8.10am: I arrive at the office earlier than usual as I am going to a client meeting with my supervisor this morning. I check my emails, post and voicemails before having a quick look at the news. I then re-read some background notes for the meeting before we jump in a taxi.
11.30am: Back at the office I have a quick chat with my supervisor about how we think the meeting went. There is some follow-up work for me to do in the next few days. In the meantime I am working on the regulatory aspects of a corporate deal. We have previously asked overseas lawyers in a variety of jurisdictions questions about the law in their country. My job is to draft part of a vendor due diligence report based on their answers. It is quite a big task and I am learning some rather obscure bits of Thai law in the process!
1.00pm: Lunchtime. I meet a few of the trainees in the firm's café. It is really warm outside so we grab some food and head to Lincoln's Inn to make the most of the good weather.
1.40pm: Back at the office, I check my emails. One of our clients is about to invest in a investment fund and we are negotiating the side letter. Yesterday we requested that an extra paragraph be inserted into the letter and I can see from one of the emails that lawyers for the fund have rejected the extra wording. This is not a very contentious point but it is important for our client. I draft an email explaining why our client cannot move on this point. I send my draft email to the assistant working on the matter and, once approved, I send it to the other lawyers.
2.00pm: I carry on working on the vendor due diligence report. As I review the overseas advice it is clear we need to go back to our client to confirm certain things in order to make the report as strong as possible. I will probably be asked to draft the email later so I make a list of the points we need to check.
4.00pm: I sit in on a call my supervisor is having with a client. The FSA recently issued some guidance and I have been helping to draft an opinion on our interpretation of the FSA rules and the options for the client. We discuss this and the client seems reassured by the end of the call.
5.00pm: It is time for my department's weekly educational seminar and this week it is on private equity funds. Each week one of the team presents on a different topic and around once a month we have an 'education update' in order to keep up to speed with any legal or regulatory changes.
6.10pm: Back at my desk I see that I have received an email confirming that the extra paragraph for the side letter has been accepted. This is good news and our client can now arrange for the letter to be signed. I carry on working on the due diligence report, updating it as further information comes in.
7.30pm: I write a to-do list for tomorrow and, although I should probably go to the gym, I head off to meet some friends at a local bar instead!
, first-year trainee, Macfarlanes LLP