First Year Insight Scheme Review

In A&O Shearman's 2-day insight scheme, as an attendee I partook in a vast range of workshops, talks, panels and Q&A sessions and networked with employees at the firm and fellow attendees. Some highlights included the 'Role of a Lawyer' workshop where myself and my peers worked through a fictional scenario, and the Introduction to Disputes Panel which covered aspects of three of the firm’s practice areas: arbitration, IP litigation and employment law.

I found it really interesting to have practice-area specific panels and discussions to make me aware of the different specialisations trainee lawyers at the firm can consider. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] presentation on the Markets Innovation Group was insightful, especially as to the firm’s ContractMatrix contract negotiation tool which grounds AI in trusted precedents to produce the best reasoning and conceptual ideas in contract drafting. A highlight was a visit to the firm’s Fuse sector, where we gained an understanding of how the technology incubator assists legal tech startups and integrates them into legal work.

Yes. My commercial acumen was greatly improved by my participation in the scheme as I was challenged to consider how a lawyer could utilise their commercial awareness to build rapport with and provide the best results for their client.
Additionally, I developed my personal awareness and branding skills through listening to [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] inspirational talk on how she persevered against the face of adversity and achieved career success at Lloyds Bank.

Everyone that I encountered at the firm, from partners to trainees, were incredibly friendly and welcoming and keen to answer any questions that arose. I loved the sound of the firm's innovative culture and the focus on tech, which is fostered by the Fuse technology incubator.
[This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and the rest of the early careers team were warm and welcoming and went to every effort to make me feel supported throughout the scheme.

I very much enjoyed the insight scheme. My cohort were all very friendly which enhanced my enjoyment a lot and social events were implemented to ensure we all felt comfortable around eachother. As well as this, the talks were engaging and came from a range of people around the firm who were all able to offer a different perspective of their experience at AOS. I loved the feel of life in a big City law firm and the office was amazing as well.

Yes