Meet Rebecca - Trainee

First/second year trainee and current department:

First year trainee, in the final weeks of my second seat in the Glasgow Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) department

Degree qualification, university and year of graduation:

First Class Scots Law LLB with Spanish Language. Graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2022. Distinction in the Diploma for Professional Legal Practice from the University of Glasgow in 2023.

Why did you decide on a career in law?

I have always been interested in current affairs in business, technology and politics and enjoy problem-solving, critical thinking and ultimately helping people. I knew that I wanted to work in the commercial law sector after studying a competition law course whilst living and studying in Spain. My time abroad also confirmed my desire to work at an international law firm!

Why did you choose to train with Dentons?

Working at the world's largest law firm provides the opportunity to work with international offices and clients on international, multi-jurisdictional and also local Scottish matters. Dentons broad array of clients in various different sectors also provides the opportunity in each seat to work on very different matters, where no day is often the same. I had also heard from trainees that the environment in each team is very supportive of its trainees, with fee earners taking the time to explain how work should be carried out, provide feedback and explain legal concepts, as well as affording you a large amount of responsibility from an early stage.

Tell us about your training contract. What does this involve?

I am now in the final weeks of my second seat in the TMT department prior to heading off on client secondment with a move to London joining an international client's gas and power trading team. I spent my first seat in the Corporate department here in Scotland. My first six months saw a lot of private M&A work where I was usually responsible for drafting corporate ancillary documents and general project management to see exciting deals over the line. My work in TMT has been varied, including a lot of commercial and intellectual property contract review and drafting ranging from supply of goods agreements to IT agreements to chef collaboration agreements. I have really enjoyed taking the skills learned at my time at university and applying them to real world problems, becoming more solutions-focused and developing a more critical mindset. The environment within the firm and in each team has been nurturing and all fee earners and colleagues are eager to see you grow as a trainee to becoming more confident in your communication, drafting and general legal skills.

What do you enjoy about being a solicitor?

I enjoy working on a diverse set of projects and matters with a large variety of clients – you end up knowing a lot of very niche facts about very niche clients! I also enjoy working in a team to see projects or deals over the line where there is a real sense of hard work and team effort to achieve the best possible outcome. This also translates into the amount of pro bono work that we are able to be involved in. In my year at the firm I have advised numerous charities, assisted at remote pop-up clinics and assisted global charities in document review for death row cases. There is a real sense of reward when you know that you are able to help a broad variety of people in the role of a solicitor.

What are the challenges?

In my case, I had never worked in an office environment on a permanent full-time basis and therefore it took some time to get used to office culture and ways of working – never mind the legal bit! As many students due, it can be hard at first to accept that you are going to make mistakes and not understand a lot of what goes on in your team in the beginning. However, being comfortable with this unfamiliar territory is key for growth and development. My first supervisor would always tell me that when you are feeling comfortable – it is time to move the goal posts! I also often found that where I had corrections made to some of my drafting, often lead for an increased opportunity for learning where my supervisor would go into greater detail as to the mechanics and the 'why' behind certain drafting points. A cliché but you do learn from your mistakes!

How do you strike a healthy work/life balance?

Settling into a full-time job pushed me to really solidify what I enjoy doing in my spare time and making sure I keep these as non-negotiables in my daily calendar. Despite not previously being a morning person, I really treasure getting up that hour or two early every morning to make time for a gym or run session with friends every day of the week. Having this time in the morning where I am able to exercise and socialise ensures that no matter how chaotic the day becomes, I have that "me" time box ticked off each day. I am also a huge advocate for joining and/or attending as many work social committees and events as possible. I am part of both our office social and charities committee, as well as our office run club. Whilst work-life balance entirely out of work is important, it can also be beneficial to socialise with work colleagues in a non-work-related environment.

What three qualities are important for a career in law?

I remember in one of training sessions this question was asked and upon receiving the survey results the seemingly obvious answer of having a sound legal knowledge was not anywhere near the top. Whilst, of course, this is integral to the role of a solicitor, it was agreed that clients value and keep returning to solicitors who are (1) personable and can speak to the client in a client-friendly manner, not like a robotic lawyer, (2) reliable, who do what they say they will do and keep the client well informed and (3) knowledgeable of the wider context around the client's business, aware that the law does not exist in a vacuum and that changes in the political and social landscape can influence how and when a client does business.

Can you debunk a myth about working as a solicitor?

I think a common misconception of trainee life is that you are often left to deal with administrative tasks and do not really add any value to your team. From my year at Dentons and in both my Corporate and TMT seat, this cannot be further from the truth! Whilst, as is the case in any job, and for any fee earner, administrative tasks do exist, I have never felt like a spare part in any team and often feel like I sit on the other end of the spectrum of my colleagues continuously encouraging me to take on more responsibility and to tackle more complex tasks. To give specific examples of the importance of a trainee's role in a team, I refer to the many deals I was involved with during my Corporate seat. I was always tasked with drafting most of the corporate ancillary documents, post-completion Companies House filings, general project management through liaising with the other side and most importantly ensuring that all the documents have been signed properly to be able to confirm that the multi-million-pound deal has completed! Furthermore, in my time in the TMT team I have been entirely responsible for producing due diligence reporting on large sets of commercial agreements and intellectual property documents such as customer/supplier agreements and trademark registrations. I have been given the opportunity to hone my skills in not only identifying issues within these documents but also advise the client how best to approach and resolve such issues.

Tell us about an issue that is currently affecting the law sector/your firm.

As expected, AI is seeming to be the most prevalent issue facing law firms at present. It has been really exciting to see the launch, roll-out and everyday implementation of Dentons very own AI chat bot FleetAI in my time at the firm. FleetAI allows us to refine language of draft emails and documents, provide very specific answers on drafting points and also permits the upload of client confidential documents to quickly scan and review wording. It is a tool that is used by all fee earners from trainee to partner on a daily basis to increase efficiencies but it is also clear that AI will only take us so far, and as stated in my above answer regarding important qualities, an AI chat bot does not provide that personal element that a good solicitor brings to its client relationships. It is my opinion that the proliferation and advancement of AI tools is inevitable, so using them in an appropriate manner to improve efficiencies and the quality of your work shall only work in the firm's favour! Indeed, the Dentons training contract incorporates an innovation programme in each seat rotation where trainees are encouraged to develop an innovative project, tool or process that will improve each department's way of working. The other TMT trainees and I are currently working on a contract summary report generator powered by FleetAI that produces a succinct summary of an agreements red flag issues and key contractual provisions to be utilized during due diligence.