[A young man waits in the lobby to be called for his interview]

Interviewer

Do you remember the hardest question you were asked when you were starting out as a lawyer?

[Rob Cain is working on his iPad]

[Ailish Finnerty walks towards a lift]

[Geoff Moore looks out the window at Earlsfort Terrace]

Geoff Moore

I think I was asked some version of “Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years’ time?” I think I gave the answer that I thought people would want to hear rather than the truth.

[Geoff Moore is speaking to an interviewer left of camera, the title “Geoff Moore, Managing Partner” appears on the lower left hand side of the screen]

[Rachel Hussey walks towards the Arthur Cox building]

Rachel Hussey

One of the most difficult questions when you’re starting off is where do you want to end up? Because it’s very hard to tell that when you start off in your career.

[Rachel Hussey is speaking to an interviewer left of camera, the title “Rachel Hussey, Clients and Markets Partner” appears on the lower left hand side of the screen]

[Rob Cain shakes hands with a client]

Rob Cain

I think it was that really tricky one “Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?”

[Rob Cain is speaking to an interviewer left of camera, the title “Rob Cain, Partner” appears on the lower left hand side of the screen]

Ailish Finnerty

Well, I really didn’t think I would make partner here. I came in here as a college graduate and making partner was not something I thought was going to happen for me and I have to say, it’s been amazing.

[Ailish Finnerty is speaking to an interviewer left of camera, the title “Ailish Finnerty, Chair and Partner” appears on the lower left hand side of the screen]

[A trainee with down in a communal working area with her peers, ready to start a meeting]

[The lift doors close as Ailish looks at her phone]

Geoff Moore

Our work environment is intense and demanding at times. It definitely is. You’ve got to be hungry. Not everybody’s cut out for it.

[Trainee is communal work area chatting to peers]

[Ailish walking up the stairs of the atrium]

[Rob leads client into boardroom and he starts talking her through documents]

Rob Cain

There’s been stress, it’s demanding and it’s certainly not an easy, linear path but the challenge is incredibly rewarding so for me, it’s the people that make it worthwhile.

Ailish Finnerty

I get huge support from my team here. Work life balance is so much easier when you work in a place that’s collaborative. Women can succeed here, mothers can succeed here, and the ability to work from home has been transformational.

[Ailish on the phone at her desk]

[Ailish speaks to a colleague in the open office area]

[Rachel mentors a young female trainee]

Rachel Hussey

When I look back on my career, I realise that mentors played a huge part in my career. They weren’t always called mentors, but they were always very impactful and I like to think that I play a similar role for people coming up behind me as well.

[Geoff walks down the corridor]

Geoff Moore

We have a high performance culture in our firm, rightly so, but we do make mistakes. Probably the most obvious thing I learnt early on, is that if something goes wrong, 99 times out of 100, someone else in here has seen something similar and will help you solve that problem.

[Geoff works on his laptop, trainees walk through office]

[Rachel stand at a podium, giving a speech to a group of trainees]

Rachel Hussey

Resilience is a really important trait in this profession, but I think in most jobs in this day and age, and I think it’s really important to look at setbacks as opportunities and learning experiences.

[Geoff is listening to Rachel’s speech and claps as a trainee is invited to the stage, the trainee shakes hands with Rachel and starts to speak at the podium]

Geoff Moore

You definitely need drive, you need work ethic. Our business is ultimately a people business too, though, so you’ve got to be able to relate both to your colleagues and to your clients, not take yourself too seriously, roll up your sleeves and get stuck in when you need to.

[Geoff looks on proudly at trainee]

[Ailish is in a meeting standing discussing the different practice groups at Arthur Cox]

Ailish Finnerty

I’ve never looked back. My time here has been life changing.

[A young trainee is speaking to Ailish]

[Rob takes a book out of the library]

Rob Cain

Joining Arthur Cox was really pivotal for me. It was, I guess, a brave decision, but it was a brilliant decision, personally and professionally, and I really haven’t regretted it for a second.

[Rachel walks into the Arthur Cox building]

Rachel Hussey

What excites me about the next five years is the potential for unknown opportunities which have always come along in the past, and I look forward to embracing them with open arms when they do come along.

[Rachel shakes hands with someone offscreen]

Geoff Moore

I do find myself thinking more frequently about legacy. That’s very important to me personally, actually. So success for me, once my role is complete, is really to be able to say that I inherited the firm in really, really great shape when I was asked to take on this privileged position and if I can improve the firm 5% or 10% during my tenure as gatekeeper of the firm, that’s success for me.

[A trainee listens to a speech intently, a montage of different trainees fills the screen]

[Rob meets a trainee is the boardroom hallways and they stop to chat]

[A young trainee speaks at the podium]

[Geoff looks out the window at wider Dublin]