Early Careers in Law

Asha is pushing herself to higher levels

During her Law degree, Asha took part in a vacation scheme, where she was able to experience the friendly culture at Weil and engage in meaningful work. “I was able to talk to trainees, associates, and partners, who were keen to share their experience and advice. Undertaking a vacation scheme really helped me to decide if I could see myself developing a long-term career at Weil.”

Trusted to take on challenging work

Asha is driven by the variety of interesting work and the encouragement to take on new responsibilities. Early on in her first seat in Restructuring Asha was trusted with real autonomy. “It was a contentious matter with a number of hearings. However, the client did not need to attend one particular hearing so I was asked by my supervisor if I would attend on behalf of Weil to take notes. My notes were then circulated to the whole team, including the partners, and the client. While the responsibility came with a fair share of excitement and challenges, I am very proud of the strong feedback I received on my account.”

Supported to thrive

In her second seat in Banking & Finance, Asha thrives on the autonomy she has to run different processes, pushing her to learn and grow. She describes her first signing and closing process was a real highlight. “It’s really rewarding to close a transaction. That's the good thing about Banking & Finance; the deals are a lot shorter, so you achieve your clients’ goals in a matter of weeks or months. I also got to draft my first interim facilities agreement, which isn’t something a trainee would usually do as it’s a higher-level task, but I rose to the challenge.”

Taking on such important responsibilities, Asha says she can always rely on the network around her to keep succeeding. “You've got lots of different avenues for support such as a supervisor, partner mentor, and other trainees. Everyone pushes your development by ensuring you get challenging work and support. It’s a friendly, collegial environment, where people take the time out to teach and show you how to be your best.”
 

Isobel is making meaningful change with pro bono work

After studying Russian at University, Isobel chose to transition into Law and propel her career at Weil. With high-impact responsibility and client exposure, she’s taking the lead on tasks and has found pro bono work to be invigorating and rewarding, helping her make a difference in the world.

Coming together to help individuals

Weil has a leading pro bono practice with all lawyers including trainees expected to complete 50 hours of pro bono a year. “Our Pro Bono team is inspirational. You have the widest scope to take on pro bono as a trainee.”

While Weil does a lot of meaningful pro bono work for large organisations and established charities, pro bono is also about helping communities and individuals who do not ordinarily have access to highly skilled lawyers. Isobel was delighted when she had the chance to onboard a pro bono client whom she met through a local initiative. “It's just one woman and her amazing enterprise, helping local people, including Afghan refugees, who have moved to the area. Her enterprise had grown in size, but she wasn't legally incorporated so she was struggling to receive donations and hold funding events.”

Isobel put the client in touch with the Pro Bono team at Weil, who were very happy to take on the client. Isobel had already completed several incorporations of companies and felt confident she could make a difference for this client. “It’s interesting to see the process. We're helping the client fine-tune exactly what she wants and helping her to find other trustees. It's taken the client seven years to build this community, and now she wants to set up her own charity. I’m proud that I’ve been able to help her with that.”

Inspired by women leaders

While lending her support to others through pro bono work, Isobel receives the support she needs to thrive from the experienced lawyers at the firm, especially the senior women. With encouragement from her female partner mentor, Isobel is inspired to follow in their footsteps. “If my career were to take the same path as the other senior women at the firm, it would be an honour. My mentor is brilliant at giving down to earth advice. It’s important to have specific role models you can turn to in the workplace and I've gained a lot out of my sessions with my mentor. She creates an informal, comfortable atmosphere and gives me real advice. It's her own life and career experience.”

Mark is working headline-worthy deals and building his network

Mark began his career at Weil by taking part in the vacation scheme where he completed two weeks in Private Equity. “It was a welcoming and friendly environment and I could definitely see myself fitting in. I had a supervisor and a trainee buddy, and I felt like I got a real sense of what it would feel like to be a trainee here. Plus, I got the chance to do cutting edge work and get involved in live deals.”

Now, as a trainee, Mark has delved into a variety of deals and tasks. For him, every deal is slightly different with a new challenge to face. One recent project he worked on in Private Equity made it to the front page of the Financial Times and various other newspapers. He explains, “It was a really interesting deal for a French satellite company who were acquiring a UK satellite company. We were heavily involved in the entire process, which gave me the opportunity to handle a number of tasks. It was fast-paced, exciting, and something I’m proud of.”

Being trusted with clients 

Mark enjoys the direct exposure to clients – whether that is attending calls, in person meetings or emailing clients on a day-to-day basis. “It’s the trust the team has in you, that they're confident you can liaise directly with the client, which in turn gives me more responsibility and ownership.” 

With support from his supervisor, Mark is always learning. It’s all about taking constructive feedback on board, and putting it into practice in the next piece of work. “I’m constantly being taught things. Everyone wants you to achieve and be the best you can be.”

Building your brand and network now

Mark believes that his experience at Weil has offered him a head-start to his long-term career goal of building his own brand; nurturing new relationships and building a strong network are just some of the ways that Weil encourages you right from the start. “I’ve been told you should always be thinking about building that network of people who you can potentially work with in the future. If there are people you've worked with on a deal and you’re intrigued to discover more about what they do, you’re encouraged to reach out. You can start working towards your long-term ambitions very early on in your career.”
 

Anthony is closing deals with impact

Whilst studying his Law degree, Anthony took part in Weil’s vacation scheme, it was the level of exposure to the work he was given, and the friendly culture of the firm stood out to him.  Anthony’s first seat was in Restructuring and during his time in the team, he worked on a couple of aviation projects. “The first deal I worked on was for an aircraft lessor, which was a steep learning curve, but it was interesting to learn how their business operated and what that meant for the creditors in terms of financing the business. Then the second deal I worked on was for an airline, where I was able to use my knowledge from the first deal and put into action what I had learnt. It really showed me how much I developed even in a short amount of time.”

Feeling valued

In his second seat, Anthony was eager to explore the pace of transactions in Banking & Finance. Having been in Banking & Finance for five months, Anthony is proud to have closed several deals. “It’s a great moment because the clients are very appreciative and that feeds back down to the rest of the team at Weil who really thank you for your hard work.” For Anthony, feeling appreciated makes all the hard work worthwhile and it’s this kind of appreciation that propels his confidence. “The quality of work is great. You do things that stretch you and prepare you to be an associate. So, when you become a qualified lawyer, you'll have seen or maybe even done these tasks before, making the transition easier.”

Improving with every responsibility 

Being given autonomy is something Anthony is used to. “I’m trusted to run with things as far as possible, but there’s also really good supervision. It’s really helpful for my own development as I find doing things myself is the best way to improve.” When one of the associates in his team was on holiday, Anthony took more of a lead on running various tasks, which has provided him with further opportunities to handle more responsibilities and to develop.
 

Venetia is taking on new and exciting responsibilities

After completing her first seat in Banking & Finance, Venetia is now undertaking a seat in Private Equity where she shares an office with her supervisor. “The work is very diverse and I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of deals. In my current seat I support the team with due diligence, drafting different clauses of share purchase agreements and non-disclosure agreements, as well as individual clauses of other dense, long-form documents.”

Trying things for the first time

While Venetia has been involved in many deals throughout her training contract, she recalls one that has stood out to her the most as it was exciting and demanding, in equal measure. “The deal I was working on was insurance. It was fantastic having the responsibility of liaising with various external specialists, in addition to internal key stakeholders such as the Tax and Intellectual Property team. Being able to manage these relationships to help the deal progress was like no other responsibility I’ve had before.”

Being able to interact with partners on a daily basis automatically helps Venetia build the confidence to take on new and challenging responsibilities. In addition to this, the non-hierarchal structure of the firm allows every trainee to shine in the spotlight. “All the partners know your name. I like how I can go into any partner's office, ask a question, and they’re happy to help.” 

Learning from mistakes

While Venetia learns from the autonomy she gets, it is the weekly training sessions at Weil that also help to nurture her growth. In hindsight, the most valuable thing she has picked up is that it is okay not to be perfect. “You don’t need to get everything right all the time. If you make a mistake, it is about learning from it and taking the time to think of a solution, while putting measures in place to ensure you don’t make the same mistake twice.”

For Venetia, having a good attitude, a willingness to get stuck in, and a strong work ethic is key. “Taking on more responsibility, building the confidence to email clients without supervision, proactively thinking through the next steps without having to ask someone. It's really rewarding to see how far I've come in my second seat compared to my first.”