FARRER & CO LLP
LCN AWARD WINNER 2017 BEST WORK PLACEMENT SCHEME – CITY FIRM
A s a history student, Farrer & Co first-year trainee Rebecca Price made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to dip her toe into the water before committing herself to a career with any one firm. “I initially took a scattergun approach when applying for firm open days. I then was able to take a slightly more tailored approach to vacation schemes and ended up doing four in my GDL year,” she laughs. “At first I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but I quite quickly realised that very large City firms weren’t for me; rather, I wanted to focus on mid- sized firms doing both interesting private client and commercial work. Farrer obviously stood out here – it was fascinating on paper and has an incredible history and interesting broad range of clients, so I wanted to experience that first-hand.” Anthony Turner, trainee partner at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields-based firm, approves of Rebecca’s approach; after all, the decision of where to train can be life changing. “Vacation schemes set the direction of your career,” he asserts. “So not to do a variety of them is probably a mistake. However, sometimes that’s easier said than done, as they can be very competitive and it’s unlikely that you will be accepted onto every one to which you apply.” The firm’s training principal Paul Krafft concurs that while acceptance is not guaranteed, that shouldn’t stop a prospective lawyer from putting themselves forward – no matter where they are in their career. “What you will get from a vacation scheme depends largely on what stage you are at with your studies, but it will beneficial. For example, if you are unsure about whether you want to go into the law you will be able to see what work actually goes on in a firm and whether it interests you,” he explains. “If you’re slightly further down the line and have decided that a career in law is definitely for you, then you get to see the various firms first-hand and differentiate them from one
2017
26
Best in Law 2017
LawCareers.Net
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