UK TRAINEE RECRUITMENT 2009/2010

EXPERIENCE LIFE AT FRESHFIELDS

The past two years have been incredibly stimulating and enjoyable. We’ve seen what the firm and its people are made of as we’ve faced the most turbulent time of our careers as lawyers – and between us we have over 50 years’ experience. Our people have risen to our clients’ ever more complex demands and we’re thriving because of it.

It’s at times like these that you see whether your recruitment programmes are working – do the people you have trained and developed deliver what your clients need them to deliver? For us, the answer has been a resounding yes. We can’t rest on our laurels, however – the quality of the new lawyers we bring into the firm will determine whether we can maintain our well-deserved reputation into the next generation.

And that’s where you come in. This brochure will give you a clearer idea of whether the challenges inherent in a career with us are of interest to you, and of the development and support we can offer you. You’ll also find out more about our trainees’ experiences with us. There’s a lot more information on our website and we’re always happy to answer questions at the events we run throughout the year or via our trainee recruitment team.

If you join us, we can’t promise you an easy time – we will need real commitment and real application – but we can promise you a hugely varied and highly enriching experience.

ChAllENgINg, ENjoyAblE ANd dEMANdINg: Is FREshFIElds RIghT FoR yoU?

TIM joNEsChair of London management group

MARK RAwlINsoNLead partner for trainee recruitment and head of London corporate

What’s working for Freshfields really like? Will the training suit you? Is it true that you’ll get to work on our international projects and high-profile deals? And how are we placed to weather the recession?

The best way to get the real picture is to ask the people who are doing it already. So we’ve put to our trainees the questions we’re asked most often, and we’ve heard some fascinating stories in the process...

QUEsTIoN 1

‘Will working for a global firm really feel global to me?’PAgE 2–5

QUEsTIoN 2

‘Freshfields’ client work is seriously high- profile. Will you honestly let me near it?’PAgE 6–9

QUEsTIoN 3

‘Can a firm this big really give me the training I want?’PAgE 10–13

QUEsTIoN 4

‘Things are tough at the moment. What does that mean for Freshfields and its people?’PAgE 14–17

REwARds ANd bENEFITsPAgE 18

VACATIoN sChEMEPAgE 19

whEN ANd how do I APPly FoR A TRAININg CoNTRACT?PAgE 20

1

As we’re one of the world’s leading international law firms, the work our people do crosses international borders every day. We’ve got 2,500 lawyers, 460 partners and 27 offices from Abu Dhabi to Washington DC. Just one deal can involve work in over 40 jurisdictions.

It may be overseas secondments, working as part of an international team on cross-border deals for global clients or simply working with colleagues from different international backgrounds. You’ll be seeing the law and business from a truly international perspective.

TIM REdMAN

joINEd: February 2008 EdUCATIoN: Law at Durham University; LPC at BPP Law School sEATs so FAR: Corporate, banking, dispute resolution To FINd oUT MoRE AboUT TIM go To: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees/tim

With the work we do and the clients we have, you soon get used to individual projects spreading across countries, continents and time zones.

For example, my first seat here was in the regulatory team and in the first week I started work on a transaction for a major international investment bank. They called us up to explain the deal and to ask if it was possible. When we started looking at all the jurisdictions, we realised it was going to take a bit more work: Panama, Thailand, Ghana, Australia, Turkey and the rest... We had to find out about specific local requirements, such as whether they’d need licences or registered bank accounts in different countries or whether the transaction gave rise to any unusual

notification obligations. That meant talking to local lawyers in each of those countries, then compiling the details to take back to our client so they could press on with the deal.

Soon I’ll get first-hand experience of Freshfields as an international firm because I’m spending six months in Hong Kong on secondment. I passed through when I was travelling, before I started my training contract, and I’m really excited about going back. I’m looking forward to living there and really getting to know the city instead of seeing it as a tourist. I’ll be working in the corporate department, but over weekends and holidays I’ll be taking every opportunity I can to explore.

QUEsTIoN 1

‘Will working for a global firm really feel global to me?’

KEy FACT

86% of our clients instruct more than one office.

2 3

oUR oFFICEs

27 offices in key business centres around the world.

our client list is global and every single client demands the best from us. The scale and complexity of their businesses mean our lawyers can’t just be technical experts: they also need to understand different cultures and different ways of doing business.

We share our experience and knowledge across borders, practice groups and sectors, according to our clients’ needs – and that’s just one of the reasons our clients keep coming back to us.

We’re not in business to be the biggest – we’re here to be the best. We set the same exacting standards in every one of our 27 offices, on every single deal. This means that from day one of your training you’ll be immersed in important, challenging work.

We recruit our people from a broad range of backgrounds. Many of our lawyers speak several languages or are qualified in more than one jurisdiction (but don’t worry, additional languages and qualifications are not a pre-requisite for recruitment). This diversity of nationalities and experience is good for our clients and it makes the office a livelier place to be.

Each of our offices serves local clients as well as international companies doing business in the region. Our lawyers are experts in their own jurisdictions and you will find a mix of qualifications in any one office to ensure we can offer the full service our clients require – our scale lets us focus resources where and when they are needed. You can see why our trainees and lawyers need to be flexible both geographically and intellectually.

*We also have an association with the Law Firm of Fares Al-Hejailan in Saudi Arabia.

oUR PEoPlE

460 partners and more than 2,500 fee-earners worldwide.

UsNew York Washington

EURoPEAmsterdam Barcelona Berlin Brussels Cologne Düsseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg

London Madrid Milan Moscow Munich Paris Rome Vienna

MIddlE EAsT*Abu Dhabi Bahrain Dubai

AsIABeijing Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Shanghai Tokyo

oUR globAl ClIENTs INClUdE

AIG•

AkzoNobel•

AstraZeneca•

Bank of England•

Barclays•

Citigroup•

Colgate–Palmolive•

ConocoPhillips•

Daily Mail and •

General TrustDanone•

Deutsche Bank •

EMI•

Formula One•

General Motors•

Goldman Sachs•

Hewlett-Packard•

HSBC•

Hutchison Whampoa•

ITV•

JPMorgan Cazenove•

Kingfisher•

London Stock •

Exchange

LVMH•

Mars•

Merrill Lynch•

Morgan Stanley•

Nokia•

Porsche Group•

Prudential•

Rolls-Royce•

KEy FACT

96%of our trainees go on an international or client secondment.

Royal Bank of •

Scotland Scottish & •

NewcastleSiemens•

Sony Computer •

EntertainmentTesco•

Vienna office

Madrid office

London office

‘Will working for a global firm really feel global to me?’

54

Does it get much higher profile than the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games? As 2012 gets closer, I’m on a six-month secondment to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games’s legal team. Even though I’m here on secondment, it doesn’t feel like I’m a trainee. To everyone here, I’m just part of the team. Our offices are right next to the executive offices, so it’s not unusual for me to run into Lord Coe during the day.

I’ve become an expert on what athletes can and can’t bring into Britain. Certain things need some thought before they come through customs, like horses, medicines, special foods, dogs – even guns! The laws aren’t always clear or obvious but, along with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency, we’re responsible for making sure it’s a smooth process for athletes, sponsors

and the media. I’m working with the government to compile a comprehensive guide on how to adhere to the law when bringing in anything from a thoroughbred to a pistol.

I’m also doing a lot of the contractual work for our anti-doping lab. All Games athletes are subject to stringent drug testing and to keep pace with what’s required we’ll need to conduct 5,000 tests in a month. That’s as many as the biggest labs currently handle in a year. So it’s a huge undertaking and we need to be sure that we specify everything in the contract. Have we got the right people? Do all key aspects meet the right standards? Can they guarantee they’ll turn round tests fast enough? These are all things about which we need to be legally very precise in order to deliver clean Games which run smoothly.

KIRsTEN sIbbIT

joINEd: February 2008 EdUCATIoN: Law at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge University; LPC at BPP Law School sEATs so FAR: Dispute resolution, corporate, secondment to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG)

To FINd oUT MoRE AboUT KIRsTEN go To: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees/kirsten

If you are a trainee, we’ll expect you to get properly involved with the work we do. That means you’ll be talking to clients, going to meetings and making a genuine contribution to important deals.

Yes, you will have to earn that responsibility and no, not all your work will be front-page news. But from day one we’ll expect you to immerse yourself in the projects you work on and start making a real difference.

RECENTly wE hAVE

Been appointed as the official legal services provider to the London 2012 • Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Acted for the Bank of England throughout the credit and banking crises, • including on the provision of emergency liquidity to Northern Rock, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the failures of Bradford & Bingley and Kaupthing, among others, and the recapitalisation of the major UK banks.

Advised Nedbank, the South African bank, on the $215m financing • of a 15-year project backed by Intelsat to construct, launch and operate a new commercial communications satellite to serve Africa.

QUEsTIoN 2

‘Freshfields’ client work is seriously high-profile. Will you honestly let me near it?’

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CoMMUNITy INVEsTMENT

Many of our offices have close partnerships with local schools as part of our commitment to raising the aspirations and improving the skills of disadvantaged young people.

CsR AwARds

CSR Programme of the Year Legal Business Awards 2009

Big Tick for our Ready to Work programme business in the Community 2009

Highly Commended The law society Excellence in social Responsibility Awards 2008

our work is complex and high-profile. The matters we’re involved in can have critical effects on the health and success of our clients’ businesses. All our lawyers work hard (and sometimes late) to meet our clients’ needs and as a trainee you’ll be treated as a vital part of the team – after all, our clients judge us on the performance of the team as a whole.

You’ll need to be adaptable. You’ll gain exposure to different industry sectors and types of business. There’s no such thing as a typical deal or a standard ‘trainee’ role, so you may play a small part or you may be running the project. Whatever your role, you’ll need to relish the challenge of every task you’re entrusted with and every deal you’re part of and be ready to learn from each client and each transaction.

From the start, you’ll be able to take on as much responsibility as you show yourself capable of handling. As a trainee, it’s up to you to seek out work and get involved. You’ll discover your limits and when you need to ask for help or support from colleagues – which is always forthcoming. So we’ll recruit you for your potential and then help you make the most of it. The more you learn, and the faster you do it, the more effectively you’ll be able to work.

KEy QUAlITIEs wE sEEK

The ability to get to the heart of • a problem.

The curiosity needed to work out • the best solution.

The flexibility and adaptability to • work around problems.

The energy and drive to keep focussed • at all times.

The interpersonal skills to work • effectively with others.

The organisation and discipline • to juggle multiple tasks.

Interest in commercial issues • (which we hope goes without saying).

CoRPoRATE soCIAl REsPoNsIbIlITy AT FREshFIElds

‘Freshfields’ client work is seriously high-profile. Will you honestly let me near it?’

KEy FACT

85%of our electricity supply in London comes from renewable sources (and has done since 2004).

We encourage everyone at Freshfields to get involved in our community and pro bono activities. Over the past year, for example, we have helped London school children with their reading and maths, worked with Shelter to help tackle homelessness, advised the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative and developed our pro bono micro-finance practice across our network. Our new trainees take part in a community team challenge, such as redecorating a homeless drop-in centre or clearing a school garden. Many trainees also get involved in our Tower Hamlets Law centre, which we have been supporting for over 36 years.

We work with leading human rights, homelessness and children’s charities. We help ensure that people are given a fair trial, or participate in initiatives to tackle aspects of homelessness, or help disadvantaged young people to make their voices heard. We provide funding for future trainees to undertake internships with Reprieve in the US and the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies in the Caribbean and some of our current trainees are on secondment at Liberty, the Free Representation Unit and Oxfam.

We have been awarded the Business in the Community Big Tick for our Ready for Work programme every year since 2007. We’ve also secured Clean City Awards in London every year since 1999. We’re CarbonNeutral® and we were the first firm to produce an independently audited CSR report. Our approach to social and environmental responsibility has won us several awards, most recently the 2009 Legal Business CSR Programme of the Year award.

For more on CsR see: http://www.freshfields.com/aboutus/csr

TIP

When you fill in your application form, think objective evidence not subjective opinion. We understand that everyone will have had different opportunities and experiences, so we look at all aspects of your application form, not just the academics. Most important of all – be yourself.

98

susan wamanga-wamai: I’ve tailored my training to the type of law I want to practise. I always felt I wanted to concentrate on corporate and finance because I thought of these areas as having tangible results and clear commercial outcomes. I’ve chosen seats in corporate and the financial institutions group and a six-month secondment with Merrill Lynch. Spending time at an investment bank opened my eyes to how our clients see what we do – they just want to know whether an issue will affect them or if they can do the deal.

Freshfields gives you more flexibility than most firms because your seats can last for three months or six months. That means you get a lot more opportunity to see the firm than you would otherwise. It all helps to get a feel for where you want your career to go.

benedikt Meyer: During my training contract, I’ve been able to pick out the areas that interest me most. I wanted to start with six months in the corporate department to see the transactional side of Freshfields. Of course, starting with a longer six-month seat has also given me the chance to settle into the office and get to grips with day-to-day life at a ‘magic circle’ firm.

What next? Well, I’d love to go on secondment to a client for a while, so I can see what we do from the other side. I’ve also done lots of work at university in EU law and competition law, so I’d like to find out more about what competition law is like at the very top of the legal profession. I love to compare academic theory with what happens in the real world. At Freshfields you get the calibre of work to do just that.

sUsAN wAMANgA-wAMAI

joINEd: August 2008 EdUCATIoN: Law at Leeds University; LPC at BPP Law School sEATs so FAR: Corporate, secondment to Merrill Lynch, banking To FINd oUT MoRE AboUT sUsAN go To: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees/susan

bENEdIKT MEyER

joINEd: February 2009 EdUCATIoN: Law with German law at King’s College London; LPC at BPP Law School sEATs so FAR: Corporate

To FINd oUT MoRE AboUT bENEdIKT go To: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees/benedikt

We believe world-class training needs to be flexible. If you already know what you’d like to focus on, you can tailor your seats accordingly. Or you may choose to move around the firm, trying up to eight seats, to find out what interests you most. It’s up to you.

Throughout your training you’ll get the very best support from colleagues, partners, mentors, buddies and our development team, as well as all the personal and professional resources you’d expect from a world-class law firm.

We’ll keep giving you ‘off-the-job’ training throughout your career. That includes international conferences, update sessions with teams or sector groups and residential development programmes. They all help you to develop the team, project and management skills you’ll need and to keep up-to-date with the ever-changing legal landscape.

KEy FACT

78%of our trainees choose to do more than four seats.

QUEsTIoN 3

‘Can a firm this big really give me the training I want?’

10 11

p

ClIENT ANd oVERsEAs sECoNdMENTs

lPC

Preparation for practice

sEATs

See as few as four or as many as eight of our practice groups

ClIENT sECoNdMENTs

A range of secondments working in-house for one of our clients, giving you valuable insights into how our clients make decisions

INTERNATIoNAl sECoNdMENTs

Work in one of our international offices for six months

INdUCTIoN PRogRAMMEs (FIRM ANd dEPARTMENTAl)

Overview of the work and what to expect

PRoFEssIoNAl sKIlls CoURsE/dEPARTMENTAl TRAININg

Focused programmes to help you with the foundations for your future career

ThE TRAININg PRogRAMME

QUAlIFICATIoN

Decide where you want to practise at the end of your training contract; attend the induction for newly qualified solicitors

PRACTICE

Continue learning on and off the job

our two-year training contract is the most flexible in the City. you can choose up to eight seats over your training, including secondments to clients and international offices. It all helps you find the part of the firm that best fits your abilities and interests.

INdUCTIoN PRogRAMME

You’ll spend the first two weeks of your training contract on the induction programme. That’s when you find out about our strategy and how the firm works, as well as taking part in practical sessions designed to help you hit the ground running in your first seat. You’ll also undertake some of the Professional Skills Course. Then, as you join each new practice group, you’ll get more specific training.

APPRAIsAls ANd REVIEws

We’ll watch your progress throughout your training contract, give you constructive feedback and help you get the right spread of experience. We schedule formal appraisals at the end of each seat and expect you to ask for informal feedback at other times.

‘Can a firm this big really give me the training I want?’

lEgAl PRACTICE CoURsE

From 2009 all our prospective trainees will undertake the new accelerated LPC at BPP Law School in London. This LPC has been designed by BPP and a consortium of five firms, working together, and is intended to give students the most appropriate preparation for undertaking training contracts in City law firms. The LPC will be run twice a year, giving you the potential to choose between courses starting in August and February, allowing you to start your training six months earlier (if you wish).

Those undertaking the Graduate Diploma in Law can do so at BPP in Leeds, London or Manchester.

We are happy to consider those who have studied the GDL or the LPC elsewhere, as well as barristers and lawyers qualified in other jurisdictions (provided your qualification entitles you to take the Qualified Lawyers’ Transfer Test).

gRANTs

We pay your law school tuition fees and the Solicitors Regulation Authority examination and enrolment fees and offer a maintenance grant. We also consider grants towards voluntary work or language study after graduation.

ThE RIghT sUPPoRT

We have global systems to support our people, from IT and HR to marketing and knowledge management. Thanks to this back-up, our lawyers are free to concentrate on the legal and commercial challenges facing our clients – and there have been plenty of those in recent months.

Although our work’s global, we don’t have to do it all face-to-face. Our remote-working technologies let our lawyers work across borders and time zones. This helps us meet our environmental responsibilities by reducing our carbon footprint – in fact, Freshfields has been CarbonNeutral® since 2007.

sEAT RoTATIoN

You can structure your two-year training contract to suit you. You could rotate through seats in all of our practice groups or you could tailor your training towards one particular area you want to specialise in. It’s your choice.

To start, we suggest spending time in one of the larger practice groups and we also recommend a minimum of three months in each of corporate, finance and dispute resolution.

To help you discover what interests you most, you’ll attend presentations from different practice groups and teams within them to learn about the work they do. Of course, you’ll pick up some of the best information by talking to your peers and colleagues.

Brussels office

As a trainee, you can choose to spend three to six months on secondment to a client. It helps you understand our clients’ needs, and the range of work that we undertake. You can also spend six months in one of our international offices. Some of these offices need specific language skills, but we offer language training if you need it.

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QUEsTIoN 4

‘Things are tough at the moment. What does that mean for Freshfields and its people?’

jEsAl PATEl

joINEd: August 2007 EdUCATIoN: English literature and language at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University; GDL and LPC at BPP Law School sEATs so FAR: Structured and asset finance, corporate, secondment to the Bank of England To FINd oUT MoRE AboUT jEsAl go To: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees/jesal

For over 250 years, clients at the very highest level of business and public life have come to us for advice they can trust. In that time we’ve prospered through various challenging economic periods.

There are lots of reasons for this: our clear strategy and business focus, our international reach, our breadth of practice, our strong relationships with our clients and our enduring reputation for quality. It all means we’re still performing strongly and feeling positive about the future.

Our work changes as the economic landscape changes. And because we’re so quick to adapt to our clients’ needs, we’re in the ideal position to weather the recession and capitalise on economic recovery. For our people, that means a constant flow of high-quality work with top-tier clients, all around the world.

One of the things I’ll always remember about my training is the time I spent with the Bank of England. Freshfields has been working with the Bank since 1743 and actually started off in one of the offices inside the Bank.

I decided to apply for this secondment because I thought it would be an exciting place to work and would fit in well with the regulatory direction I wanted to take. It was an amazing time to be there because the Bank was so busy setting up the £50bn asset purchase facility – which lets the Bank buy assets to improve market liquidity. It really was uncharted territory for the Bank and it was exciting to be involved in something that was on the front pages of the papers.

I’m finishing my training contract with another secondment, this time at the Freshfields office in Dubai. It’s quite a small office, but it’s expanding all the time – we’re starting a dispute resolution team at the moment, with more associates coming in. There’s lots of regulatory work to keep me busy and the two other trainees are handling a lot of corporate and finance transactions. Whether I’ve been in Dubai or London, the advantage of Freshfields’ expertise in so many practice areas has been obvious: whatever direction the markets take, we’ll keep thriving.

‘Freshfields defied the turmoil in the global legal market to increase full year turnover by almost a tenth and hold profits at the previous year’s record levels.’

The Times, 3 july 2009 From article entitled ‘Freshfields takes its chance to top fees league’ by Alex Spence

14 15

oPPoRTUNITIEs IN ThE NEw CARboN ECoNoMy

with an established international network and a wide range of specialisms, we can focus our efforts where the potential is greatest. This ensures the growth of the business and helps protect us from market fluctuations.

The rapid pace of change and the challenges our clients have been facing recently have really stretched us. But it means life is always interesting – and stimulating – for our people. Our adaptability has stood us in good stead through the turmoil of recent months and we’re confident in our ability to face future challenges. For an example of our ability to adapt, see the section on the carbon economy opposite.

We recruit adaptable and curious lawyers so that when economic conditions change they are happy to rise to the challenge. It is not just as a trainee that you will experience such varied workloads: as the market changes our qualified lawyers may also need to learn about different areas of law or apply new ways of thinking to existing practice. Our clients rely on us for this kind of flexibility.

RECENT AwARds INClUdE

UK law Firm of the year Chambers Europe Awards 2009

law Firm of the year: western Europe PLC Which Lawyer? Awards 2009

global law Firm of the year and law Firm of the year: England Who’s Who Legal Awards 2009

hERITAgE ANd loNgEVITy

‘Things are tough at the moment. What does that mean for Freshfields and its people?’

INdUsTRy gRoUPs

Automotive.•

Chemicals.•

Consumer products and retail.•

Energy and natural resources.•

Financial institutions.•

Infrastructure and transport.•

Leisure.•

Manufacturing and services industries.•

Pharmaceuticals, medical products and healthcare.•

Private clients.•

Private equity.•

Real estate.•

Telecommunications, media and technology.•

PRACTICE gRoUPs

Antitrust, competition and trade.•

Corporate.•

Dispute resolution.•

Employment, pensions and benefits.•

Environmental, planning and regulatory.•

Finance.•

Intellectual property and information technology.•

Real estate.•

Tax.•

The new carbon economy offers a multiplicity of opportunities to provide services to new and existing clients. Clean development funds, emissions trading, carbon capture and storage, climate change litigation, the development of a new generation of nuclear technologies and other large infrastructure projects (such as water, public transport and smart grid), renewable energy and low-carbon product sourcing for a start. The breadth of the firm’s existing expertise in such a wide variety of areas gives us a head start in meeting clients’ needs in a rapidly changing world – and is aligned with the firm’s environmental ethos.

Our history stretches back to 1743, when Samuel Dodd was appointed solicitor to the Bank of England, founding a client relationship that still endures.

We are proud of our position as one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in the world. Trainees who join us play an important role in maintaining that reputation.

The standards of excellence handed down to us have served the firm and its clients well – but we continually seek ways in which we can improve. If we need to change, we are not afraid of making difficult decisions. In 2000 we merged with two German firms to create an international partnership. In 2007, we restructured to secure better opportunities for our future partners.

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REwARds ANd bENEFITs VACATIoN sChEME

our summer vacation scheme is designed to give you a real insight into the firm’s culture and the work we do here. you will spend three weeks in the practice group of your choice, working closely with an associate minder. you are also allocated a partner minder and trainee buddy, to ensure that you are integrated fully into the firm’s professional and social life for the duration of your vacation scheme.

You will attend an induction programme, plan and execute a group project, undertake an individual research task with a partner minder and take part in a one-day mock transaction.

bENEFITs INClUdE

Life assurance.•

Critical illness insurance.•

Pension scheme.•

Income protection insurance. •

Private medical insurance. •

Dental insurance.•

Travel insurance. •

Gym membership.•

Interest-free loan for travel •

season ticket.Bike purchase scheme.•

Car purchase scheme. •

sAlARy

Trainee solicitors currently receive £39,000 per annum for their first year of the training contract and £44,000 per annum for the second.

Not only do we have the most flexible training contract in the City, we also have a very flexible benefits scheme, which allows you to choose the benefits appropriate for you.

The firm provides trainees with 25 working days’ holiday a year and a £2,000 interest-free advance on your salary when you start your training contract. We also consider grants towards voluntary work or language study after graduation.

In addition, we have a subsidised staff restaurant, free on-site gym, in-house doctor, dentist and physiotherapist, massage and beauty treatments and a wide range of subsidised sporting, social and cultural activities.

APPlyINg FoR ThE VACATIoN sChEME

We will accept applications online from penultimate-year undergraduates between 1 October 2009 and close of business on 15 January 2010. If you are on a four-year course with your third year abroad, you can apply in your second year for a placement after you return. Vacation placements last three weeks, at a salary of £275 per week (net of tax).

sChEME dATEs 2010

21 June to 9 July 12 July to 30 July 2 August to 20 August

‘During my vacation scheme I realised it was exactly what I wanted. It wasn’t what I expected – it was just lots of fun, so I didn’t apply anywhere else.’

sUsAN wAMANgA-wAMAI

VACATIoN sChEME: Easter 2007 woRKEd IN: Restructuring and insolvency

The gym in our London office

ClUbs ANd soCIETIEs

Art.•

Basketball.•

Book club. •

Christian fellowship. •

Climbing. •

Cricket. •

Cycling. •

Football and five-a-side. •

Golf. •

Hockey. •

LGBT. •

London Marathon. •

Music. •

Netball. •

Opera. •

Photography. •

Rugby VII & XV. •

Running. •

Sailing. •

Softball. •

Squash. •

Swimming. •

Tennis. •

Wine and food. •

UNPAId lEAVE

Many of our newly qualified associates choose to take advantage of the period of unpaid leave they are offered to mark the end of their training contract.

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design: sasdesign.co.uk Portrait photography by: Wang Wei Printed by: Park Communications

This brochure was printed on FSC certified paper. Park is an EMAS certified CarbonNeutral® Company and its Environmental Management System is certified to ISO14001:2004.

100% of the electricity used is generated from renewable sources, 100% of the inks used are vegetable oil based, 95% of press chemicals are recycled for further use and on average 99% of any waste associated with this production will be recycled.

This document is printed on Revive 50:50 Silk, a paper containing 50% recycled fibre and 50% virgin fibre. The pulp used in this product is bleached using an Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) process and contains fibre from well managed FSC certified forests.

whEN ANd how do I APPly FoR A TRAININg CoNTRACT?

Our application form is online and asks you to complete a personal statement. We also ask you to complete an online verbal reasoning test.

There is plenty more information on our website: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees

lAw sTUdENTs

Law undergraduates should apply as soon as they have received their penultimate year results.

CoNTACTs

wRITE To Us AT

Trainee recruitment Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 65 Fleet Street London EC4Y 1HS

We hope you’ll now have a clearer picture of our firm and what it’s like to work here. But we understand that you may have questions, so you’ll find more in-depth information on our website.

Alternatively, if you’d like to speak to somebody about the application process or anything you have (or haven’t) seen in this brochure, please contact our trainee recruitment team.

gRAdUATEs

Graduates can apply at any time between November and July.

whAT hAPPENs NEXT

We aim to let you know within a week to 10 days of your interview whether we can offer you a training contract. If you haven’t spent time with us as a vacation visitor, we will offer you the chance to spend a day here to help you make up your mind.

NoN-lAw sTUdENTs

Non-law students should apply from 1 November in their final year.

ThE sElECTIoN PRoCEss

If your application is successful, we will ask you to attend a selection day in our London office, which consists of the following:

written testAn exercise to test your flexibility of thought and your ability to write clearly and concisely.

Interview oneAn analytical interview to test the way you think ‘on your feet’ and how you process information.

Interview two A general interview to learn about you, your interests and motivations.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from suitably qualified individuals regardless of their background.

CAll Us oN

+44 20 7785 5554

EMAIl Us AT

uktrainees@freshfields.com

log oN To

www.freshfields.com/uktrainees

APPlICATIoN dEAdlINE

The deadline for applications for our February and August 2012 intakes is 31 July 2010.

20 2120

www.freshfields.com/uktrainees