Chapter 4 – I know the answer
Transcript
Anne-Marie, L'Estrange, Head of Corporate Training
The training at Freshfields is continuous really, from the day you walk in the door to years later when you're a senior partner.
Ted Burke Chief Executive
We think it's very important that the learning curve for a trainee be just right. That is, not so steep that they're overwhelmed but that it is steep enough that they are continually stimulated and challenged.
Anne-Marie L'Estrange, Head of Corporate Training
There's definitely a chance here to structure your own careerparticularly because they have the opportunity to do many more seats than you would elsewhere. So here you can do seven separate seats which means seven separate areas of law to be trained in.
Kathleen, Healy Partner
The most important thing I think we find in managing the trainees is to make sure that they get the absolute best cross section of experience and work that they possibly can in a six month period.
You get to the end of your seat and you have a very good feel of what it would be like to be operating as a lawyer in our team.
Chris Forsyth Trainee Recruitment Partner and Ed Cotton,Trainee Solicitor as they enter Chris's office.
Chris: ...slightly less glamorous than the Dubai office... I take a three point approach to appraisals.
...you may want something that is more pragmatic, less jargony and maybe very punchy. The client may not want to know the reasoning, they like to know that it's done and they like to know that you've got it right.
Anne-Marie L'Estrange: One of the key programs that we've started...
...is a really pioneering course nobody else is doing it. It's a combination of skills training and technical training.
And we do it to our mid level associates, people who are around three years qualified. We call it the 'Real Deal' and we drop people into areal deal - so they don't know what's going to happen. They never know what they're going to be doing in half an hour's time. It's quite stressful and the idea really is to give them confidence that, you know, it might be something they're not familiar with, but they can get out there and perform beyond what they believe their abilities to be.
It's really changing the way they're seeing their career going.
Chris Mc Neil, Head of Risk and Compliance
My name's Chris McNeil, I'm the Head of Risk and Compliance in Anti Money Laundering...
Peggy Forell, Learning & Development Consultant
I think you could make it more dramatic than that, you know...
You've got stacks and stacks and stacks of credibility and gravitas and authority and all of that kind of thing. Now, I would say maybe even loosen up a bit, yeah? And be a bit more you.
Kathleen Healy, Partner
It's very likely you'll get to go on secondment to a client and you may also go to one of our other offices outside London. I was lucky to do it as a partner. Many of our lawyers go as associates, even very junior associates. And therefore they start in with the knowledge, which they then bring back to our team. And we can make the most of that knowledge in the way in which we tailor the advice and the service that we provide to our clients.
Kwarty Topen, Trainee Solicitor
Time passes and you learn things without even realizing that you've learnt them and it's only when maybe someone more junior comes in, or someone's forgotten something and they ask a question and you're like, "Ah... I know the answer".
"...the mix of people adds a whole other dimension to being here - there’s always an interesting conversation going on somewhere!"
Danny Steel
Trainee Solicitor