8.30am: I set off for work and meet other London trainees on the way. We discuss plans for the weekend and arrange to meet up after work for some drinks.
8.50am: I arrive at the office and log on to check my emails.
9.10am: I see that a client has reverted back to me on a foreign counsel fee estimate sent the night before. He has asked for a reduction and I discuss what our response should be with my supervisor, before emailing the foreign counsel. The task of liaising with foreign counsels is quite time consuming and is often delegated to the trainee in shipping transactions.
9.35am: I start working on the first draft of an English law legal opinion we are providing in relation to the sale and lease back of a Chinese bulk carrier, owned by a British Virgin Islands company, being purchased by a Hong Kong SPV and sub-let to a Cayman Islands charterer. This variety of jurisdictions is typical of most shipping transactions and raises some really interesting legal issues, as well as some fundamental commercial ones.
11.00am: I am asked to attend a conference call on another matter to take notes on the negotiation of a term sheet. This deal involves the financing of four very large ships and has a complex structure to apportion risk between different lenders. Fortunately for me most of the terms have already been agreed and the call ends within an hour.
12.00pm: A partner asks me to research how a Hong Kong court would construe a Chinese ship construction mortgage. Our client is concerned that a previous mortgage may be registered and could supersede their security over the ship. I start my research in the library and soon find a key case outlining the court's position. I report back to the partner with my findings and we discuss how this would apply in various scenarios for our client.
1.00pm: I go for lunch at a traditional Cantonese restaurant with some of the Hong Kong trainees and demonstrate my appalling chopstick abilities.
2.15pm: I return to my desk and continue drafting the legal opinion for an associate to review.
3.00pm: I hand the draft legal opinion to the associate and flag a few points that I have queries about. We discuss those and it seems there aren't too many changes to make. I return to my desk to make those changes and proof a debenture for the same transaction.
4.00pm: I attend a training seminar on the registration and deregistration of Panamanian ship mortgages. This is aimed mainly at trainees and junior associates and gives some useful guidance on a process that we have to go through on a fairly frequent basis.
5.30pm: I return to my desk and see that I have an email asking me to draft three power of attorneys in favour of the individuals executing the security documents in the ship sale and lease back. Fortunately these are quite straight forward and it doesn't take too long to turn them around.
6.35pm: I hand the power of attorneys to the associate and check if there is anything else I can help with. She tells me I am free to go and I return to my desk to complete my time recording for the day.
6.45pm: I leave the office to go for drinks with some of the other London secondees in a roof-top bar at the top of our building. We celebrate the end of a busy week and make plans for a group trip to Singapore the following weekend.
, first-year trainee, Mayer Brown International LLP