First Year Spring Schemer Review

The scheme involved very helpful introductions to the different practice areas the Firm engages in, as well as two insightful days of shadowing an associate at the firm where first-year scheme participants would be allowed to sit in on meetings and complete a research task set personally by the associate. These opportunities give great insight into the kind of work the Firm does and what life at the Firm realistically looks like.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different practice areas the Firm engages in and took away many valuable insights, especially through shadowing an associate at the Firm. This gave me a broad understanding of the business and a particularly in-depth understanding of one area, where I could take away a realistic picture of what life might look like in specific roles within that team.

I learnt valuable skills such as red-lining and practiced using the actual applications and interfaces used by real lawyers. In addition, doing actual research for a deal that my associate supervisor was on allowed me to apply the skills of skim-reading and extracting key points from lengthy source material that I had picked up in my law degree into real-world scenarios, allowing me to see the tangible benefits of such research skills while developing these skills even further.

The company had a very warm and collegiate culture, especially where I was sat. It was a small team, so I really felt like everyone in the team knew each other well and got along, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much the team enjoyed each other's presence as much as they enjoyed the interesting deals they were working on. I observed a similar culture in other teams, both locally and internationally, understanding where Latham's reputation for having a one-firm culture comes from.

I really enjoyed the coffee chats I was able to have with trainees and associates from a variety of different teams at the Firm, and felt that they gave me an insight into the Firm that I would not have been able to obtain any other way.

Yes

I would advise being authentic in your application. The interviews at Latham feel very much like an organic conversation, and using prepared scripts would not help much in my opinion. I am a strong believer that genuine curiosity and honesty goes a long way.