June 2024: Josh Christie, Rosie Glover, Pratham Gupta and Charlotte Okulaja joined us for two days in our London office for our First-year Insight Scheme. Find out about their first taste of working in a global law firm and what they enjoyed about the experience.

What were your first impressions of White & Case in London?

PG: I was highly impressed with the diversity of talent at the Firm. Everyone had a unique background, and they were appreciated for it.

CO: Having already attended a career dinner that White & Case had hosted in Nottingham, I was already aware of the camaraderie between the lawyers at White & Case. I was pleased to find that this transferred to the office.

JC: The insight scheme significantly influenced my perception of White & Case, highlighting its global character through the diverse backgrounds of its people, international office collaboration and cross-border work.

RG: It's a welcoming and accommodating Firm—from the Early Careers Team to the partners I met, everyone was friendly and wanted to hear from you and to make you feel comfortable and supported.

What preconceptions did you have about working in a City law firm?

RG: A preconception I had was that it would be intimidating but all the lawyers at all levels were friendly and showed the human side to City law.

PG: I expected a tightly wound and tense environment of working lawyers, and I was so glad to find out how friendly everyone is at the Firm. It made me more excited about my future. 

CO: While the strong work ethic amongst all the lawyers I came across is admirable, they also seem happy to be at work and interact with their colleagues.

JC: I believed that City law firms would not delegate significant responsibilities to their trainees; however, I quickly found out that White & Case's trainees play vital roles on key aspects of cases.

What surprised you about the Firm?

PG: I expected to feel beyond ill-equipped to understand the work everyone was doing, but I realised White & Case lawyers have the unique ability to make any issue more accessible. From commercial awareness to the nuances of corporate M&A, I left with so much more knowledge than I came in with.

RG: I was surprised at how much interaction trainees have with partners and the work they do together, which I would like to have in my future training.

JC: Rather than seeing itself as composed of separate entities, the Firm operates as a unified entity, which allows the Firm to provide consistent, high-quality services across various legal domains.
 
What was your favourite part of the two-day First-year Insight Scheme?

JC: My favourite part was shadowing two trainees in Litigation and Debt Finance. Both offered valuable insights into their respective departments and highlighted the collaborative cross-jurisdictional nature of the work.

PG: My personal highlight was undoubtedly the work shadowing. As a law student with no family background in the industry, I have had little exposure to the work lawyers do. So, getting the chance to know what these trainees do one-on-one was an invaluable experience, and I was so relieved they were more than happy to answer all my questions.

CO: My personal highlights of the scheme are firstly winning the icebreaker game of people bingo, which really helped me get to know my cohort better; and secondly, the M&A talk from a partner and trainee, as it is an area of law I had not really had much exposure to as a non-law student but has now greatly piqued my interest.

RG: I enjoyed hearing from partner John Timmons about his journey to partnership from a socially mobile background.

Did the scheme confirm your interest in becoming a lawyer?

CO: Definitely! The wide range of sectors of law that White & Case undertakes, as well as its stimulating environment, have undoubtedly solidified my goal of becoming a commercial lawyer in the future.

PG: Absolutely. It made the picture of my future aspirations so much clearer in my head. White & Case is involved in some of the most exciting legal work at a global scale, and you get to do it all with the brightest and the most congenial people—who would not be allured by that?

JC: Undoubtedly, the scheme fulfilled my interest in the dynamic, rewarding and intellectually stimulating nature of a legal career, while further affirming that White & Case would be one of my top choices of firms to join.