Meet Fattah, a Trainee Solicitor with Dentons

I applied to Dentons mainly due to my international background and wanting to work for a firm with a large international presence. During the year between finishing my Legal Practice Course and beginning my training contract, the firm kindly allowed me to spend a year working as a paralegal in the Legal Delivery Centre. This was a very educational experience, allowing me to get to grips with responsibilities such as time recording and adapting to the culture of the firm.

I have always felt that all of my colleagues are some of the most approachable people I have met. In the Milton Keynes office where I am based, my favourite part about the job is how the people around me are encouraging, supportive, and always ready to offer their guidance, no matter how busy they may be. During my seat in the People, Reward, and Mobility team, I was exposed to a large variety of work and clients. Specifically, as part of the employment team, I was able to play a significant role in both contentious and non-contentious matters. This included large international projects for clients spanning about twenty-five jurisdictions, working on the employment aspects of corporate deals and bids, and attending employment tribunal hearings. I really enjoyed this seat both because of the variety and the subject matter. The team is also very unique as it works seamlessly across the offices in the UK, which allows for more collaboration and efficiency.

Dentons also offers a number of both international and client secondments, and I have recently completed a six-month secondment with a client. It has been a very different experience dealing with fleet and asset finance transactions and projects, and has helped me to become better at understanding the expectations of clients and to view and engage in legal practice from the very different perspective of a client. I have developed lots of independence while on secondment, and become less apprehensive about communicating with counterparties and external parties independently. Even while on secondment, Dentons has allowed for me to remain a very active part of the firm, with firmwide and office wide social events such as golf days, charity balls, afternoon teas, and brunches. This has meant that I am able to visit the Milton Keynes or London office even while on secondment to maintain my contact and relationships with my colleagues, and to catch up with them every couple of weeks.

I feel that a big part of why I enjoy working at Dentons so much is the value that is placed on trainees. From the various seminars and training sessions, it is very clear that Dentons values its young professionals highly and is willing to invest the time and resources not only through extensive training sessions to prepare us for each new seat, but also through things such as a recent working styles session, and the innovation project scheme which all trainees take part in. Taking part in schemes such as the innovation project allows trainees to harness technology, become better versed in the use of it, and to conduct training sessions and explain the use of their projects to their respective teams. This not only allows for greater longevity and efficiency as technology evolves but shows a certain level of responsibility given to trainees to lead the next steps on the use of technology in various situations.

Overall, working at Dentons has been and continues to be a very positive experience, and I look forward to continued growth through my career.