Yvette Zegenhagen, Trainee, April 2009

I really enjoyed my experience as a trainee at Cornwall Stodart. The traineeship program is extremely well organised and I am very lucky to have been given the guidance and support of several staff, who have the responsibility of making our transition from students to full-time employees as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

Trainees complete five rotations around each of the practice groups, which ensures that we get a real insight into the work in each area, as well gaining a broad overview of how the firm operates as a whole. It also means we have the opportunity to get to know everyone in the firm on more than just a first name basis.

The attitude of all staff to the traineeship year definitely sets Cornwall Stodart apart from other firms. We are treated as valued members of the team and each practice group goes out of the way to ensure we are exposed to a huge variety of interesting work. Everyone from partnership level down is available to help us out and many enjoy taking an active role in our professional development.

The traineeship year at Cornwalls is also seen as an opportunity to hone the skills we will need as young lawyers. As such, we are given the opportunity to manage the day to day running of files with the supervision of a partner, and are given exposure to clients and networking events from an early stage. While this can be daunting, it makes the prospect of working more autonomously when we become lawyers far less overwhelming!