My life in Pinsent Masons’ corporate department

I started my Vacation Placement at Pinsent Masons with an open mind. I was excited about joining the firm’s Corporate department but at no point did I anticipate that my team will involve me in their work to the extent they had. In my blog I would like to focus on one of my experiences which to this very day I am still surprised that I was asked to be involved in.

Pinsent Masons’ agile working policy gave me an opportunity to speak to as many people in the department as possible. Every day I found myself surrounded by lawyers of different seniority which gave me exposure to various ways of working.

On Wednesday, just like any other day I arrived at my desk excited to introduce myself to my new “neighbour”. This day it was Sam who is one of the solicitors in the department. We started chatting and before I realised where our conversation was heading, she casually invited me to her completion the following day. I did not know much about what it involved but I was thrilled to receive such an offer and quickly (maybe slightly overenthusiastically) said yes.

As she started to introduce me to the transaction and patiently answered all my questions, I began to realise what I had signed up for. However, I still could not believe that I will be involved in such an important meeting. When the completion day arrived, I sat with my trainee buddy Yazmin who explained the course of action to me. With a few hours before clients’ arrival we started preparing documents. Yazmin was kindly guiding me through the entire process and we managed to get everything ready on time.

I remember the thrill behind carrying a pile of contracts to lay them down on the table in one of the meeting rooms. When our job was done, numerous documents were waiting in a perfect line for our clients’ signatures. At that point I was convinced I will be coming back to my floor. However, Sam entered the room and told me that I will be staying and helping her check clients’ signatures. I was completely overwhelmed, and I could not believe how lucky I was.

When the clients arrived, I was introduced to them and actively participated in the meeting as part of the team. I was observing the professionalism and perfectionism of Pinsent Masons’ lawyers dreaming about one day becoming one of them. When the meeting was over, I left the room in an awe-inspiring mood ready to start creating a post-completion bible.

Subsequently I was struck with a vivid memory of my interview for the Vacation Placement. I remember the interviewer asking me what if anything I potentially would not like about my training contract. Without any hesitation my answer was a lack of client exposure. How little did I know at that point! I smiled to my thoughts and carried on working on the bible.