advisory seats tend to involve more legal research and drafting instead of transaction management. However one thing remained constant… the quality of the work. At no time was I simply re-hashing standard pieces of research for the client. The questions posed were always pushing the margins of what had been done before which proved to me that clients really do come to Linklaters with the most challenging and groundbreaking issues. My Competition seat was both intellectually challenging and immensely rewarding.

I’ve just started my third seat which is in the Banking group, sitting with a Partner who specialises in Restructuring & Insolvency. I’ll let you know how I’m getting on in my next blog entry, however with the economy the way it is I’m sure I’m going to be busy with very good work. Already I feel that the group is extremely friendly and people are genuinely happy to help if I have questions.

Until next time …