A trainee's life at a top city firm can be hard work - but there's fun to be had, and rich rewards at the end, writes Anne Mizzi

From mere trainee to lowly geek to big swinging City lawyer - it is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Fresh-faced legal practice course (LPC) graduates have a lot to look forward to when embarking on a two-year training contract that will be their passport to the ranks of qualified professionals they aspire to join.

Although some fledgling trainees will have an idea of what to expect of their training contract from a vacation placement, many new trainees will not have had any experience of a law office.

And if they have come directly from education, they may not have had any office experience at all.

Mike Brennan started his training contract at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer this year after returning from travels in South America and has just completed a corporate seat.

He says: 'Before arriving I was slightly apprehensive because although I had worked at medium-sized law firms abroad, I had never worked in a large City practice.

But I actually feel very comfortable here and my firm has excellent information banks and paralegal support.'

The first-seat trainee may have little idea of what to expect but armed with three years of undergraduate law, or possibly another undergraduate degree with a law conversion tacked onto the end, followed by an LPC year, usually with a gap year break at some point, the so-called 'first seater' should have the tools and skills needed to survive this new environment.

At the larger firms, trainees have the benefit of organised induction courses and special bonding sessions, such as the infamous Herbert Smith treasure hunt, to ensure they are prepared before they are thrown in at the deep end.

The first couple of weeks are likely to consist purely of induction sessions introducing them to the firm and the various departments, and may well also include a professional skills course, which is a Law Society requirement, although some firms, such as Allen & Overy, leave this to later on in the training contract.

In addition, trainees will usually find that the first few weeks comprise of post-induction nights out, which may include such diverse activities as drinking, dancing and curry eating.

The importance of this should not be underestimated.

The trainee's compatriots or their 'intake' will come to rely on each other for crucial e-mail support on tricky questions like how to do a companies search on a Monrovia-registered company or where to find a paginator last thing on a Friday afternoon.

After the first few heaving weeks of bonding, friendship groups will be formed and trainees can look forward to more sporadic group events such as their firm's trainee ball or other official sponsored events.

For example, Lovells' trainees have an annual budget of 10,500 to spend on socialising and recently held a James Bond night at a Tottenham Court Road cinema, which was attended by 75 of the firm's 120 London-based trainees.

Newly inducted first-seaters will, however, have more serious things on their minds post-induction.

Their first duty will be to attend a hand-over session with the trainees they are to replace and to meet the person who will be their boss - also variously known as 'supervisor', 'trainer' and even 'superior' - for the next six months.

This person will determine the trainee's working life for the next six months in terms of the monkey tasks that are to be performed during the day and the number of hours that day will involve.

'I'm now friends with two of my old supervisors and many others within the old departments,' says Charlie Winckworth, a third-seat Lovells trainee.

'But some people are not so lucky, and I appreciate I've been very fortunate.'

Mr Winckworth's first seat at Lovells was in the property department, as is often the case.

Many firms regard property as a good starting seat, although the trainee has little or no choice in this decision.

Firms bill this as good experience, but it is no coincidence that the work is high volume and low value compared to the City bread-and-butter work of corporate transactions, and an area where trainees' low charge-out rates ensure they will be kept busy.

But although this is often not where trainees will envisage qualifying, it is widely regarded as good experience as they will enjoy more client contact and responsibility for the day-to-day running of files than they would do, for example, in the corporate department.

One City trainee said: 'I didn't have a choice but wouldn't have chosen property as my first seat.

Put it this way, land law and conveyancing were not my favourite subjects and I didn't pay much attention because I thought they were more relevant to a high street practice.

But it was good experience.

I got to run my own files and a lot more responsibility than some of the trainees in other departments.'

The two-year training contract is divided up into four six-month stints at most of the large City firms.

It is unusual for City trainees to have a choice in their first seats, but after that it is a bit like musical chairs, and the trainees swap round every six months.

The trainee applies to the department he wants to join and a committee will place them according to availability.

Some firms are more flexible about the length and number of seats.

At Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, trainees can chose three-month seats, which gives them the chance to work in more than four departments during their training contract.

If the firm has international offices, the trainee should be able to apply for a seat abroad.

The trainee may also be able to apply for a secondment to one of the firm's clients or there may even be the possibility of working as a judicial assistant.

This is more likely to happen in the third and fourth seats, as these are regarded as desirable positions.

There may also be a requirement that the trainee has sat in a particular seat in the past.

For example, would-be judicial assistants may be required to have contentious experience, but if you aim to spend six months in Amsterdam or Milan, getting a corporate seat under the belt could strengthen your hand.

The Law Society requires trainees and their supervisors to complete record cards of the training to ensure trainees are getting the experience they will need on qualification.

The trainee will also be subjected to mid and end-of-seat appraisals, which the firm will take into consideration when deciding on whether to send a trainee on a secondment or, more crucially, whether to retain the trainee at the end of the contract.

Stephen Wilkinson, graduate recruitment partner at Herbert Smith, says: 'We spend a great deal of time and money not only ensuring that we recruit the right individuals to become trainees but on their legal and other training and development during their training contracts.

It would be madness to do so unless we fully expected them to join us as qualified lawyers at the end of their contracts.

We evaluate how trainees perform and discuss that performance with them on many levels, formal and informal.

'If a trainee has not performed to the required standard, we will not offer them a position when they qualify but those cases are rare and, even in recent years when the general economy has declined, we have offered positions to the overwhelming majority of those who have applied at the end of their contracts.'

Given the increasing competition for places on qualification, it is not surprising that trainees are putting in the hours to secure a position that will earn them an on-qualification salary in the region of 50,000.

But this does not mean that it is all work and no play for the young solicitors.

With a pay packet in the region of 30,000 during their training burning a hole in their pockets, trainees should have enough wedge left over after paying off student debts and London rent to enjoy a fairly decent lifestyle.

But the trainee expecting sex in the City, big hair dos and shoulder-pads may be disappointed.

Kerry Stares has just moved from corporate to her second seat in Herbert Smith's employment department.

'It's not all champagne and sharp suits,' she insists.

'We're lawyers, not investment bankers.

But I have been known to have the odd night out and I think it is important to get the work/life balance right.'

Mr Winckworth also admits to after-work socialising, but he argues: 'The "work hard, play hard" attitude doesn't always come off.

But I've never stayed longer than around eleven, and even then it was my own fault; it was something I could have realistically done the next day - I was just working late.

'Saying that, I'm a big believer in having a life outside work and for the most part, there's plenty of opportunity to have one.'

But it is a fact of life that the trainee solicitor is on standby to provide crucial assistance on key tasks such as proof-reading Stock Exchange documents, which may well require attending the office during the weekend or all night, and sometimes with little or no notice.

Although there will be times that it is possible for the trainee to leave work at a reasonable time, the hours can be long and it is not unknown for trainees to find themselves researching in the library until midnight, or cancelling long-established appointments because their bundle must be ready for counsel in the morning.

Friends and family learn to make flexible appointments - something that will stand the trainee in good stead as a fully fledged lawyer.

And as the glamour of 'LA Law' fades, the photocopier beckons.

Anne Mizzi is a trainee solicitor at City-based law firm Herbert Smith