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Legal Outlook Trainee Talks Episode 1

Ashurst's trainee talks – transcript

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    Transcript



    Host:
    Hello and welcome to Ashurst Legal Outlook and this new mini series, where we ask Ashurst trainees about their hopes, their dreams, and why they wanted to pursue a career in law. In this first episode, I speak to Robert Booth about his journey and how it went from studying in China to joining Ashurst at the beginning of the year, the challenges presented by COVID and his plan to work in Tokyo and New York in the future. Join me as we get the inside scoop on what it's like to work as a trainee solicitor at Ashurst. You're listening to Ashurst Legal Outlook.

    Hi Robert, thanks for joining me. Why did you choose to pursue a career in law?

    Robert Booth:
    Great question to start. That's quite an interesting one for me because I was living and working in China at the time. I was spending a lot of time studying Chinese and I really wanted a career that would allow me to work on an international, scale work with international clients and I wasn't quite sure what would be a perfect fit for me. At university I studied history, so not really the most perfect thing. I'm not going to be a historian in China, I don't think. Law seemed like the perfect thing. I started doing a lot more research about it, started talking to a lot of my friends that were lawyers and they seem to have this life where they'd be working with people from all across the world, across jurisdictions. It seemed like the perfect fit for me. I love talking to people that are finding out what their particular needs were, then meeting them and solving their problems. That's really what made me think this is the right thing for me.

    Host:
    Thinking about some of those conversations, were there any that stood out for you that you might've thought, "That's it. That's exactly what I want to do."

    Robert Booth:
    Yes. There was one when I was playing rugby in Hong Kong at the time. Funnily enough, the rugby teams were actually absolutely filled the lawyers. I'm not sure quite why lawyers were good at rugby over there. I met one who was traveling all throughout China, investigating new start up businesses and working out particularly the problems that were pertinent to them, then helping them go about them and meet their business needs. That lifestyle of traveling around and trying something new every day, tackling new issues. That's what really stuck out for me.

    Host:
    Building on from those conversations you had, Robert, can you explain why you chose Ashurst?

    Robert Booth:
    That's a good question that we always seem to ask quite often. It's got a lot to do with the fact that I had a couple of friends that worked at Ashurst, and they spoke very fondly of the relationships they're able to build with various people. It speaks a lot about the firm culture. Everyone is very friendly. Everyone is very willing to help. It's one thing when hear that, you take it with a pinch of salt because you're thinking it's their own self interests to say those things. As soon as I did my vac scheme, I found it to be immediately true. People really couldn't have been any more helpful or any more keen to help you out and give you an insight into what they were doing and different bits of advice or different tips that could help secure Ashurst.

    Host:
    How long have you been with Ashurst for?

    Robert Booth:
    I'm a first seat trainee, so I've only been here for five months now. I wouldn't say it's flown by, it's been quite a fun five months.

    Host:
    Tell me, in those five months, any particular task or projects that have stood out for you?

    Robert Booth:
    There's been a couple. The great thing about the department I'm in at the moment though, is the fact that I get to work with a lot of different members of the team. I've spoken to some friends who work on one specific thing for the whole time there. What's particularly good about the global markets is that I'm working on loads of different projects that are all reasonably fast paced or last one or two weeks at most. What's been a stand out thing for me is that I've been able to work with so many different incredibly talented lawyers, learn from so many different people and what works well for them, and hopefully, fingers crossed, pick up a few of those good characteristics.

    Host:
    Absolutely. What impact has COVID had on your working experience today? Did you start in a stay-at-home type situation or were you in the office at the beginning? Paint a little picture about how that worked out for you, as well as the culture pieces around Ashurst's culture.

    Robert Booth:
    I started working from home the first two months in my little room down the road from here. I did find it quite tough at first. Talking over webcams, it's not the same. Some of you might find it the same, but I personally didn't. I found it quite hard to really strike a connection with someone. What was difficult about it was you're not in the same room or the same environments as these people who have been doing this job. I found it quite difficult to learn the different skills or the way about how people approach work. I did find it quite tough at first, but very quickly I started coming into the office. I was very fortunate my supervisor was very keen to come in as well.

    I was sitting there next to him in the office and any little question I had, which was quite frequently, I could ask him straight away and get a great answer. Also, the best thing was once coming back into the office, a few of the social events started. It's fun and I absolutely love it. Thursday night, soft beverage. I got quite involved in those and it's just a great way to meet people. The other great thing about being in the office is that it's just the little conversations that spring up around the place that you would never have the chance to if you're at home. Around the coffee machines you get to chat to new people, make new friends, strike up new connections. The biggest positive for me was that time when more and more people started to come back into the office.

    Host:
    What are some of the lessons you've learned in your first couple of months?

    Robert Booth:
    The most simple one would be how you approach the job when you're emailing clients, when you're performing certain tasks. Before when I was having to phone them up or phone any of the other lawyers I was working with up, you really have to be very well organized because you don't want to take up too much of their time perhaps. When you're in the office, you could... I think the phrase people use here is learning through osmosis. I'd watched him do certain things, or I'd hear hearing on the phone calls that he'd have. Just picking up things through that.

    Host:
    There's nothing like being thrown in the deep end is there?

    Robert Booth:
    Absolutely.

    Host:
    What's some advice you would give for someone applying for Ashurst's trainee program?

    Robert Booth:
    The most useful piece of advice would be to really research the firm that you're applying for. If you can understand the firm's policies, their particular business interests, their focuses, that can really help so that you can show in your application that you, one, are specific about the firm that you want to apply to, and two, can then translate that into why you want to work for them, rather than just having this sprawling application that could be sent off to any different law firm. That's the best thing to really stand out. Be clear about why you want to apply to that specific firm.

    Host:
    Thinking about the other trainees, what sort of environment do you have in a cultural sense? Do you connect with other trainees? Are there different forums or out of office activities? Tell me a little bit about that trainee community within Ashurst.

    Robert Booth:
    Do you know what? That's one of the best things about the job at the moment. All the trainings are super keen to come into the office. In the department I'm in, there's always at least five or six of us. If the work gets a little bit tough I'll go across to one of the other trainees across the hall and have a chat, hash a few things out, get a few things off my chest, so that's great. There's a real good communal atmosphere. Everyone's up for a good laugh, a good time. Some of the evenings we'll go out for a nice dinner, go out for drinks. That's one of my favorite things. In fact, going back as well to why I wanted to be a lawyer, that's one of the big things. I associated that kind of lifestyle with a legal career where you'd be working hard for quite a few hours across the day, and then as soon as all the work's done, you get together with your colleagues and hang out for a few drinks, which I think has been shown that there's certainly a good appetite for that here at Ashurst.

    Host:
    Robert, tell me, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? Where do you see yourself in say 10 years time?

    Robert Booth:
    I mentioned earlier that I spent some time studying in China, living in Hong Kong. I really would like to spend some time working abroad. I would really love to live and work in New York for a while. With the legal career, depending on what you specialize in of course, you can be afforded that luxury to travel and work around the world. That would be my ultimate career progression, if I can have a couple of years in New York, build my career there a bit and then work in the Middle East, even back to Hong Kong. That's what I'd like to do. The great thing about Ashurst is that they've got offices around the world. I know that there's hopefully an opportunity for us to [inaudible 00:10:16] at some point for my training contracts. The dream there would be to be in Tokyo for six months. That'd be pretty exciting.

    Host:
    That sounds amazing. It's almost like an international passport really.

    Robert Booth:
    It sounds good, yeah.

    Host:
    Robert, you mentioned New York. You mentioned Tokyo. Would there be a favorite destination there? Why those two places?

    Robert Booth:
    Tokyo does stand out perhaps a bit more, maybe when I'm a bit more junior in my career. Like I said, I spent some time in China. I lived in Beijing for years, so I really do love that corner of the world. When you're working or living in parts of East Asia, you really are afforded this incredible lifestyle where, in every day, you get up to something completely different. Every day you have a completely new experience. That's what I quite find exciting. Meeting people from around the planet. Tokyo is a pretty exciting place. I went there for five or six days on a rugby tour, and that was a very enlightening and enriching experience.

    Host:
    You're still playing rugby?

    Robert Booth:
    I've had a bit of a break from it. As COVID hit, another thing that hit pretty hard was via the weight gain. I do need to get back into the mode of rugby. I've been living in London now for about six to seven months, so just looking for a team now. We'll get back into it, definitely.

    Host:
    Sounds great. Robert, thanks very much for joining me, mate.

    Robert Booth:
    Thanks for having me.

    Host:
    Thank you for listening. To hear more Ashurst podcasts, including our dedicated channel on all things ESG, please visit ashurst.com/podcasts to ensure you don't miss future episodes. Subscribe now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. While you're there, please feel free to keep the conversation going and leave us a rating or review. Thanks again for listening and goodbye for now.

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