I read law at UCL graduating in 2009. During my second year at university I made the decision to pursue a professional career as a solicitor. I wanted to work for a firm that had a roster of high calibre clients offering varied interesting work. It wasn't difficult to find a London based commercial law firm offering that. However, I also wanted a firm that promised to give its trainees real responsibility while still encouraging a healthy work/life balance. That made the search much more difficult and I was left with a very short list.

The name that rose to the top was Edwards Wildman which scored highly in a number of independent publications for its quality of training, work/life balance and level of social cohesion.  The firm took a comparatively small intake of 8 trainees each year which, I considered a big positive. I have to admit that I had not really heard of the firm at that time but I later discovered this was due to the fact it was a US firm which had only recently merged with Kendall Freeman (a name which I had heard of in London).

I applied for a place on the firm's 2008 vacation scheme and was delighted to be accepted following an interview. Before my first day on the vacation scheme I was quite nervous as I had never worked in an office let alone a law firm and was very unsure of what to expect. I needn't have worried as the morning began with a relaxed chat with the current trainees over breakfast which was a great ice breaker and everyone else I met throughout the day was very friendly and approachable. The scheme ran for two weeks, each week was spent in a different department which allowed for a good insight into the work the firm was involved with. On top of that, we were given quite a full timetable of activities. Some of these were presentations about work at the firm or work as a solicitor generally.  We also took part in advocacy and negotiation exercises. I feel that if things hadn't worked out with the firm I would still have been able to take a lot of value out of these sessions when looking elsewhere.

Fortunately things did work out and, following the firm's assessment day, I was offered a training contract. Following my acceptance of this offer, I was provided with many more opportunities to get involved in life at the firm. I attended the firm's Winter Party for both 2008/09 and 2009/10 each of which carried a different fancy dress theme ('Gangsters and Molls' proved slightly easier than 'London Underground', although my choice of Wimbledon in the latter was far less imaginative than some!). I also played for the firm's 5-a-side football team during my LPC year. These were good opportunities to build relationships with some of the current trainees and associates outside of the workplace. All of this has helped to alleviate those first day nerves as I actually felt like I'd already been part of the firm for a couple of years!

I am spent my first six months as a litigator in the firm's Insurance and Reinsurance department. The firm is renowned for its insurance expertise and I found there was a lot of interesting international work. I assisted my supervisor on a number of matters one of which included a dispute between an insurer and a reinsurer over losses caused by Hurricane Katrina. Every aspect of the case, from the location of the parties to the place where the damage was caused, seemed to involve a different country! I was also been given a lot of opportunities to broaden my professional development by getting involved in pro bono matters and contributing articles to the firm's insurance blog. My second seat was in Commercial Litigation, which was an equally fascinating seat and I am now on my third seat on an IP client secondment.  Beyond the work I am directly involved with, it is clear that the merger really has made it an exciting time to join Edwards Wildman. The firm has expanded into a number of different practice areas in the period between my vacation scheme application and my first day in the office. Trainees now have the opportunity to experience work in IP, Competition, Private Equity & Venture Capital and Banking. In addition there is the possibility of an overseas secondment and the firm has so far sent trainees to both New York and Hong Kong. Finally, the firm has moved to a very impressive new office near Liverpool Street and the foosball table in the breakout area rekindled long-forgotten school memories on my first day when one of the 'bigger boys' asked, "Any of you first years want a game?"

To conclude, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far at a firm that has managed to develop and maintain a friendly culture while offering high quality cross-border work for big name clients. I am really looking forward to the rest of my training contract. If you want the opportunity to get noticed and receive responsibility for real work from day one at a firm that will allow you to have a healthy work/life balance, then come and join us at Edwards Wildman!