If you’re reading this, you’re probably still trying to decide whether to apply to FSI or not, and why choose FSI over the other 20 law firms with a similar profile. With so many firms to choose from, what makes FSI different and worthy of your application? I’m going to try to answer that question, while telling you a bit about my experience as a trainee here.

FSI likes interesting people who have a bit of spark and something to say for themselves. Of course you need to be intelligent, approachable, and professional but you’re more likely to  fit in here not by being the typical trainee, but by standing out from the crowd. What other firm focuses its recruitment process on a presentation of the applicant’s choice, as much to assess their presentation skills as their passion and enthusiasm for the subject? FSI recognises the value of the individual, and really values people who already have some work and life experience under their belt. My intake included a former bank manager, a legal secretary, me, a marketer of health and beauty products, as well as two more conventional graduates, who are as wise and well-travelled as anyone. I have certainly found that the firm is already packed with many interesting characters so there is never a dull moment.

I’ve already talked about the presentation part, but the rest of the recruitment process is also very innovative and interesting. There is an open day on 2 July 2008 where you can come and listen to various people from the firm talk candidly about FSI and the type of work we do. Most of the firm turns up afterwards to chat informally over a glass of wine. If you like what you see and your application is successful, you will be invited for an interview. If you get through that, you will have a second interview and give the presentation on a subject you’re passionate about, which I talked about earlier. Then if all goes well, bingo, the holy grail that is a training contract, complete with GDL and/or LPC fees paid and invites for all the social events laid on by the firm until you start.

FSI is quite unique because it’s medium sized (it’s an office not a small town) and while it’s commercially focussed, it has strong supporting departments in the form of family, private client, employment and litigation. It’s also in the West End not in the city which makes its client base more interesting. So, for the open-minded and undecided it’s the perfect, fully loaded training contract.

I am currently in my third seat, which is in the private client department, dealing with wills, tax planning, trusts and estates. People will have quite high expectations of you from day one, but the reward is a constant flow of interesting and substantial work i.e. drafting wills rather than photocopying them. The culture of the firm is reflected in the type of clients it attracts, which makes for a very varied and exciting working day, with a few celebrities thrown in. 

My first seat was in commercial property which is FSI’s largest department and an obligatory seat for all trainees. Though I wasn’t initially filled with excitement at the prospect, this seat far exceeded my expectations. It’s a dynamic department with many big clients, and you are truly one of the team, with as much to contribute in closing the deal as anyone else. My recommendation would definitely be to do the Advanced Property Elective. My second seat was in the family department. The head of the family department, Alan Kaufman, is described by the Legal 500 as “a fine blend of steel and sensitivity” and I think this is a good motto for the whole group. Even as a trainee you have a high level of exposure to clients, and you develop invaluable skills in dealing with the irate, frustrated, distressed and downright nasty (clients and opposing solicitors alike!)

I don’t know about you, but I have always struggled to reconcile my chosen career with my more altruistic and socially responsible ambitions. This is where FSI also has the edge. I am a member of the charity committee which has been set up this year to coordinate a firm wide effort to support the Helen & Douglas House, who provide care for terminally ill children and their carers, and the NSPCC. It helps that FSI is very socially active as we have learned how to have fun while also raising money for charity. Some of my fellow trainees are members of the FX social committee, who are fresh off the back of their wine-tasting for beginners triumph, and warming up for the next legendary FSI quiz night. Our motto is ‘making a life, not just a living’, which sums up our intentions both as people and lawyers quite well I think.
 
I read several trainee life stories when I was trying to decide which firms to apply to, in the hope that I would recognise something of myself, and thus a firm that might quite like me. But the real question, and the basis for your decision about where to apply, should be whether you think you will like them. And I hope that after reading this, you do.