Aidan's summer placement blog

Top tips for during summer placement

Be enthusiastic and willing to get involved wherever possible. Senior colleagues will appreciate the enthusiasm and will be keen to keep you involved in more work going forward. Experience of different types of work will give you a more rounded experience of what life is like in your department which will inform your seat choices at traineeship level (and where you want to take your legal career once you qualify).

While commitment to the work that is delegated to you is important, it is equally important you relax, have fun, and get to know your colleagues. Edinburgh is a bustling place in summer, and I enjoyed going out for drinks with other placement students or my colleagues. Your fellow placement students, as well as your team members and anyone else you might meet at the firm, form your support network whilst on the placement, but also the start of your professional network that you will continue to develop in the future. You should enjoy getting to know these people and try and learn from them too.

Placement work

The company secretary has numerous responsibilities (eg, ensuring information is up to date at Companies House and other regulatory requirements). Often this work is effectively outsourced to the firm – and as a summer placement student, I was able to get involved in this type of work, which involved direct communication with clients. This helped my communication skills via telephone and email, as well as my familiarity with Companies House – which you will need to use daily if you do a corporate seat.

I was also able to get involved in drafting ancillary documents. In a transaction, ancillary documents accompany the main document, which itself governs what is to happen in the transaction (e.g., a share purchase agreement). Ancillary documents may include director resignation/appointment letters, Companies House forms, share certificates, written resolutions, board minutes and more. This allowed me to really understand how transactions work from the lawyers’ point of view.

Rewarding experience

Under supervision, I was entrusted to send emails to other law firms regarding ongoing transactions. Through a small aspect of my summer placement, I felt like a real lawyer – which was exciting! 

Firm culture

People at the firm were interested in getting to know me, my interests and where I had studied. You soon learn that Anderson Strathern is a very approachable and ‘down to earth’ type of firm, which really does put you at ease during your placement. The Firm isn’t “hierarchical”; I shared a pod with senior lawyers – partners in the department made an effort to approach me, introduce themselves and to impart career advice. They are very knowledgeable and experienced people and often involved in the most important work, so the opportunity to learn from them is invaluable.

Buddy system and mentors

I found it really helpful having a buddy and mentor. I met with my buddy every day. These meetings were an opportunity to ask the ‘silly’ questions – the ones that I didn’t want to ask my mentor… though I felt I could easily have asked anyone these questions. I was mentored by a partner in the corporate department which gives you the opportunity to ask questions not only about the work you are involved in, but to get advice on your career in general, which was worthwhile. Overall, I felt very supported – trainees are only ever a ‘Teams’ message away, too.

Having fun

The firm organised a get together for the trainees and summer placement students to attend. This is an informal event and a great chance to get know to each other outside of the office and have some fun. The trainees at the firm are extremely sociable and always up for a laugh.