Life as a Trainee: Eilidh McTavish

I joined Burness Paull in December 2018 as a paralegal in the Restructuring & Insolvency and Pensions team after completing a LLM at the University of Glasgow. I decided to join the firm as I had heard through word-of-mouth that it had a great culture with a real collegiate vibe. On joining, I was really impressed with the quality of work and clients that we were working with on a day-to-day basis.

After working for Burness Paull for nearly a year, I applied for their traineeship as I knew first hand that the firm offered a great training programme with lots of opportunities – although my main motivation for staying with the firm was due to the friendly, social atmosphere that was what brought me there in the first place! Throughout the year Burness Paull has some great social events including a summer bbq, a golf day and movie nights.

I’m part of the first trainee intake that started from home. However, I had some practice of this as I was already at the firm when we all began working from home (albeit part-time whilst I completed the Diploma). So when I started I was already accustomed to attending work virtually from the living room ‘office’ and had already been set up with all the home equipment I needed. At first I found working from home a little intimidating but my team and the firm were really supportive and it’s definitely second nature now! I think most people will agree that working from home life is bitter sweet – saving time commuting but missing the social aspect of the office such as after work drinks.

I’m now nearly a month into my traineeship. My first seat is in Banking & Funds and the team has made me feel very welcome. I was amazed how well supported I was: I was assigned a mentor on starting in the team who scheduled weekly catch ups and is always there whenever I have a question or simply to catch up over a (virtual) coffee. The work in Banking & Funds is fast-paced and exciting. I often get to work closely with other firms from all over the globe – it is a great insight into the legal profession in other jurisdictions. As a trainee in the team you are given a lot of responsibility which allowed me to find my feet quickly and helped me transition from a paralegal to trainee lawyer.

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