International Clerkship Report

Jeremias Prassl, September 2006

Sponsoring Office: London, England
Receiving Office: Sydney, Australia

From the very beginning Baker stood out from other City firms: instead of having to conform to a standard interview format, I was given the opportunity to present my own case for going abroad.  Discussing my motivations for a Summer Placement followed by an International Clerkship with a partner who had been to the Sydney office confirmed that this was truly what Baker & McKenzie are about: a strong local presence within a powerful international network.

The support from the HR team was outstanding: whether it was technical details (Accommodation, Visas, …) or personal questions, everything felt as if already organised on step ahead of me.  Due to personal circumstances my travel plans ended up being rather complicated, but again the level of flexibility and genuine care meant that the Firm’s and my own needs were easily reconciled.  A preparation day approximately one month before the start allowed all summer interns to meet each other, deal with some necessary paperwork and set a very positive mood that was to last throughout my entire experience.

For the first two weeks in London, I worked in the Disputes department.  My supervisor provided me with the very right level of challenging, yet manageable work; the fact that nearly everything I was asked to do was of direct assistance to someone’s work made my time even more enjoyable.  On several occasions, for example, I first had to find out how a task was to be done, be it from Trainees, the Resources Library or even a Court Clerk, before actually doing it.  Throughout both ‘seats’, I continued to meet a broad range of people and learn more about their impressions of the Firm, their work and the general atmosphere at Baker & McKenzie.

An organised programme ranging from introductions to various departments to skill sessions and fun team challenges helped us not only in getting to know each other and some of the more junior lawyers better, but also equipped everyone with valuable skills: all in all, the London experience was an excellent insight into the life and work of a corporate law firm in general, and Baker & McKenzie as an international leader in particular.

Having arrived on Sydney on Monday evening, I joined the office there on Tuesday morning.  From the beginning, everything was a lot more of a ‘real’ work experience than the London programme: as there were no other summer students, I underwent induction together with another junior lawyer over the period of two days and settled straight into the Litigation department.  As opposed to sharing a room with a supervising lawyer in London, everyone in the Sydney office has their own working space: my ‘office buddy’ showed me around the department on my first day, and people asked for help with tasks ranging from observing court trials to research for a major client talk.

Even though breathtaking views of Sydney Harbour kept reminding me that I was now in an office far away from London, I found that there was similarly challenging, interesting and varied work; the team spirit in various project groups was as positive as that in London and everyone lived the ‘glocal’ on a daily basis: local work, handled with a global outlook.  Whilst researching information for a client talk on legal privilege, for example, I learned that lawyers from five different Baker offices were contributing to the same presentation.

The team of Sydney lawyers in the office provided invaluable support and advice, ranging from court etiquette to interesting places around town.  On a more social front, everyone was immediately happy to include me in the many after-work activities that took place during my stay.  Meeting another summer clerk, Sameer from the Chicago office, meant not only that I could find out more about the legal culture there, but also that we became good friends whilst exploring Sydney together on the weekends.

As the six weeks came to a close, I went on to travel through Australia (guided by many travel tips from everyone in the office!), before moving on to Canada and returning to Europe.  Overall, this summer has been an incredible experience: so many people I have met were immediately willing to share a part of their work and life experiences, teach me skills, provide me with opportunities to do my own work and provided helpful feedback so I could start to work productively together with them.