Whatever you decide is right for you, the training, experiences and skills you acquire during your time here will provide a valuable platform for your future development. Life beyond A&O One of the greatest benefits of training with our firm is the foundation we will give you in business and the exposure to decision-making at the highest levels within a wide range of organisations. We will help you become the most skilled, accomplished, business-focused lawyer you can be. Where your career takes you is then up to you. We want all of our trainees to develop long-term, rewarding careers, and we recognise that for some of our people, their futures may lie either partially outside the firm with A&O affiliated businesses or with another employer altogether. Many of our alumni are now pursuing successful careers as general counsel at multi-national corporates and banks, senior executives on the business side of our clients, and key influencers at regulatory bodies. Others will use their experience as a springboard to launch different careers in law, business, charity or even politics. This is a natural part of the life of a major law firm and we will support you in making the choices that are right for you at every stage of your career – even if that means moving away from our firm. It is important to us that we maintain positive relationships with all of our people, and we currently have a community of over 8,000 alumni in 70 countries. Through this network, you can share experiences and make new connections that lead to business and career development opportunities – including the possibility of returning to the firm one day. Our recently launched Return to Law programme, “I’m Back”, provides a platform for lawyers to rejoin the profession following an extended period away, and particularly supports our commitment to increasing the numbers of senior women in law.
As an associate, you will continue to be given challenging experience on deals, and will become responsible for increasingly complex elements of the transactions on which you work. We expect our people to spend time working in other offices; last year we placed hundreds of people on both long and short term international secondments. These short-term placements provide opportunities to increase your technical knowledge while learning more about other cultures and global markets. After around five years as an associate, you will be considered for promotion to senior associate. At this stage you will take on significant new responsibilities, including the supervision of trainees. Knowledge-sharing and developing others are fundamental to our firm’s culture, and you will be well supported in refining the skills and behaviours necessary to help your trainees to progress. Beyond that, there are many career paths you can take. We have a strong tradition of promoting our people into partnership, and last year we promoted 21 new partners across our firm. However, we do recognise that for many of our talented associates, partnership is not an aspiration. Some may choose the route of counsel, which offers you another way to operate in the firm at a senior level and specialise in a technical aspect of law. We are also pioneering new ways for our talented lawyers to use their skills and experience to work outside the traditional legal career framework. For example, we have launched a number of businesses that provide legal services to clients in alternative and innovative ways. Peerpoint offers excellent lawyers, including alumni of the firm, the opportunity to work on Allen & Overy deals - directly with our clients - on a contract basis. This option allows individuals more flexibility than a traditional employment relationship. Aosphere, another of our businesses, provides opportunities for securities-focused lawyers to deliver online subscription-based services in compliance and legal risk.
new partners promoted last year around the network. 21
Having trained with the firm, you will be someone whose qualities and experience are recognised and valued around the world.
Beyond qualification 17
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