A student traineeship is a particularly useful and fun way to experience life as a lawyer while a student. I did a traineeship at Lexence in the Corporate and Commercial Law practice while reading Civil Law at Leiden University. However, my activities were not restricted to that department. I also did some work for the Lease team and Employment and Benefits Law group.
I found the law degree course really theoretical from time to time. During the traineeship I experienced how the law is applied in practice. I had
the opportunity to observe the daily activities and worries of a lawyer for two whole months. The activities ranged from a jurisprudence lunch and weekly work meetings to writing memos about various matters, going to court, discussions with clients, jurisprudence investigations and drinks. Indeed, ‘drinks’ come in all shapes and sizes, such a drinks with colleagues from the office, either at the office or somewhere else, but also Jonge Balie Borrels (young bar drinks), which mostly involves lawyers from other firms. There, you meet others who are more or less doing the same thing as you and you can discuss your respective experiences with them.
The traineeship has shown me that a lawyer’s work is very varied, with no two days being the same. Every case is different and you are always dealing with new people. That really appeals to me.
I went on to study one more year after completing my traineeship. During that year I was given the opportunity to carry on helping the Corporate and Commercial Law practice for one day a week. I began work as a lawyer for the Employment and Benefits Law team after completing my studies. I had not had much to do with employment and benefits law previously, but they have looked after me well and I’ve settled down now. I’m really enjoying it (helped by the fact that I’ve now received my first “real” pay cheque).
The student traineeship not only taught me a lot, it also helped me to decide that I wanted to be a lawyer - and in the end it provided me with a fantastic job. To summarise a student traineeship in three words – go for it!