Maureen Ho – Trainee, Hong Kong
"I did an internship in the Hong Kong office two years ago and found it very different from other firms in terms of the people, the work and the training. People from law firms can sometimes be quite arrogant but when I started working at Freshfields I felt that people were humble – willing to learn and willing to teach as well. That makes a difference from those firms where people all have their own individual offices but don't actually go and talk to each other. Here there is a greater sense of team work and collaboration.
When I joined as a trainee we were given an induction, which covered everything from how the firm is positioning itself and how different departments work, to what kind of work we could expect as trainees and the most important deals the firm is running right now. It also equips us with skills such as IT, business development and marketing.
I've only been here a short while but every day is more exciting as you get more and more responsibility and get to know your colleagues better.
I've already worked on two IPOs and helped out with some compliance work where I was required to deal with the client directly. The associates and senior associates told me what would come up and what the issues were, but I had to manage the situation myself. That felt quite challenging, but people here are generally very, very supportive and they do welcome questions. In fact, they even ask me to ask more questions!"
Maureen Ho
Trainee, Hong Kong
Hong Kong University – Law
Joined: as a trainee in August 2009