Worried Trainee

[Unsure Trainee]

I'm a current trainee at the London office of a mid-sized UK firm (think Kingsley Napley, Irwin Mitchell etc) and I'd like some advice...

I'm enjoying my TC but I'm worried about my options as an NQ.

I turned down larger, more corporate firms as I didn't like the idea of potentially spending most of my time tied up with stuff like M&A/PE.

After my TC I think I'd like to move to a bigger firm - not MC/US but somewhere I could get more exposure to bigger/international work (somewhere like DLA Piper or Dentons). I'm now slightly worried as my firm doesn't have international offices and looking at what other people tend to do it tends to be bigger firms>smaller firms and not the other way around.

Help! I'm worried I've cut off my options before I've even qualified.

 

[Jessica Booker]

There’s going to be a few variables in here that make it difficult to determine what your position is.

The firm you are working at, the seats you have completed, the scale/clients you have worked with, and most of all what practice area you decided to qualify into/pursue, will all influence your chances.

It might be the case that your first step isn’t straight to the likes of DLA/Dentons - you may need to make a step to a firm with more of an international presence but more aligned to your current firm, and after working there for a few years, you then could find yourself at a larger firm. Demand for lawyers in your area at the time you decide to make the move will also influence this - all it takes is for a particular industry/practice area to be in a bit of a boom and lawyers working within them will find themselves to be very popular, and often headhunted, even from small firms.