The best advocates of our graduate careers are the trainees themselves. Here’s what Raj had to say about life at AG.
- Name: Raj Kaur
- Job title: Trainee
- Office Location: Manchester
- Current Department: Real Estate
How I Got Here
I’m a registered Pharmacist, so this is my second career. It was hard to change direction, but I’d reached a plateau in pharmacy and wanted to stretch myself. Commercial law seemed like a sure-fire way to do that. Being based in Manchester, what sold Addleshaw Goddard was its reputation as the best law firm in the city. And it treated its national work just the same as its cases in London.
My First Seat
My first seat was in Banking. I worked on several corporate lending deals (acting both lender-side for the major clearing banks as well as borrower-side for large companies), focusing on managing the condition precedent process and the drafting of ancillary documents. My second six months was in Infrastructure, Projects & Energy. Here my focus has been on rail, healthcare and local government matters. This included researching commercial issues as well as legal questions, because the work is truly sector specific.
Feel the Trust
I appreciate the fact that trainees are really trusted here. I’ve led client meetings alone, and I’m backed to 'get on' with things. Being the main point of contact for a client on a banking deal towards the end of my first seat was a real highlight. I felt comfortable managing things to ensure they were completed on time, answering client questions throughout. It was a great boost to know that the partner trusted me to assist in the way that an NQ or a junior associate would otherwise have done.
Love the Complexity
I worked on a large infrastructure project for a Danish client recently - a €6 billion rail and road tunnel construction between Denmark and Germany. It’s highly complex multi-phase scheme and has huge political importance to Denmark. The drafting is very technical and intricate. I had the opportunity to draft small parts of the documents, and travel to Copenhagen with a senior lawyer to meet the client. You learn so much about a client's key concerns and objectives this way, understanding what’s really important to them. The Danish drafting style is very different to English drafting, which isn't something I never thought I would have to consider during my training contract!
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