How has life as an associate at Bird & Bird changed for our trainees following qualification?
Here are some of their views:
Allison Dixon, Associate
I qualified into Bird & Bird's Employment team in September 2004, having spent the entire last year of my training contract working in the department. Prior to that, I spent my first six-month seat in the Commercial team and a further six months in the Corporate department. My experience in both the commercial and corporate teams was very positive, with early involvement in real legal work and a great deal of client contract. But on joining the Employment team, I immediately felt I had found my niche. As I was lucky enough to spend two seats with Employment, by the time I qualified I had already been exposed to a huge range of clients and different types of work.
Now as a Senior Associate in the Employment team at Bird & Bird, I deal with the full spectrum of employment law matters. A large proportion of my work is "pure" employment work such as day-to-day advice on hiring and firing employees, managing employment tribunal proceedings and drafting employment documentation such as contracts, policies, bonus schemes and compromise agreements. I also work on corporate and commercial matters in a support capacity, advising (for example) on the implications of the application of TUPE to a transaction and drafting appropriate warranties and indemnities. We also support our colleagues in Bird & Bird's offices throughout Europe and Asia on international matters requiring UK employment law input. A huge factor in my decision to qualify into employment was the friendly and supportive team; this combined with the varied and interesting work and large client base means no two days are ever the same.
During the 7 1/2 years I have been at Bird & Bird the firm has grown at an impressive pace, opening new offices in different parts of the world almost every year. With this growth, our work is increasingly international and I have acquired colleagues from all over the world, several of whom I had the opportunity to meet at an Employment team retreat in Madrid in 2008. However despite the rapid expansion, the Employment team has maintained its friendly atmosphere. Because of this, and the great opportunities trainees have to get involved in interesting and challenging work, they tend to really enjoy their seats here.
Nick Aries, Associate
I joined Bird & Bird in 2005. During my training contract I did a seat in our Commercial Group, a secondment to our Brussels office, a seat in our IP Group and an IP client secondment to the in-house legal team of a large telecoms operator.
I particularly enjoyed the IP elements of my training and so qualified into our IP Group in 2007. My practice now covers a wide range of IP issues, both contentious and non-contentious, spanning copyright, trade marks, design rights and patents. I also advise on advertising regulation/comparative advertising having acquired experience in this area on the client secondment.
After getting lots of benefit as a mentee from the mentoring program here, I was keen to get involved as a mentor and have done that for the last two years. I think this is a really valuable process. Since I joined, the firm has grown hugely in terms of the numbers of fee earners and offices. Despite this, I still feel able to get to know and stay in touch with colleagues from all of our international offices through events such as the International IP Retreat and the Bird & Bird Annual European Football Tournament, which has so far been held in Brussels, Dusseldorf, Milan, Cambridge, Stockholm and, next up, Munich. Bird & Bird allows me to combine high quality work for a wide variety of clients, whilst having a life outside the office."
Mary Smillie, Associate
At the end of my first week after qualifying into the Intellectual Property department at Bird & Bird, I was invited to join the IP retreat in Spain, and so met a large number colleagues from Europe, Asia as well as getting to know people much better from the London office. It made me realise that I had become a member of a very large International organisation.
Since then, I have had a diverse workload, involving Design Rights, Trade Marks and Patents and continue to have the opportunity to work on both contentious and non-contentious matters. Training has continued with the Junior Associate Programme which included researching a topic and presenting back to project sponsors and management, for which I was pleased to be a member of the winning team. I have also been involved in Business Development activities, including some external speaking engagements. The aspect of work which has given me the most satisfaction is regularly interacting with colleagues from other Bird & Bird offices in Europe, some of whom I met on the IP retreat.
Mary Smilie – Qualified March 2009
Russell Williamson, Associate
During my training contract at Bird & Bird, I was fortunate enough to work in four different departments including Real Estate, Dispute Resolution, Commercial and Aviation & Aerospace. This wide range of experience (in litigious, transactional and regulatory work) has proved invaluable in helping my transition from being a trainee to a newly qualified associate in the Dispute Resolution group.
Becoming an associate obviously presents a new set of challenges. Apart from having greater responsibility in relation to work matters, you are encouraged to support new trainees, delegate tasks, assist with business development and marketing initiatives, and begin to build a strong profile for yourself (both internally within the whole firm, and externally with existing and potential clients). I have received excellent guidance from the firm's partners and senior associates, which has helped me to meet these expectations. As an associate, I have also been involved with the recruitment process for future summer students and trainees. This has enabled me to offer guidance and support to students who are interested in joining the firm.
When I was looking to apply to firms as a student, I was often told that Bird & Bird was a friendly firm, with 'personality' being a key attribute of its people. These qualities have remained true, from when I first arrived at the firm as a summer student through to becoming a qualified solicitor. It is clear that these interpersonal qualities are one of the main reasons for the firm's success.
Rachel Fetches, Associate
The prospect of filling in the application forms for law firms tends to focus the mind somewhat. At the time, I was working full time and didn’t fancy spending all my evenings and weekends describing what cartoon character I best identified with. So when I discovered Bird & Bird and learnt more about their philosophy to both people and their business I was extremely excited.
When I began to ask around about the firm all I got were positive comments about the down to earth approach of the people and the excellent reputation of the firm’s work in the industry sectors on which it focuses. Although Bird & Bird is not the largest firm in the city, it is consistently ranked in the top tiers in these sectors. Added to this, the firm is ambitious having recently expanded in Europe and Asia.
The interview process confirmed my belief that this would be a great place to learn and work. I was put at ease from the moment I walked in and actually found myself enjoying it. So when I was offered a place at the firm, I had no hesitation in accepting it, and now I really do feel that I made the right choice both in terms of the work and the people.