INTERNATIONAL SECONDMENTS

[futuretraineesolicitor]

• which corporate law firm provides the most secondment options during the training period
  
  
• also, the most options can be 4 cities right? since the training contract lasts for 2 years so 6 month in each city?
  

 

[Jessica Booker]

• which corporate law firm provides the most secondment options during the training period
  
  
• also, the most options can be 4 cities right? since the training contract lasts for 2 years so 6 month in each city?

secondments don’t work like that.

At best you will get one six month secondment, or possibly two three month secondments. In my 15+ years of doing this, I can remember one person doing more than one international secondment and that was 9 months and more a fluke as they were on a project and no one else could go.

It’s important for you to get experience in your home jurisdiction that you are qualifying into, and getting as much experience as possible is key.

Unless the firm offers a guaranteed secondment (and even then it might be a client secondment), typically trainee secondments are in a minority.

 

[Jade]

• which corporate law firm provides the most secondment options during the training period
  
  
• also, the most options can be 4 cities right? since the training contract lasts for 2 years so 6 month in each city?

It’s more common at NRF for people to do 2. However why would you want to. At the end of the day London is where you will qualify so it would help to experience as many seats in London as you can and strengthen your network in this City. Furthermore, people often forget secondments are not holidays. Working cultures in Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore specifically), Middle East and New York are all notorious for being more full on with more chance of weekend work/longer hours. Don’t let secondments decide a firm for you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Also sometimes the best secondments are in the non-glamorous locations.

Working on a client site in Slough might provide you with much better career progression and development than a international secondment in the US (where typically they don’t really know what to do with Trainees).