Bird & Bird LLP |

Why did you apply to Bird & Bird? Is it what you expected?

The firm sells itself as doing some of the most uniquely interesting legal work in some of the coolest sectors out there. From my intention to pursue first-tier IP litigation work, to my unnatural obsession with football being brought to legal life in my sports regulatory seat, the work I’ve carried out has completely surpassed my expectations.

I applied to the firm out of a desire to become a more well-rounded lawyer, acquiring practice area expertise in a multi-sectoral way. Just past one year later, and I can say I’m getting exactly what I wanted out of my training.

What has been the most interesting case or task you have worked on?

I recently had the opportunity to work on highly significant musical copyright litigation in what is completely uncharted legal territory. I’ve been asked not just to research points of law, but to then perform the extra ‘step’ of applying my answer in brand new scenarios on which the courts are yet to have pronounced.

This is emblematic of the firm’s expertise - we often find ourselves reverting to first principles to determine how the law applies to the new commercial situations presented to us by our clients.

And if that work is served up to you as a trainee, that is a pretty unique offering.

Did you overcome any obstacles during your route to law?

The key obstacles for me were time and self-doubt – it took me six years of trying in order to secure a training contract. Seeing others’ successes through my multiple courses of rejection hurt at first, but I used every rejection as a positive, to put down whatever ego I had and the excuses that led me to conjure up for myself, and to be ruthlessly honest with myself about how best to improve.

I waited a very long time before what seemed to be that elusive training contract offer came along – but I used that time to optimise my chances of getting one.

I obtained a generalist LLM (a step you absolutely do not need to take to boost your chances), which helped to further inform my decisions on what areas of law, and in turn what firms, I was interested in pursuing. I then spent three years as an Assistant Editor in the Dispute Resolution team at Practical Law, writing quality legal content and know-how for lawyers, which markedly improved my core legal skills, such as drafting and communication.

If you could go back to before you secured a training contract, what advice would you give yourself?

That “commercial awareness” should not be conflated with “commercial knowledge”.

Firms aren’t looking for expertise in the areas of commercial law you wish to apply to. They’re looking for people who have the potential to be trained to develop that expertise.

So, follow a handful of the firm’s recent cases/deals of genuine interest to you, rather than focusing on absolutely everything it does or absolutely everything in the business press. Ultimately, commercial awareness is a marathon, not a sprint – do a little every day, rather than cramming everything at the eleventh hour.

What have you done as a trainee which you didn’t expect to do before joining the firm?

I got involved in the firm’s D&I initiatives in my first seat and helped to launch our Period Positivity drive which saw free sanitary products brought into bathrooms in our London office. I also helped the team to find a great sustainable brand for the products. I didn’t expect to contribute towards a such a big change so soon!

What has been your favourite seat* so far, and why?

I’d say Dispute Resolution. The work we do covers all of our client sectors, and no two weeks feel the same! It ranges from smaller claims which can give trainees a lot of hands-on experience, to multimillion pound international disputes where you get to collaborate with a number of colleagues across our 32 offices and learn about the more strategic aspects of any dispute.

*A seat is a period of time where you will ‘sit’ in a department and learn about the work there. At Bird & Bird, trainee solicitors experience four seats for six months each over their two-year training contract, sitting across different department such as Commercial, Corporate, and Intellectual Property.

What was it like being a future trainee – did you study or work beforehand? What support were you given?

I worked as a paralegal for five years before joining Bird & bird, including in-house legal teams, other city law firms, and the Government. In the two years prior to starting, there were planned socials, events and networking opportunities which kept us in contact with the firm, but Bird & Bird also gave me the freedom to pursue my own work experience in that period.

What advice would you give to aspiring lawyers today?

Don’t be disheartened if the training contract takes time to secure. For every successful applicant, there will usually be hundreds who are unfortunately not. Take the time to understand which skills you could develop in preparation for the next opportunity and try not to focus too much on replicating those whose paths differ to yours – there really is no one right way to get an offer!