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updated on 22 June 2022
Reading time: two minutes
LawCareers.Net has launched a new series of The LawCareers.Net Podcast that seeks to give aspiring lawyers an insight into various legal practice areas.
As part of the practice area profile series, we will speak to qualified lawyers about their work in a particular practice area, covering how they got into the profession, their day-to-day tasks and role, key issues currently facing their work area, and the skills and attributes students should develop if they are interested in following in the lawyer’s footsteps.
The individual episodes will accompany the written practice area profiles on LawCareers.Net, giving listeners a direct insight into lawyers at top law firms and the ability to consume the information via various mediums.
The first episode of the new series features Sullivan & Cromwell LLP associate Catherine McLaughlin as she discusses her work in the firm’s corporate finance team. Catherine shares her experiences of working in M&A and capital markets, the importance of client relationships and her advice for finding the best firm for you.
Discussing her time as a trainee, Catherine says, “the work you do as a trainee solicitor at Sullivan & Cromwell, particularly within the first six months to a year, is possibly more demanding than working as a junior associate. You’re doing substantive work from day one, including marking up documents and sending email advice to clients.”
Catherine also provides some advice on the importance of commercial awareness as both an aspiring and practising lawyer: “Any time you read the news you should be looking out for issues that could impact the clients and therefore your day-to-day work.
“You should be on top of such issues so you can speak to clients about them.”
For more, listen to the full podcast episode or read the written practice area profile which goes into further detail about Catherine’s work.
Keep an eye out for further practice area podcast episodes later in the summer, and the practice area profile video series coming soon to the LawCareers.Net YouTube channel.
You can listen to The LawCareers.Net Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, other podcast apps and on the LawCareers.Net Podcast hub.