Summer Intern Review

There was a lot of variety day-to-day which was exciting but makes this question more difficult. Often you will come into the office knowing what work you need to crack on with due to the previous day. Sometimes you may have a meeting early on in the day which will require preparation in order to get the most out of it.
The core components of day-to-day will be working on a variety of work for different people within your teams, helping the team in any way you can. Work varied in both length and difficult with the firm having such a vast cliental.

Learning both about the business and roles available was really exciting. Some speakers in London were really motivating, pushing you to be the best version of yourselves and that DLA was the best place for it.
The clients the firm acts for is a major draw due to their public visibility but also the complexity of the work. To be challenged and stimulated everyday at work is not something to be taken for granted. Building off of this and all my previous section, it does make you really motivated to get the roles. The roles are clearly an amazing experiences and any successful candidate will have done really well to be successful.

The days in London really helped you think how best you could leave a good first impression. I have tried to practice that. Being confident and clear when introducing yourself as well as offering assistance. The placement has made it clear that an important skill at a junior level is valuing other people's time. So by this I mean don't drip feed a partner or your supervisor questions. Be proactive, ask for a meeting and prepare so you can maximise everyone's time.
Furthermore, there is a place for getting to know people and while it is important this is not always appropriate. The placement has again allowed me try and put this into practice where appropriate through getting to know people but no consistently interrupt them.
Basically, it is really important to remember everyone at the firm is really busy and be grateful for the time they are giving you. These sort of judgment skills and communication are vital in such a work place setting which are not really developed in educational institutions.

There is a refreshing level of transparency within the firm that it will be a challenging career and you have to come into it with your eyes open. Equally, and what impressed me the most, was the work life balance at such a major firm. There are many industry stereotypes of working into the early morning and weekends regularly. Having spoken to people in Sheffield this does not occur often, with a culture that recognises burn out. This is extremely forward thinking and makes the firm more attractive for a candidate like myself.
I would also say the general atmosphere is positive, people are friendly and willing to help you if you approach them in the right way. I think approaching them in the right way is only fair as everyone is so busy. The flexible working I think really contributes to the atmosphere as commuting takes a lot of time out of your week, so allowing people for a couple of days to work from home is a really positive strategy.

I really enjoyed the whole experience. Don't get me wrong, transitioning from studying full time and exams into working full time in a highly successful law firm is a challenge. You require an extra level of organisation in order for yourself to just be prepared for the day ahead. However, the experience you have in office with the people you are working with makes it worth it. Genuinely, everyone has been very good with their time, setting me work and explaining new concepts. I think the group exercise was a really good test of different skills, which are harder to assess, such as teamwork and the ability to balance work. The only negative was the experience of the individual assessment due to technical issues suffered throughout. While this was a mess for nearly everyone involved, the communication afterwards stating it would not be taken into account was redeeming.

Yes