Chambers Student Podcast

If you’re just starting to think about a career in law, it’s important to think about whether the contentious or transactional route best suits you. This week, we sit down with Hayley Lund – a disputes and investigations partner at US firm Weil - to hear more about what the contentious side looks like in practice. 

Having trouble working out which firm to apply to? We sit down with a trainee and a member of graduate recruitment to hear more about how to work out what your priorities are and how to find a law firm that suits them.

At the recent ‘The Times 2TG Moot’, we took the chance to sit down with Paige Mason-Thom – a barrister at 2 Temple Gardens - to hear more about her journey; the wins, the challenges, and what she has learned along the way. Joining Chambers Student is Rohan Mapara – head of DE&I at Chambers – to share his thoughts on access and social mobility into the profession. 

There’s a common misconception among aspiring lawyers that client contact is something left to older, wiser, more experienced hands. Not so at American import Fried Frank. In this episode, we sit down with a partner and an associate at the firm to find out more about how trainees should approach their early interactions with clients, and how to get the best out of them. 

We sit down with NQs at employment specialists Lewis Silkin to hear more about what their work day involves, the skills that make the difference, and some pearls of wisdom from their own paths in the profession. 

In this episode, we sit down with Lowri Mumford and Finlay Lam-Gall, two associates in Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds and Manchester offices, to hear more about the legal markets on offer in the North of England. We find out everything from what Leeds and Manchester are like as legal hubs, right through to the opportunities and training environments on offer.

This week, we sat down with Edinburgh training principal Lynsey Walker and trainees Suzie Wilson and Rijul Shah to hear more about their career journeys so far, all in an effort to demystify the process and find out more about what it takes to make it as a solicitor in Scotland.

Artificial Intelligence has its uses in a number of different industries, and the law is no different. There are, after all, a great many lawyers discussing and using AI and generative AI in their daily work. In this episode, we sat down with three lawyers at international law firm Ashurst, to discuss how AI is impacting the legal landscape, how the firm is adapting to it, and what it means for th...

This week, we sit down with Hardeep Plahe, a partner at the rapidly expanding Addleshaw Goddard, to hear more about why law firms expand, their key regions of interest, and why prospective applicants should take an interest. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

This week, we sat down with trainee Melanie Yu, supervisor Martin Weatherston-Wilson and training principal James Harvey to get their top tips on how to step into the space with focus, their sources for improving your commercial awareness, and insider knowledge on how to spruce up your application. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

In this episode, we sit down with Clifford Chance NQ Lucy Johnson to discuss the realities of a training contract at the firm, and we hear what advice Lucy would give her younger self as she started out. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

As a trainee, or prospective trainee, partners can often seem pretty far removed from your day to day. But as any partner will tell you, they were you once. No matter how daunting it feels, they sat in your shoes and chances are, they remember it well. Recently, we sat down with Asma, Hannah and James, three lawyers at City law firm Travers Smith, to find out more. For more insights from Asma, Han...

In this podcast we speak with trainee, Charlotte Gill and partner, Viran Ram of Clyde & Co., one of the premier law firms in insurance, to speak about just that - insurance law, what it's all about, and why you should be interested in the space...

For anyone interested in a career in law, the steps you need to take can feel pretty convoluted, and it can sometimes feel like your options are fairly limited. But while there are a host of resources available to you that will help simplify the process, it’s also worth knowing that the traditional training contract route is one option of several. In this podcast, we chat to Amy Armitage and Tom E...

If you’re just coming out of university, it will probably feel pretty daunting to make the transition to a truly global workplace. But it’s a challenge that brings with it a near endless supply of upsides, from a more varied firm culture and a broader range of practices to secondment opportunities. In this episode, we sit down with trainees at international firm White & Case to hear more about...

Wherever you wind up doing your training contract, understanding the way what’s happening around the world relates to the law is important. So important, in fact, that the phrase ‘commercial awareness’ is probably something you’ll grow pretty sick of hearing. But wrapping your head around the legal aspects of current events is something that every aspiring lawyer will need to learn how to do, and...

In a Chambers Student podcast special for International Women’s Day, barrister Abimbola Johnson shares her experiences of life at the Bar with Chambers Student’s Chelsey Stanborough. They discuss the ups and downs of barrister life, her experiences as a working mother, and what has motivated her throughout her professional life (including her move from criminal law to public inquiry and inquest wo...

In the 2020-21 season, the RFU reported that there was an average of 22.2 concussions per 1,000 hours of game play in professional rugby, the highest since records started in 2002. While rugby organisations have taken steps to reduce the risk of head injuries, research suggests that players are at a high risk of sustaining multiple sub concussive impacts, and the long-term health implications that...

This week, Chambers Student's Taiwo Oshodi looks into Exxon Mobil's challenge to the EU's windfall tax on energy firms, and the implications of the case for energy lawyers.

Chambers Student's Chelsey Stanborough speaks with trainees from Womble Bond Dickinson up and down the country about what’s it like training to be a lawyer outside of London. The full-service firm has seven offices nationwide (plus ties in the US). Chelsey speaks to Kiera Dodds in Newcastle, George Laidlaw in Southampton, Olivia Matano in Bristol and Josh Coleman in Leeds. This trainee-led discuss...

In this week's Memo, Taiwo Oshodi looks at the implications of the UK government's move to challenge Scotland's gender recognition bill.

Chambers Student catches up with three BPP students to get their reflections on SQE2 and the SQE as a whole. They share their experiences of the exams and prep course, dig into the biggest differences between SQE1 and SQE2, and share their top tips for success.

Whether it’s shaking off the ‘trainee’ badge for a while, getting a better understanding of a client’s business or building your network as a lawyer, there are plenty of good reasons to consider a client secondment as a part of your training contract. In this podcast, Isaac Hickford speaks to Olivia Watson and Louise Clarke, two former client secondees and now associates at Addleshaw Goddard, to f...

In this episode, we explore the ways in which applicants can utilise their ‘differences’ to stand out during applications and interviews. We’re joined by Rosie Buckley and Natalie Chalmers from Dentons’ Early Careers team, and trainee solicitors Amanda Kingsley and Fattah Abdulattif who each shed some light on the application process, including how to start thinking about what your differences may...

In this Memo podcast special, we outline the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, highlight the key findings from its bankruptcy filing, and reflect on what impact this may have on crypto market regulation.