I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in IP law after completing some work experience at an IP law firm, that led me to realise the career would enable me to combine my love of science and interest in business. I studied Chemistry at university but always had the intention of eventually doing a law conversion, hoping that my degree would first help me to develop a well-rounded knowledge and transferable skills for my later career.

Knowing that I wanted to work at an IP law firm, I very quickly got my heart set on training at Bristows. I found I really enjoyed the interview process compared to other places and you can tell Bristows invest a lot of time and resources into the process, they genuinely care about finding the right people and those who they believe will fit in and succeed at the firm. I liked that there was no psychometric testing, instead there were a couple of problem solving tasks, which I found really interesting (and dare I say fun) as they were based on typical Bristows work. Coming from a non-law background, I also really appreciated that it didn’t feel like you were being tested on your knowledge of the law, but instead the interviewers seemed to care about the way you thought and getting to know you as a person.

Bristows is a super friendly and welcoming firm, it’s the little things that I noticed made a difference such as people already knowing our names when we joined and always saying good morning to you when you pass in the corridor. Joining alongside 10 other trainees has also been great, we all get on really well – you essentially have some ‘ready-made’ friends.

I started off my training contact with 6 months in Patent Litigation. Patent Litigation is one of the largest teams at the firm and has a great atmosphere, with the open plan seating and there usually being about 4 other trainees there with you helping to make it really sociable. Some of the tasks I was involved in included:

• Attending expert calls where you got to learn about the detailed technology of the case’s patent.
• Attending court during trial. This is very exciting as a trainee as you get to do a task called “bowling” which puts you right in the thick of action, as you sit next to the witness being examined and navigate them to the correct documents.
• Drafting letters to the other side’s lawyers.

I then did 3 months in Commercial Technology and Copyright Disputes which is a smaller team, where everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Some of the tasks I was involved in in this seat included:

• Conducting research tasks for advice notes to clients.
• Disclosure exercises (this is really interesting ‘detective type’ work, where you are looking for clues in the mass of documents).
• Creating a first draft of a defence in small claims court matter.

I am currently sat in Brands Design and Copyright where I am finding the breadth of subject matters particularly interesting. You can be looking at anything from advertising, passing off, trade marks, copyright or design rights. The work is also very tangible as you get to work with some household name brands. Some of the tasks I have done in this seat so far include:

• Leading weekly meetings on the Advertising Standards Authority’s weekly rulings.
• Creating first drafts of letters before action and undertakings.
• Helping file and serve a claim and the associated documents.

I have really enjoyed the first year of my training contract and I feel extremely grateful to be at Bristows. The people are as friendly and care as much about your training as they say on their website. I think it is hard to know if firms will live up to expectations given the limited information available on their websites, but I can confidently say Bristows exceeded mine.