Careers at a top London law firm
Second year law students got the inside track on life in a city law firm at a talk by two lawyers from Allen & Overy as part of the Southampton Law School’s Employability Skills Programme. Both were Southampton alumni; Partner Don McGown graduated in 1979 and trainee Adam Baldwin in 2009.
They explained how talented graduates could progress in the firm, which specialises in banking, corporate and international capital markets, has 42 offices in 29 countries and employs more than 5,500 people.
Don, a qualified solicitor in London and Hong Kong, specialises in corporate work, with international mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and restructuring experience. Adam is reaching the end of his two year traineeship and has spent time in banking and intellectual property litigation. He is now in A&O’s Paris office and has experience of an attachment with the legal team at eBay.
After the talk, students said they were interested to hear about the firm. “I was impressed with Allen & Overy’s list of clients and the locations” said Jack Brigden. Melanie Yacoubian said she was definitely interested in working at a city firm: “There are so many different things you can do,” she explained. Emma Figge said she wasn’t sure which career path to follow but valued the opportunity to find out more about the various options.
Allen & Overy takes on 90 trainees and 65 interns each year. However, law students were warned, they faced tough competition for places at the firm. More than 40 per cent of them are graduates of non-law subjects.