Sarah qualified into the Commercial Litigation practice in September 2011.

I read French and Italian at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge and graduated in 2000.  Taking a rather circuitous route via corporate PR, teaching English and translating in Rome and a round-the-world trip, I decided to pursue a legal career and completed the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the College of Law, Guildford.

My first encounter with the Firm, was applying for the vacation scheme.  What attracted me to the firm was its seemingly unique combination of high calibre work and clients and collegiate environment.  In addition, I did not want to join a firm where I would be one face amongst many and spend the majority of my two years training at the photocopier. The idea of being one of only 8 trainees really appealed to me.  Indeed, my initial impressions were confirmed on the vacation scheme where I was made to feel incredibly welcome and involved from day one.  I spent two weeks with the firm in two different departments, attending an arbitration hearing, a 3 day share purchase negotiation (3 days for me – the actual negotiations went on far longer) and also managed not to disgrace myself running for the firm in a 5k charity race.  Our days were also filled with various group exercises and social gatherings, all of which were extremely enjoyable.  Needless to say, I did not hesitate in accepting the offer of a training contract when it came after the assessment day.

I attended a number of social events organised by the firm in the two years before starting, giving me the opportunity to meet my future colleagues and fellow trainees in a fun and relaxed environment.  Knowing a few faces on your first day certainly makes it less daunting.

 
I began my training contract in September 2009, sitting in Insurance Litigation.  I also completed seats in Corporate Regulatory and Transactional, Commercial Litigation and completed a client secondment to Shell.  I was impressed by the enormous effort that went into the training contract programme – on an educational, developmental, practical and social level.  In addition, everyone was extremely approachable and did not seem to mind answering my seemingly endless series of questions.  I also got involved in some of the pro bono opportunities the firm supports, having spent a day at a community centre in Tower Hamlets as part of the City Gateway scheme.  This added to the roundedness of my training experience.