Work Experience Review

Completed work in two departments - mine were Employment and Pensions. Completed a mock employment tribunal with use of all standard case files. Completed a mock assessment group task - creating a 12 month plan for the CEO following a crisis in the company. Reviewed the Naomi Campbell vs The Mirror case in a commercial litigation task. Watched an Entry to Law Presentation. Had the opportunity for our CV / Personal Statement to be reviewed.

The main benefit was learning more about how a law firm operates. I’ve learnt what skills you need to work in law and had practice doing some of the work that paralegals was do. Also I’ve learnt what I need to do to get into law, especially a great firm like Pinsent Masons, and spoke to many of the staff about this to get guidance.

I really enjoyed the work experience and it was great how there were 10 of us who were all around the same ages and in similar stages of our student career. The support was amazing and I’ve learnt more about what a legal career entails. It has inspired me to work hard and maybe I could work at a firm like Pinsent Masons in the future.

We were given a plan on our first day and everything we were doing in the week was on there. It included all the timings and the details of each task so we knew if we needed to prepare or where to go. It was a very organised work experience.

Working within the departments was very beneficial as you could see what working there is really like. For example, the firm operates a hot desk so you can move desks each day and you get to know more people. Also it makes working a lot better as you feel more comfortable to ask people for advice. I really like the culture of Pinsent Masons and it was an amazing insight of what it’s like to work there.

I now am certain I want to do a law degree in order to go into a legal career. Whilst I was there, my supervisor organised for me to speak to somebody in corporate who also decided between similar universities to the ones I was choosing. They were all really helpful and I am certain I want to go into law.

Not really. Luckily we were all fairly local so the costs were low, and I know most people didn’t find financing a problem. They did provide a £5 voucher for the cafe on the first day and the cafe is heavily subsidised so it was quite cheap to eat there on the other days.

Yes. Everybody was amazing and were willing to talk to me if I had questions about my career or the work I was doing. My supervisor organised for me to meet people from other departments because I had questions about that department which were better suited for somebody else to answer.

Yes

Great firm who were really supportive. All the staff were really inclusive and they try to help you despite how busy they are. We covered a variety of tasks which covered many legal areas. This has allowed me to learn whether I want to go into law and which departments interest me.

You must be passionate about the law or some legal aspect. You don’t get a huge amount of say over which department you end up in so don’t base your whole application on one area of the law. It’s a great work experience for finding out about different areas of the law and how to get into law as a career