[OLD] Position: Trainee
Education: Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge
Joined Clifford Chance: 2010

I have always been interested in law – I like the focus on language and wording as well as the breadth of the profession. I chose to apply to corporate firms because I was interested in the profound effect the corporate world has on politics – yet the inner workings of the corporate world are often completely mysterious to those who have not worked inside it.

I accepted Clifford Chance’s offer of a training contract after completing an Easter vacation scheme here. I was struck by how much friendlier people seemed, compared to the other firms where I had interviews.

I’m currently undertaking my first seat in Capital Markets (Secured Debt). Much of the work is international. I frequently liaise with Clifford Chance offices in Moscow and New York and have also had contact with other law firms in a large range of countries, from Israel to Egypt to Taiwan.

Transactional seats such as this one help to develop your project management and communication skills. For example, we outsourced some due diligence to Delhi and I was responsible for keeping tabs on their progress, sending them the documents they needed to review, keeping track of what they had reviewed, making sure it was produced on time and so on. Then I helped to write the report of their findings. By undertaking project management tasks such as this, as well as doing a significant amount of drafting, I’ve become much more attentive to detail and more organised – although my desk doesn’t always reflect this!

My second seat will be a split seat: three months in Clifford Chance's Litigation Department and three months with the Howard League for Penal Reform. The Howard League is the oldest penal reform charity in the UK and I find the work they do really interesting. One of the Litigation partners is on the Howard League's Board of Trustees. I’m looking forward to my contentious seat – I think it will help me develop my legal and research skills in a different way.

At this early point in my career, it’s hard to know what I want to end up doing. Ultimately I’d like to marry my interest in politics with my interest in the law and become a leading figure in the type of pro bono work that Clifford Chance – particularly the Litigation department – sponsors, such as that done by the Howard League and Liberty.

I was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey and I think I might want to go back to the US eventually. But by the end of my training, I’ll have been away for 10 years, so who knows?