Allen & Overy

LIFE AT A GLOBAL LAW FIRM: ALLEN & OVERY

SIMON BOURKE

Lawyer

Graduate program The Graduate program at Allen & Overy (A&O) consists of two six-month rotations, as well as an optional third rotation. In any law firm, it’s important to get exposure to different practice groups. Even if you don’t settle in a particular team, you’ll develop different skill sets, meet different people inside and outside the firm, and discover new areas that interest you. I completed my first rotation in the Energy and Resources Corporate team. In this team, my work involved helping to draft contracts, preparing legal advice, assisting in negotiations, and conducting due diligence (reviewing a company’s affairs to identify potential liabilities or problems). In addition to mining and gas matters, I had the chance to get involved with renewable energy and hydrogen projects, and prepare presentations to clients on why and how to decarbonise their operations. I then completed my second rotation in the Litigation and Arbitration team, where I later settled. In Perth, A&O mainly acts in large arbitrations between international corporations or governments, generally based between at least two countries. In this team, I’ve been responsible for drafting submissions, affidavits and advice; interviewing witnesses and drafting witness statements; conducting case research; and assisting with document reviews and discovery. I’ve also expanded my interest in renewable energy by getting involved in A&O’s Climate Change focus group. The Perth office at A&O is very collaborative, and so you get the opportunity to really get to know everybody in the office. It also means that in every team you get lots of opportunities to work one-on-one with partners and senior lawyers. Even as a fresh graduate, you feel like your work really matters, you’re given a lot of responsibility and trust, and senior lawyers listen to and value your opinion. At the same time, you’re provided with lots of ongoing guidance and mentorship, so you never feel like you’ve been thrown in the deep end.

Global law firm The thing that most surprised me starting out at A&O was just how integrated the international offices actually are. It’s common practice for multiple offices to work together on the same matter, each providing their expertise on a particular part of the transaction. For example, we might advise on a resources project in Indonesia, under a contract governed by English law – in which case, our Indonesian office will lead discussions with the client, the London office will give advice on English law, and the Perth office might offer our expertise on how resources projects operate. Similarly, when a dispute I’m working on involves a discrete question on how the law works in a particular country, I can send an email or make a phone call to the A&O office in that country to get the local perspective on the question. I might also volunteer to join a pro bono team helping to advise an international NGO on how different countries across the world approach a legal issue (such as refugee law), so they can use that to inform their advocacy on large-scale, global issues. There are also opportunities for lawyers at all levels to seek an opportunity to undergo a secondment in an international office. All in all, working at a global law firm means that you get to work on things that really matter, in ways that will encourage you to push your own boundaries and develop as a better lawyer and person.