Strongly Worded Letters… - One of the most interesting parts of sitting in a contentious seat is getting insight into how much strategising there is, and letters traded back and forth between parties can pay a huge strategic role in the early stages of a dispute. At Shearman & Sterling, networking is encouraged at all levels. This task is always good at getting you to understand the wider transaction, rather than the particular workstream you’re on. Running definitions checks – This is an important task which can sometimes take hours for long documents. 46. Trainees are usually given the first crack at drafting the minutes, by adapting a set precedent. This is a key motivation for really getting to grips with the facts and issues or your case right from the word go as you will invariably get the chance to lead at some stage if you have proven that you have a handle on it. 20. Often you are negotiating with another trainee from a competitor firm (you may even know the person on the other side!). Partner David Dixter is joining the US firm’s London office, after a decade at Shearman. Diversity & Inclusion – Shearman puts on lots of great seminars and events throughout the year – your only responsibility is to attend! Yes. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Howard University and a J.D. The application period for the 2021-2022 Earl Warren Scholarship opens on November 30 at 12am. Shearman & Sterling advised Raytheon in its merger-of-equals with and United Technologies Corporation, a deal that is valued at more than $120 billion. It is usually a team exercise and is the best way to really get to understand how the target company works. 36. Technical training sessions – pay attention, because they come in handy! 40. 28. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves. If you prefer to complete the degree on-site, but are unable to come to NY in the spring, you can begin the degree online and join us on campus in Fall 2021. All applicants will be notified of their status. There is no minimum test score or GPA requirement. We're a comprehensive resource for students and job seekers looking for career advice, job postings, company reviews from employees, and rankings of the best companies and industry employers. You may well get to see the partners strategizing and it’s a great opportunity to see a really important element of a partner’s role. This requires a particular style of written advocacy, citing legal arguments and writing to persuade. 42. 18. 23. Delivering presentations – many practice groups ask trainee solicitors to give short presentations on new legal developments at the weekly or monthly group meetings. As the trainee, you will likely be compiling various mark-ups onto the master copy of the OM; it’s a great task for emphasising just how much work goes into each and every word of this 400-page document. Trainees are given a lot of responsibility in this area as the fruits of this research will feed directly into how the team answers the query or deals with the issue. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is an annual list of top rated companies based on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) equality. 31. It offers a great opportunity to work in cross-departmental teams on hugely varied tasks, and you’ll be involved in transactions right from the start so you get excellent experience drafting the Engagement Letter and participating in the Kick-Off Call. Benedict and his partner seem to be in good company in noticing the demand for arbitration services—also on Monday, a group of eight lawyers from Shearman & Sterling … Incorporating companies – the corporate/M&A trainees will usually be tasked with incorporations. Trainees will often be allowed the first crack at drafting them so dust off your persuasive-writing skills and run with it (although be prepared for your supervisor to come back with plenty of comments!). 24. The Earl Warren Scholarship is named for the Honorable Earl Warren, The 14th Chief Justice of the United States and former Governor of California whose stewardship of the Warren Court helped end school segregation and … With the long-term implications of COVID-19 still unknown and the impact of Brexit unclear, 2021 proves to be a challenging year for UK and European banks and corporates. Winding-up Searches – A classic Finance trainee task is to call the Companies Court Winding-Up phone line in the week before a closing and check that the company has not been subject to any winding-up petitions. The MS in Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD) prepares students to become strategic business professionals with specialized expertise in effectively leading and managing talent in today’s global organizations. Advising at pro bono legal clinics – At Shearman & Sterling, you can volunteer at two legal clinics – a general advice clinic (usually housing and debt issues) and a family law clinic (child care and domestic issues) – both provide a brilliant opportunity to get direct client contact as you will interview the client and try to provide practical advice there and then. Unfortunately, we are not accepting applications from non-U.S. citizens at this time. Try to be as concise and punchy as you can. All applicants of the Earl Warren Scholarship will be notified by the middle of August/September whether they do or do not receive a scholarship. These are common questions we are asked by people looking to apply for a training contract. The key point here is that if we cannot get our documents right in all the small ways then how can our clients trust us to get them right in the big ways. 32. 12. Drafting witness statements – As a trainee you, together with a more senior lawyer, will interview the proposed witness and the trainee will then prepare the first draft of the witness statement. Certain agreements (the dreaded deeds) have slightly different requirements, so make sure you’re paying attention! The student’s guide to careers in the law. TELUS International , a leading digital customer experience (CX) innovator that designs, builds, and delivers next-generation solutions for global and disruptive brands, today announced the final completion of the December 31, 2020 closing of its previously announced acquisition of a … This task requires organisation and good communication skills, as you negotiate the contents of the bundle with the other side and have to ensure that all parties have the most up-to-date list at all times. Company House Filings – Trainees take the lead here. Whether it’s flicking through the FT at a quiet moment or attending a conference on ‘Maximising Value’ in financial restructurings, there are plenty of opportunities to develop here. Non-confidential versions of documents – Before making certain documents available to parties the documents need to be checked to see if they contain commercially sensitive or confidential information relating to another party. Getting to grips with acronyms - SPA, APA, FCA, PRA, ESMA, CMA …this can get confusing! A fairly menial task but hugely important, as the partner on the deal will rely upon the all-clear when issuing the legal opinion. Running workshops for students or future trainees – Trainees usually give the students a standard trainee task such as an NDA, and work through it together. Kelly Gelfand Egers graduated from Emory University in 2007 and from Cornell Law School cum laude in 2010. © 2021 Shearman & Sterling LLP. LDF’s Earl Warren Scholarship awards are $10,000 per year for three years (as long as scholars remain in good academic standing and continue to meet the scholarship criteria) for a total of $30,000. Often it is the trainees who will be the link between departments which allows for a useful insight into other practice areas. It’s the best form of legal work experience you can get, half the battle to getting a training contract, and your chance to spend a week inside of … If you fancy getting involved in the organising, there’s always space on the social committee. Drafting attendance notes – One of the things you quickly learn as a trainee is to carry a pad and pen everywhere you go! This requires plenty of commercial research, digging through press releases and annual returns, and a strong attention to detail, but it’s an incredibly rewarding task as the whole team will rely heavily upon the finished product. This often requires a team of lawyers to ‘educate’ the management about the legal implications of each of the warranties to ensure that full disclosure is given. 43. Candidates are judged holistically and by the full sum of their achievements and contributions. 34. Department parties – get to know people from other departments and have fun (but not too much… nobody wants to be that trainee…)! These witness statements will then usually form a key part of our case in court so this is a really important role to play. Applications must be completed by May 1, 2021. The work of a trainee solicitor is varied depending on the practice group you are in, the type of deals or matters you are working on and how busy the department is. The learning curve can be steep, but trainees are supported and given lots of training throughout the training contract. No. Interviews – Contentious seats might need you to conduct investigations to help build their cases, and these will often involve interviews with various employees or witnesses. 7. 5. Although it is too early to know when America’s workforce will return to offices and other places of work, it is prudent for companies to start preparing for the return of employees to the physical workplace. 3. 30/05/2021 Wiggin Training Contract. These are important documents. On important calls or at important meetings, you will often be asked to produce an attendance note of what was said and agreed. EY is a leader in shaping the financial services industry. Be brave and ask the juniors around you as many questions as you can – you are learning! There may well be occasions where, at key meetings or at closing, you get the chance for a photo taken next to the head of state of somewhere exotic. The trainee will then be able to negotiate directly with the other side. reviewing various conditions, chasing parties where necessary, to ensure that everything is satisfied pre-closing. 11. Due diligence – DD exercises can range from a last minute ‘red flag’ request where the deadline is only a few hours away to multi-week processes involving the preparation of a DD report that can stretch to hundreds of pages. Shearman & Sterling LLP (“Shearman & Sterling”) started judicial review proceedings against the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (the “FSCS”) in connection with compensation decisions arising from the collapse of LCF. 35. As soon as you’ve seen the judge rebuke counsel for a page out of place, your focus is hugely improved! ... (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. 47. Developing industry knowledge – You quickly learn just how important it is to understand your client’s industry. Apply. This requires close, pro-active reading. from New York University School of Law. In a transactional-focused firm like Shearman & Sterling, practice groups inevitably overlap on deals. Apply. Shearman & Sterling’s head of EMEA capital markets is leaving the firm for Milbank, three years after former colleague Apostolos Gkoutzinis made the same move. In addition to financial assistance, Earl Warren scholars are given two unique opportunities: (1) an LDF internship, externship, or guided research project—competitive positions that are sought out by dozens of students every year, and (2) an invitation to LDF’s Civil Rights Training Institute, an invitation-only annual civil rights conference that brings together civil rights advocates, scholars, and attorneys to discuss strategies and to network. Find a law training contract with AllAboutLaw and start your career as a solicitor. Often you will be required to keep a detailed attendance note and report back to the rest of the team, or you might just be asked along to get exposure to court procedure. Usually a trainee will take the lead (supervised by a more senior lawyer) and will agree with the client parameters within which agreement can be reached. Eligible law students include those entering their first or second year of full-time legal study at an accredited law school. 13 Working with lawyers in other practice groups – A good way to expand one's network within the firm. 16. Attending client events – While this is not a typical trainee task, trainees often get brought along to client dinners or events. Earl Warren Scholarships are only available to students who will be attending accredited three-year law schools. Final decisions are made by the first week of August. 33. Writing “know-how” notes – trainees prepare memos outlining the process for certain tasks – such as how to set up a new company – or summarising research, which other trainees can rely on in future (we're all about team work at Shearman!). Meeting members of foreign governments – Many of the matters we act on at Shearman & Sterling are very high profile and may have some direct government involvement or at least attract a high level of governmental interest and commentary. Compiling originals – After a closing, the trainee on the deal will be responsible for collecting all the original signature pages (we generally use pdfs to actually close) and compiling them so that we can send out full original versions of each of the documents to the various parties. Drafting board or shareholder minutes – Almost all company transactions that we assist with will start with a meeting being held by the company’s board or its shareholders to consider and authorise the relevant actions. Proofreading – It goes without saying that if we can’t get all the details right how can anyone trust us to get the big things right when they really matter? Company Search Questionnaires – or CSQs to those fielding them every day! Apply. Signature Pages – to make life easier for clients who have to sign numerous documents, trainee lawyers compile all the signature pages of each agreement into one single document to be sent to the client, along with clear signing instructions. Times: 14.00 GST / 11.00 CET. 25. Otherwise, just make sure you escape the office in time to hit the dance floor. The short video below includes footage taken at the 2009 Shearman & Sterling LLP University of Oxford Moot Competition and features brief interviews with participants, who explain what mooting is and talk about their experiences mooting in Oxford. The trainee will have the first crack, looking through the company’s Articles of Association and Companies House filings to ensure that it has sufficient powers and capacity to borrow. 41. These are undertaken during a finance transaction. Disclosure exercises – As part of a sale, the management of the target company will usually be asked to make certain disclosures warranting (i.e., promising) certain things to be true about their company. Corporate Structure Chart – A company’s structure can have a huge impact upon the trajectory of a deal. Download the programme in Arabic. Amidst all the uncertainty, the European In-house Counsel Summit will offer the opportunity to meet virtually to network, learn and discuss the main challenges facing in-house counsel. The best part? Always try, if possible, to proofread with a fresh head. To help give you more insight into what you would be doing as a trainee and beyond, we have created a list of the top 50 tasks of a trainee solicitor. Warren scholarships are only available to students who will be attending accredited law schools in the United States. Jonathan Greenblatt’s vision for Legal Innovators was born during his 40-year tenure as a lawyer, most recently as a Partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP. Not the most glamorous of tasks but still hugely important and surprisingly therapeutic! Terms & Conditions | 48. Negotiating NDAs – Non Disclosure Agreements / Confidentiality Agreements (NDAs) are really useful training ground for junior lawyers to learn drafting and negotiating skills. Dechert is not the only US firm to be ramping up its European restructuring business. Close all your Airbnb tabs; a contract at Shearman & Sterling could be just the globetrotting ticket you’re looking for. Drafting document summaries - When a partner or associate only wants the "headlines" they will ask a trainee to summarise. 27. Organising for documents to be notarised, legalised and apostilled for use in a foreign jurisdiction – don't forget to ask about the timing at the outset! This process therefore requires identifying the confidential information and redacting it before the document is shared for review. Plainter’s arrival follows Dechert's hiring of London-based financial restructuring partners Solomon Noh and Alastair Goldrein from Shearman & Sterling last February, although it had lost Paul Fleming to Addleshaw Goddard three months earlier. 15. 39. Graduate recruitment – Trainees give presentations at careers events in various universities, which is a good excuse to get out of the office for the day (and avail of the free drinks). A 2.59pm filing is definitely one way to get your heart racing! (Don't worry if this seems daunting, we tailor and mark up precedent documents, you will never be expected to start completely from scratch.). Urgent filings often involve trainees dashing across the city to Companies House in order to make the 3pm "same-day" filing service. No, you must apply separately. Often a trainee will have the opportunity to prepare the first draft of the whole or sections of the court submission. Check whether your supervisor is looking for a one line response in 30 minutes time or a full-blown research memo next week (they don’t always make this clear!). The 14th Chief Justice of the United States and former Governor of California whose stewardship of the Warren Court helped end school segregation and transform America’s legal landscape. 19. 30. You’ll need to consider everything from the location and the size of the firm to the salary on offer and the range of practice areas they work in. As you can see, trainees are given many important tasks to work on throughout their training contract, often playing an integral role in deals. The trickiest part is figuring out which desk to go to… Don’t worry though, they’re a friendly bunch. Preparing closing sets – Or ‘bibles’ as they are sometimes known (although be conscious that in many jurisdictions clients will be quite confused if you say that you will be sending them a bible!). We wanted more transparency and better training. Shearman & Sterling June Open Day 2021. 14. 1. helping to draft presentations and client publications – if the partners are gearing up for a pitch, you might well get the chance to help research the industry or the client, create a corporate structure chart, or help bring all the information together in a slideshow. Preparing first drafts of transaction documents – While learning to draft minutes and resolutions is an important skill, trainees often are asked to produce the first draft of the main transaction documents, such as the SPA, or APA. Early in the process, a trainee is likely to be involved in creating a detailed chart showing the various subsidiaries, jurisdictions and %-holdings at play. What are the key tasks of a trainee lawyer? Drafting submissions – In the run up to a court deadline there will always be a lot of work and excitement so it is a case of all hands on deck. Liaising with local counsel – Shearman & Sterling is often at the centre of large cross-border deals, so we engage lawyers in other jurisdictions to draft documents and opine on the local law. No. 2. Not only are the schemes a great way to experience life at Shearman & Sterling but many of those on the schemes go on to successfully gain a place on our training contract. Visit our application portal to apply. If time is not of the essence, filings can be sent by post. Again, this is a skill that you will develop with time and training as there are specific techniques to use to ensure a completely thorough check. Don't forget your suit! The ultimate praise is when the partner sends out your first draft, un-edited, to the QC for her sign-off and she too sends it back un-edited: trainee success story! This is an area where you could be given a lot of responsibility to agree an important transaction document. 49. Vacation Schemes. The MS in Human Resources Management and Development can be completed online or on-site in NYC. 8. Shearman & Sterling has updated the Investigation regarding the progress of those proceedings. I agree to my personal data being collected, Open Day – for state school educated students, Vacation Scheme Application Week – Registration. Preparing trial bundles – not the most glamorous of tasks, but still hugely important. Visit our application portal to apply. Required fields are marked *.