Career Spotlight

Tom Mylrea-Lowndes is a first-year trainee at Hogan Lovells’ London office. He joined in February 2012 and is currently in the international arbitration department.

At undergraduate level, I completed a dual honours degree in law and French law at the University of Exeter. As part of the course, I spent my fourth year at the Université de Rennes in France. Having enjoyed studying two different legal systems and the interplay between them, I began to consider a career in international law. When the time came to apply for vacation schemes and training contracts, I decided to look for a firm that had a focus on cross-border, international work.

I first visited Hogan Lovells during an open day in my penultimate year of undergraduate study. At the time, I was applying to a number of City firms and trying to work out which one would be the best fit for me. What struck me during my visit was how approachable and open everyone seemed. The atmosphere was really welcoming and the trainees I met spoke very highly of their experiences.

Having been offered a training contract at Hogan Lovells in 2009, I decided to study an LL.M in international business law at UCL before completing the accelerated LPC at BPP in London. The accelerated six-month LPC provides students with a good foundation from which to begin their careers. Though sometimes time pressured, the course has been tailored by the City LPC Consortium to accurately reflect the work that you will be expected to undertake as a trainee solicitor. The course also provides students with a great opportunity to get to know some of their fellow future joiners before arriving at the firm.

I am currently sitting in international arbitration, which also covers banking litigation. It has been a fantastic experience so far, with a wide variety of opportunities to get involved in some very interesting work. As a trainee solicitor, the work you do is valued and you feel like a member of the team from the moment you join. The training provided by the firm is of the highest quality and everyone gets a broad range of experience.