Summer Vacation Scheme Student Review

On a day-to-day basis, I got to attend various insight events pertaining to the firm's range of practice areas, participate in valuable networking opportunities, and gain meaningful legal work experience through the two departments I was sat in across two weeks.

Through the insight sessions into each department of the firm, as well as broader sessions surrounding the firms values and other initiatives that the firm offers, was a very valuable learning experience that led me to understand the firm and its goals much better. The involvement with team members across departments was also a massive help to this end, and significantly enhanced my understanding of the respective roles within the firm, how they interact and work together across a range of matters. The various other workshops pertaining to the firm's core values and other initiatives were also key to understanding the other roles within the firm beyond the legal teams.

Throughout my vacation scheme, I developed my communication skills, commercial awareness, and initiative. My communication was enhanced significantly through team encouragement, engagement with different team members on their work streams, and a range of networking opportunities. I further enhanced my commercial awareness through deep involvement with the workstreams in the respective departments I was sat in, which led to a much better practical understanding of how commercial thinking fosters client success, and how the lawyers at Winston Taylor replicate that in their legal advice. The supportive and encouraging environment also enhanced my initiative and proactivity, and encouraged me to seek work and engage with a range of individuals across the firm and really make the most out of my experience.

The company culture exceeded expectations. Every legal- and non-legal professional alike was extremely friendly, welcoming, kind, and willing to take time out of their day in order to make me feel welcome and involved with the team. They also made an effort to get to know me and get me involved in their work, which was very valuable. This was certainly one of the best professional cultures I have had the pleasure to be a part of. Moreso, the firm undertakes a range of valuable initiatives pertaining to fostering diversity and inclusion, and a lot of its staff is involved with pro bono and the other inclusion initiatives alike, which makes for a wonderful company culture with meaningful shared values.

I enjoyed the insight very much. I felt like I really got a sense of what working in the respective departments I sat in was like, and what kind of work I would expect if I were to subsequently work in these areas at the firm. This was one of the most valuable experience in terms of understanding how commerciality plays in to the firms work, as well as how the departments all work together and what the significance of a full-service law firm is.

Yes

I would recommend researching their practice areas and offerings in depth, as well as listening to some of their lawyers' podcasts, which are very insightful and set the groundwork for potential applicants. I would also research lawyers whose work prospective candidates are interested in to get a better sense of the kind of work they do.