My route to Bristows was shaped by a mix of international experience, commercial work and a longstanding interest in how law supports creativity, technology and innovation. I grew up in Jordan before studying law at the University of Nottingham and completing the LPC in London. Before joining Bristows, I worked as an Arts & Luxury paralegal at Wedlake Bell and was seconded to the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, where I supported work connected to acquisitions relating to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project, negotiated and drafted transaction documents, and assisted with due diligence and image-usage requests involving galleries and art-market participants.

That experience gave me an early appreciation of how law sits behind creative and innovative industries – whether through ownership, contracts, reputation, regulation or commercial strategy. Bristows appealed to me because it offered the same intellectual thread, but across an even broader platform: IP, technology, life sciences, brands, data and complex commercial work. Since joining, that has very much been borne out. The work is genuinely interesting, but just as importantly, the people are supportive, approachable and generous with their time. The firm feels intellectually serious without being intimidating, and trainees are trusted early while still having the guidance needed to develop.

Corporate, Tax and Employment – 6 months

My first seat gave me a broad grounding in transactional, advisory and employment work. I particularly enjoyed seeing how different specialist teams in this group collaborate together on fast-moving matters. My work included:

• supporting a complex restructuring and joint venture, including drafting board and shareholder documentation and assisting with completion logistics;
• helping coordinate a high-volume due diligence workstream, including providing daily data room updates to the team;
• preparing Companies House filings, share certificates, completion bibles and ancillary transaction documents;
• drafting and researching points on SPAs, convertible loan notes, settlement payments, and drafting flexible working policies; and
• contributing to business development articles on AI investment trends, pharma M&A and employment/immigration developments.

Patent Litigation – 6 months

I then moved into Patent Litigation. This has been a brilliant opportunity to work on technically complex disputes and to see how scientific, legal and commercial issues interact. My experience has included:

• attending expert calls, preparing attendance notes and coordinating expert witness meetings;
• researching patent litigation procedure, EPO/UPC issues, service rules and recent case law;
• drafting witness statement sections and expert consultancy agreements;
• helping prepare application hearing bundles, authorities bundles and exchanging correspondence with the other side; and
• reviewing archival and technical materials to identify documents relevant to wider case strategy.

I have also enjoyed getting involved in social and charitable activities, including representing the firm at the EBA Careers Fair at London South Bank University and the Ravensbourne School Careers Fair, contributing to the firm’s Women’s Health Initiative, and taking part in trainee socials. For me, Bristows’ culture is one of its biggest strengths: people are curious, kind and generous with their time, whether explaining a point of patent law, a transaction step or how to settle into a new seat. There are not many places where you can work on cutting-edge matters while still feeling part of a genuinely supportive community – Bristows manages both.