1. regular VRI reviews with the head of department wherein we discuss the transaction, consider wider industry considerations then decide on key exclusions and area of focus whilst underwriting
1.1. analytical
1.2. research
1.3. BUT what does VRI reviewing actually mean? I read the target company business, i compare next to the company appetite guide. appetite guide outlines criteria a deal has to pass for the company to consider drafting a VRI or NBI. This criteria includes costs, jurisidction and nature of business. After this critera is satisifed, i read the IM and make notes on things i think might be an exclusion or a heightened underwrite. i then facilitate this research using FT or economist about industry considerations that might mean the projected EDBITA is incorrect. I then compare my notes with the underwriter before compiling everything neatedly into key points i will discuss with my head of department. i then have a 30-45 minute dicussion with my HoD wherein we discuss the risk, exclusion, UW Focus but also we discuss industry so key debates and issues happening. very fun
2. writing and summarising notes from underwriting calls. underwriting calls involve discussion of due diligence around the target company e.g. employee benefits, state of assets, possibilities of turnovers
2.1. good communicator
3. regular audit check and organisation of files in the deal folder
3.1. organised
4. chasing UW on tasks to make underwirting process smoother e.g. checking in on Expense agreements
4.1. adaptive collaborator
4.2. time management
4.3. communicator
5. reading NDAs and NRLs and when relevant inserting our standard wordings to ensure we are covered.
5.1. attention to detail
6. Reguarly corresponding with brokers and legal counsel
6.1. communicator
7. managing my day and time throughout the day and doing task prioritisation. as we have a general inbox wherre work comes first come first serve. this is even more important as have a lot of new hires so allocating myself to more high-level work
7.1. task prioritisation
7.2. time management
8. doing compliance checks (sanctions and AML) on entities
8.1. attention to detail
9. meeting deadlines for when to send in policies and giving updates to UW during these deadline days to give them a sense of timing.
9.1. time management
9.2. communicator (adaptive collaborator)
10. reading over submissions and allocating to the correct jurisdiction. very important task as if not allocated correctly, can miss deadline to submit the quote.
10.1. attention to detail
11. when sending out policies applying attention to detail.
11.1. attention to detail
12. Shoosmiths internship
12.1. Shoosmiths
12.1.1. presented a fictional arbitration of court proceedings for a Ghanian oil and gas company for associates
12.1.1.1. commercial thinking/ analysis
12.1.2. recorded a podcast for the Shoosmiths official webpage discussing my experience as an intern. had to give top training tips for future interns. also had to have understanding of my auidence. as young people usuallly have a lower attention span, i effected different vocal patterns to not sound monotone and i also organised my tips into 3 top tips so clear to understand. also a great reflection period to anaylse my own strengths and weaknesses on the scheme
12.1.2.1. good communication
12.1.3. worked in different legal departments: advisory, corporate, real estate. this was great because it taught me why it is essential to work at a full service law firm as realised a lot of the work overlap eachother so makes more sense so you can see the full life cycle of the firm and its more fulfiling as a trainee to have all in one firm then pieces of the baby being outsourced elsewhere ( and more conveniant for firm too)
12.1.3.1. commercial/business thinking
12.1.4. compiled bundles for an employment case concerning a women saying she experienced an unlawfal termination. was an international case and had to manage and organise over 5 years of inter partes and clients correspondence.
12.1.4.1. organisation
12.1.4.2. attention to detail
12.1.5. presented and completed share certificates. this involved going on company house and putting in the correct data.
12.1.5.1. commercial thinking
12.1.5.2. attention to detail
12.1.6. recieved a research task from a partner on a client query regarding property-related fintech. also a B2B and highway related task. as commercial law solicitor essential to be able to dumb down the law for clients who wouldn't know the technicalities of law. so about knowing your auidence clearly and also pre-emptiying what they really want to hear- how is this in my interest (increase money)
12.1.6.1. strong communicationa
12.1.6.2. commercial knowledge (have to be aware of geopolitics to give good advice)
12.1.6.3. research
12.1.7. advised on a fictional IP property task concerning a robotic puppy
12.1.7.1. commercial thinking
12.1.7.2. research
13. teaching new hires UWA tasks
13.1. effective communicator
13.2. team worker
14. Taylor Wessing, tomorrow talent placement
14.1. toured of royal courts of justice
14.1.1. client /commercial awareness
14.2. visited Taylor Wessing client such as PGIM, at PGIM we went on an asset tour of the buildings (FINANCE). research to ensure i compiled relevant answers to ask
14.2.1. client/commercial awareness
14.2.2. research
14.3. visited the National Potrait gallery as part of the TW national potrait gallery awards
14.3.1. client/commercial awareness
14.4. visited TW client, ROLI office (STARTUPS
14.4.1. client/commercial awareness
14.5. visited TW client, Farfetch (TECH AND MEDIA)
14.5.1. client/commercial awareness
14.6. visited though machine (bank TECH)
14.6.1. client/commercial awareness
14.7. Visited ADOBE (TECH)
14.7.1. client/commercial awareness
14.8. visited Brentford FC
14.8.1. client/commercial awareness
14.9. Presented in front of a packed room of associates and fellow interns about my experience as an intern.
14.9.1. good communication
14.9.2. organisaton
14.9.3. project management
14.10. worked in the IP & Media department, shadowing an associate on the team. networked with my fellow lawyers and got to know the paralegals and understand the strucutre of the firm,w ith work being used to help fee-earners . i added everyone on linkedin. was an open-plan office so easy to network.
14.10.1. networking
14.11. to be a good mentee, set up weekly meetings, and carried a notebook anywhere i went
14.11.1. attention to detail
14.11.2. communication
14.12. Gathered evidence on a social media plahorm as part of a defamaton claim for a Partner and produced a PowerPoint seing out this evidence. The Partner sent this directly to the client without any amendments. This was a sign of me using my skill set to be innovative, since as a sixth former iw as well versed in powerpoint
14.12.1. attention to detail
14.12.2. research
15. doing administrative tasks like updating contact page for new broker information and sorting out deals based off their jurisdiction
15.1. attention to detal
16. going on team events and financial seminars
16.1. developing trusting relationships with colleagues and clients.
16.2. being a representative of the company to brokers
17. being innovative in making business more efficient e.g. setting up a question table for UW calls.
17.1. coming up with creative ideas for mprovements and solutions
18. working in an international team ( we have US, Spain and australia offices) and being conscious of time differences. being exposed to the different working cultures.
18.1. business thinker/ commercial thinker
18.2. communicator
19. compiling and editing policies which is the main contract for insurance. double-checking this is in good order before sending off to client.
19.1. attention to detail
20. Church
20.1. as an usher, having to predict and be aware of your surroundings, when it comes to organising guests. a lot of people want to sit in the back but for the bet audience harmony, placing people close to the front. also knowing faces- who the guest minister might be to place them at the front.
20.1.1. analysis
20.1.2. organisation
20.1.3. research
20.2. as an usher, essential to be a friendly face, and to clearly communicate to people
20.2.1. communication
20.3. as an usher you are overseeing the entire congregation for any issues or problems that need to be solved e.g. having an awareness of amount of chairs, and if enough, having to know where extra tambourines or water presides
20.3.1. analysis
20.3.2. problem-solving
20.4. as a choir singer, working in a team and being aware of my team mates tones and volume in order to match a harmony. singing in a big group well is probably the greatest demostrtion of team work. also dedication as have to learn new songs every week and attend practice
20.4.1. team work
20.5. at my church, we do a youth service. i offered to do the word. this would involve speaking to my congregation for 30 minutes and audience members would be a mix of young people and older people, as well as the regular preachers of our church. I was incredibly nervous but ensured i researched and planned well. further planning always makes me more comfortable and confident. i had full cretive control on what to preach about, but as a youth service felt most logical fit would be about problems targetting youths and how to help. i made sure to speak accorindg to my audience so colloquial but also ensured i had clear signposting headings, as well as mini conclusion. I also included personal anecdotes of my own struggles to avoid a patronising tone. the result was a well-recieved message, everyone in my congregation personally came to me to thank me for my word, and a new visitor said my word made him want to stay in our church, as he has continued to come every sunday since. upon reflection, my nerves helped to over-prepare myself and speaking in a more colloquial way than my usual ministers helped me ease my nerves ( as i wasnt pretending to be someone else) and also revitalised my love of public speaking, which i only really did doing sixth form.
20.5.1. research
20.5.2. confidence/ facing your fear
20.5.3. client awareness (editing for your aidence)
20.5.4. public speaking/communication
21. Key:
21.1. task prioirisation/ time mangement
21.1.1. communication/networking
21.1.1.1. team work/ collaboration
21.1.1.1.1. attention to detail
22. UoN RED Lawyers Society
22.1. organising a society in the middle of pandemic lockdown. Organised virtual meetings and collaborated with like-minded societies like Women in law
22.1.1. organisation
22.1.2. team work
22.2. As PR Lead, secured a partnership with Bright network. filled out an application for this and had to file it in by the deadline. was very strategic to do this, as we were a new society, gave us legitimacy and also perks such as exclusive content and event access for our members.
22.2.1. networking
22.2.2. strategic business advice
22.3. As PR Lead, managed the social media pages : LinkedIN, Twitter, Instagram. resulted in 60+ followers on our LinkedIN and 120+ lawyers on our instagram page.
22.3.1. creativity
22.3.2. organisation
22.4. created social media posts for the society e.g. to celebrate pride month, one where i created insta posts spotlighting queer BAME individuals such as Lady Phyll, who liked the post. great to show intersectionality of diversity.
22.4.1. creativity
22.4.2. networking
22.4.3. research
22.5. did mutiple panels such as : environmental & social justice panel (collab with lawyers without borders) , collab with the bar society, faith in the leal profession, a trainee takeover week, being a bame professional in 2021 event
22.5.1. organisation
22.5.2. project management
22.6. did a trainee takeover week so networked with trainees to get involved. as well as networking with lawyers to convince them to get onto panels
22.6.1. networking
22.7. when selecting group name, did a uni wide survey as well as corresponding in the main team. chose one that refelcted our emphasis on intersectionality whilst addresses separate epxeriences in law.
22.7.1. team work
22.7.2. research
22.7.3. communication
22.8. did during my second year, so juggling university exams alongside
22.8.1. organistion
22.8.2. task priorisation
22.9. what went into planning an online event: -correct interent connetion, entworking for panelists, promotiing the event on social medias, collaborating iwht bigger societies to widen our reach. more technical considerations: organising calender with busy panelists, making sure workload of society team was equal, commerical awarneess to know which events would be topically relevant e.g. did environmental social jsutice event following a COP meeting, we made sure to include a committee member, Georgia Elliot-smith who was at that tiem demanding gender balance in COP 26 talks and in 2021 Spending Review confirmed £30 billion of spend on the green industries revolution.
22.9.1. project management
22.9.2. commercial awareness
22.9.3. research
22.10. more technical event planning was negoitating fees of panelist so working on that money based off how much treasury money we had
22.10.1. project management
23. Taylor Wessing Vacation scheme
23.1. Drafting minutes from department meetings and client calls. this was something i offered to do to show intiative and to also have refrence ntes for myself to learn about the operatiing of a law firm since department minutes outlined the strategy and goals and updates on clients
23.1.1. commercial thinking
23.1.2. communication (summaristion)
23.2. preparing summaries from the taxation and tax jounral. this was categorising the different new stories and was important for the department to gain quick commercial knwoeldge and to also set out quick sumamrising to the headlines. this facilitated associates to efficently select the most relevant new stories for that deal.
23.2.1. good communciation (summarisation)
23.2.2. *further research also adding a further line on how it might relate to business
23.3. was approached by a partner to do a research tasks setting out summaries for clients re VAT enquiry. to do this asked as a trainee for work they had done to tailor to specific clietn and to anticipate future tasks. to carefully present info put a introduction and summarising conclusion. i also drafted up a email opening for the client to directly anser the question and to accomodate my research task. great feedback from partner that encourged another partner to approach me for another research task. so i was build to build up a positive reputation.
23.3.1. organisation
23.3.2. team work
23.3.3. communicator
23.3.4. research
23.4. effectively communicated with partners and supervising associates to obtain and clarify instruction and deliever consistently gigh-level work product. always essential to update supervisor reguarly and tell him if too busy, will effectively manage various overlapping deadlines and managed expectations to the partners and assoicationt
23.4.1. good communication
23.5. led a group podcast project on the firm's core values, diversity. collaborating with team members. succesfully edited the podcast using new software and presented to grad rec, followed by a Q&A session. was a great way to show being representative of the firm, and placing the firm in the best light poroperly.
23.5.1. good communication
23.5.2. research
23.6. completed a time sensitive commerical awareness challenge centred around a mock real-estate acquisiation query. Praise for the simplicity and effectiveness of the presentation.
23.6.1. time management,
23.6.2. thinking on your feet, commercial analysis
23.7. Feedback from graduate recruitment: "strong commercial analysis that was well written and engaging presentation style. Showed genuine interest and intellectual curiosity."
23.7.1. good communication and enthuaism
23.7.2. research