SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP
Abby describes a project on her first seat that reflects what she has come to expect from the ongoing trainee experience: “It was a big debt raising on the Irish Stock Exchange; both the junior and senior associates were really busy, so the partner let me take it and run with it. I talked to the client a lot – he was always calling from Italy with lots of questions – and I was coordinating with the New York team and other colleagues in the office. I felt totally a part of the wider office team and very capable. I wasn’t just left to do the proofreading!” More broadly, her expectations of life as a trainee have been roundly surpassed. “I’m learning a lot every day; I enjoy what I do and it is engaging and challenging,” she summarises. “I had expected to be working long hours, especially with the reputation that US firms have; but in a lot of ways the work-life balance is better than I expected. And compared to my friends who are working at magic circle firms, I don’t feel any different in terms of quality of work. The responsibility you are given makes you feel part of the team and as if you’re doing associate-level work.” Slightly further along the line, Victor is at the perfect juncture to reflect on his training experiences: “You are very well prepared for this type of general practice by the training contract, especially having had the chance to interact with almost everyone in the firm throughout the two-year period. I can safely say that I have no regrets about my decision to accept a position here and think that this is a great place for
a young lawyer to train.”
And so finally back to Ben, the deserving second-time winner of this award, and the many personality traits that make him perfect for the role. Victor details just a few: “There is a sense that this really matters to Ben – he was the architect of and soul behind this programme. He is a busy transactional lawyer, with his own practice, but he still manages to give so much time to trainees and junior associates. Soon after I started, I fell ill and Ben spent time finding me a doctor because I was new to London and didn’t know many people. He remembers everything about everyone and keeps in touch. Even when I was on secondment in New York, he popped in to see me whenever he was over and was in constant contact with the people that I was working with. I don’t think that it is common to have a partner who is so attentive.” “Ben takes the time to talk things through and explain things – his door is literally always open!” enthuses Abby. “He makes a lot of effort to organise events outside of work as well – for example, we recently went out for dinner with the vacation scheme students and Ben was talking to everyone, interested in knowing what we’re up to, both in and out of work. He makes sure that we’re happy and have enough to do, but checks that we’re not completely swamped.” As a colleague and training programme collaborator, Kirsten has her own perspective on why working with Ben is so fruitful: “He is very accommodating of my sometimes ‘out of the box’ ideas and is always
We don’t have to overly formalise what we do; rather, we can observe how things run day to day, see what comes from that and
change as necessary
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Best in Law 2016
LawCareers.Net
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