11:30am: I attend a department training session on employment law for pensions lawyers, led by a member of the Employment team. We are well supported with regular and timely training – both within our constituent departments and with other departments and business professionals across the firm. Cross- departmental working really is ingrained in the culture of the firm. 1:00pm: Today is Thursday, which means only one thing: food market day. There are a whole host of options from which to choose, but today I opt for some bao and udon noodles. I sit down by the river and catch up with my fellow trainees. 2:00pm: I am asked by a partner to join a call. The subject matter is quite complex and around 10 international trustees of a large pension scheme are on the line, but this is what I enjoy about pensions. It is highly technical, regulated and constantly evolving – not to mention it has a direct impact on people’s lives. 3:30pm: My calendar reminds me that I am meeting a vacation scheme student for coffee and cake. The student wants to know a little more about what life is like here as a trainee. We discuss my experience over two rather large
slabs of millionaire’s shortbread. Our restaurant Glassworks boasts a phenomenal range of cakes, notably on Friday, which is cake trolley day. 4:00pm: The rest of my afternoon is taken up with drafting an article for the firm’s website on the Pensions Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigates complaints made in relation to pension schemes, and I have been tasked with providing a legal update on the Ombudsman’s activities in the last year, along with a more general case law update. This entails some detailed research. As a trainee in Pensions, you can expect to get involved in some interesting legal research, which I really enjoy. 6:15pm: Tonight we have a team night to celebrate the end of a successful financial year and to welcome the new trainees to the department. We all walk down to the harbourside and begin the evening with a fun team-building exercise: Escape Rooms. As a new trainee, this is a great way for me to get to know people in the department. We then have dinner and drinks together. By the end of the night, I’m glad I live only a stone’s throw away.
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