- LLB in Law and European Studies, University of Limerick
- ERASMUS Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Postgraduate Diploma in European Union Law, King's College London
A native of Cork, I chose to study Law and European Studies at the University of Limerick. It was there that I got my first exposure to life in a law firm during my co-operative education work placement. After a semester of study and socialising in Prague, I decided to pursue a career as a solicitor and I applied to Arthur Cox for a traineeship in my final year of University.
Having completed the FE-1s, I took a break from the books and headed off on a round-the-world trip for a year taking in parts of 5 different continents. On my return it was time to exchange the shorts and flip flops for a suit and begin my traineeship. My first of 5 rotations was in the Funds Department. While I was somewhat apprehensive of working in an area that I knew relatively little about, I soon learned that at Arthur Cox you are encouraged to develop skills that are easily transferable across all areas of law. I was struck by how approachable everyone in the firm was and their relaxed nature certainly creates an excellent environment for learning.
My second rotation in the firm was in the Environment & Planning Department. I thoroughly enjoyed working in this specialised practice group and was continually surprised by the level of involvement a trainee can have. After this I worked in one of our Corporate Departments which specialises in M & A before getting a feel for the courts in our Litigation Department. This was another busy seat as trainees are given a lot of responsibility which ensures excellent experience. This is an example of how varied our training can be as the rotation system in place ensures that a trainee gets an opportunity to work in Corporate, Litigation, Finance and Property.
One of the unique elements to our programme is that it is very much trainee led and as the Trainee Delegate for my intake I have regular meetings with the Director of Trainees in the firm. These meetings are a forum for open discussion on all elements of our programme and gives trainees an opportunity to voice any suggestions on how to improve the programme. The fact that these meetings are and chaired by trainees is indicative of the firm’s commitment to us taking ownership of our own programme.
One of the most memorable highlights of my traineeship was my trip to Zambia with a group of fellow trainees on a charitable project. It is a testament to the firm that the spirit of camaraderie which pervades Arthur Cox culminated in fourteen trainees from my intake following in previous trainees’ footsteps by continuing this worthy project. The Mwandi Project 2009 provided us with a platform to do something together well outside of our standard legal training as we organised, fundraised and travelled together to refurbish a health centre in a rural African village.
I qualified as a Solicitor in January 2010 and I am now an Associate in one of our Litigation and Dispute Resolution teams. Our team has an incredibly diverse practice area which means no two days are ever the same. While the transition from a trainee to a newly qualified is never seamless, having benefited from such a quality trainee programme I was confident in the knowledge that I had the best possible training behind me.
I chose to join Arthur Cox because of its renowned reputation, its diversity of practice areas and its overall dynamic outlook and I am happy to say that I made the right choice.
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