Norton Rose Fulbright Vacation Scheme Day 3:
Vac Scheme Cohort
My vacation scheme cohort have been amazing. We are trying hard to include each other, support each other, stay in contact with each other. One of the things this has been invaluable for is reaching out to partners and associates in other departments. We have tried to help each other arrange coffee catch ups with different departments and give the names of people it would be appropriate to reach out to. We had a social this evening at the underground cooking school (which was amazing, and I highly recommend this) and we were commenting on how well we all got on with each other. We come from such different backgrounds, but it is surprisingly easy to get into a deep conversation with each person on the scheme. I genuinely hope that we are all able to convert the VS into TCs because I have enjoyed being around everyone so much. I also think that this is reflective of the firm as a whole.
We have all made a big effort to try and have our lunch together in the cafeteria and we have a WhatsApp group which we use to stay in contact with each other throughout the day.
The Office
I would just like to take a moment of appreciation for the office. I reckon it has the best view in the whole of London. Situated on the south of the river between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, it has a view of the city, the river, the two bridges, and the Christmas lights and market which are just outside the office. I went for a chat with an associate to discuss a certain deal and I was taken aback by the view. I don't think it is something you could ever get used to!
Work
Today I worked on proof-reading a memo written by people outside of NRF London and flagging up some issues contained within it. I thought I was being really silly, but it turns out that even my Supervising Partner and Associate were very confused by the meaning of some of the things contained within the memo. I sent back a marked up copy to the appropriate person, and I'm hoping to attend a call that will clarify the meaning of some things written in the document. I'm pleased by the things I was able to pick up on, and I'm hoping that it all makes sense soon.
After I finished my task on the memo, I was given a task which involved research of companies within certain parameters. I was not entirely certain about how to go about this research, so I reached out to the knowledge team (essentially a mini library) and asked if they were aware of any resources that I could use to help me. It turns out that they were able to do the entire search for me, meaning that I would only have to cross-reference the data and do a little more research. It was such a massive help and made my task a lot easier. It really made me appreciate the teams that support lawyers a lot more.
Other than these two pieces of work, nobody in the office was able to give me anything to do. The problem was that everyone was very busy, but in the time it would take them to hand over the work, they could finish the work more quickly. Although this was annoying, I used this opportunity to reach out to people in the firm that I wanted to talk to a bit more. Hopefully I'll be able to arrange a few coffee catch ups this way and learn more about different practice areas.
Islamic Finance
Talking about coffee catch ups, myself and another vacation scheme participant were able to land a chat with a partner who had ample experience in Islamic Finance. Although I am not a Muslim, I was very curious as to how Islamic Finance works when they have their own rules against accepting interest etc. I did not understand how you could then use debt financing to finance a project. The partner explained to us that Islamic Finance was, at its simplest, a form of structured financing. One way this could work was that instead of getting a loan off Person B for an asset, Person B acts as an agent who holds the asset for you. So instead of paying £500 + 10% interest, you pay £550 in regular installments. There is essentially no material difference between these two methods, except in their structure. Profit is okay, but interest is not. It got a bit more complicated than this, but it was definitely a really interesting chat to have, and I appreciated the time the partner took out of his day to speak to us.
Learning by Osmosis
Firstly, I'd like to say that I hate this phrase. Osmosis is specifically to do with water, so it should be "learning though diffusion", but unfortunately this phrase is used enough that it makes sense in itself. I digress. I've learned a lot from being in the office. I listen to associates talk to my trainee buddy and give her tips, and I'm able to listen in on calls. I've genuinely found it so useful. My trainee buddy also shows me handy things that she is working on. For example, today she was given a research task by her supervisor, and she showed me how she structured the information differently to the supervisor and to the client. There are strikes next week that will make coming into the office very difficult, but I would still like to find my way in to be able to benefit from this. Of course I am hoping to gain a TC after this VS, but if that doesn't happen, I want to have received the full benefit of being accepted onto this vacation scheme.
Feedback
Today I received feedback from my assessment centre. I had been so worried about my performance in the group negotiation, but it turns out that it was nothing to worry about at all. I did really well. The person marking had noticed that I worked well with my partner and responded to comments she made. I was adaptable and accepted a less favourable term for the client in the interest of being able to reach an agreement (this was something I thought was a bad thing, but the person marking had flagged it as good). She was also impressed that I was able to bring in my own knowledge to boost my argument.
For the case study, I also had largely positive feedback. There was a comment that I could possibly have structured some parts a little bit better, but it was noted that when a follow up question was asked, I answered in a much better way.
For the partner interview, I think they were more than generous. One of the key comments was that I remained very calm under pressure when they began pressing me on certain issues. They really enjoyed talking to me and they said that I would be an excellent candidate for the VS. Honestly, it was such a good pep talk going into our first individual assessment tomorrow.
General Thoughts
So far, I am really enjoying this scheme. I really hope that I get the TC, because this is definitely a place that I see myself working and thriving in. The thing that has surprised me the most is the people. It's like the whole firm is full of people who are completely on my wavelength, which is definitely not something I have experienced before!
Thanks for following my journey!