What’s all the buzz around data centres?

Experience, whether legal or not, is invaluable Ugo Ebhogiaye, an associate at Trowers & Hamlins LLP, tells us. Learn about Ugo’s time as a paralegal, her remote placement in Oman during the pandemic and what her role as chair of the firm’s Race Ethnicity and Heritage Network involves.

What are the tax issues arising from individual ownership of cryptoassets?

Several top law firms have signed up to a London-based hybrid internship scheme that offers the chance to gain a rounded introduction to commercial property.

Commercial property (or real estate) lawyers act for a variety of domestic and international clients – including investors and developers, governments, landowners and public sector bodies – on a wide range of transactions, involving everything from offices to greenfield and retail developments, infrastructure projects and the management of shopping malls.

I want to qualify as a solicitor in Ireland, which law firms should I target?

The first two apprentices to join Withers have started at the firm’s London office in its real estate and corporate departments.

Ahead of my vacation scheme this year, I was asked to rank a list of departments in order of preference. Despite it not being my first choice, I spent the week with the construction team. I’d never formally learned about this area of law, but – in hindsight – I'm incredibly glad that I had the chance to try it

Full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau LLP has expanded its footprint in Edinburgh to accommodate its “rapidly growing team”. 

Partner Kay Hobbs heads up TLT’s corporate clean energy team in Bristol. She shares her career journey and offers useful advice to trainees and future lawyers about building a legal career.

In this LCN Says, we speak to Rona Ankrah from Mayer Brown International LLP about building commercial awareness. Read this article for insights on how you can demonstrate commercial awareness in interviews, how Mayer Brown helps trainees to develop their commercial awareness and how Rona approaches learning about clients’ businesses.

So, you’ve been lucky enough to secure a training contract (well done!). But what’s next? And what are ‘seats’?

Pursuing a career in law is hard. It’s as simple as that. It can feel like you’re the only person not securing vacation schemes or training contracts as your peers post their new roles at firms all over LinkedIn and Instagram – and you can’t work out where it is that you’re going wrong. It’s an easy mindset to fall into but it’s vital to take a step back, reassess, breathe and go again. We spoke to several aspiring lawyers whose routes into law were either put on hold, made difficult because of their background or disrupted as a result of the pandemic. This feature aims to show you that you’re not the only one having a bumpy ride into the legal world.

If the banks won't lend, who will?

How will clean energy power the UK’s future?

I know that I need to understand how a law firm operates as a business to be commercially aware. What exactly does that involve?

Luke Gueli is an associate in the corporate team at Jones Day. In this interview, Luke outlines how the firm’s non-rotational training system works, the international work Jones Day is involved in and his role as a trainee and a newly qualified associate advising multi-national corporations on corporate transactions.  

Ravi Pattani, partner at Reed Smith, explains what makes a successful application, the work of a corporate lawyer and how sector agnostics his matters are, and his advice for budding solicitors.