Ben Casey, 3rd-year Law with Politics Student talks about his experience while currently on placement in A&L Goodbody, one of Ireland’s leading law firms.
One of the main reasons I chose to study law at UCD was the option to do a work placement instead of studying abroad on Erasmus. Now, one month into my placement, I can honestly say it’s been one of the most interesting, challenging, and rewarding experiences of my time in college. It’s given me a real understanding of what being a lawyer is like, something you can’t fully learn from books or lectures.
In UCD Law (except for Business & Law), students in 3rd year can choose between going on Erasmus (studying abroad) or doing a work placement for a semester. However, placements aren’t guaranteed—you have to apply and be selected. I chose placement because I wanted to get practical experience and see what working as a lawyer is really like. Going down the placement route has given me the opportunity to learn more about the practise of law compared to the academic study, to meet and work with leading lawyers and to gain a more practical understanding of my future career.
The application process is similar to applying for a summer internship. Applications open at the start of 3rd year, and UCD provides support through the Sutherland School of Law and the UCD Careers Network. You can apply to up to five partner institutions (mostly law firms but some other companies and NGO’s take students as well) with a CV and Cover Letter, followed by an interview, or you can self-source your own placement. I’m currently working in the aviation and asset finance team at A&L Goodbody, which is part of the banking
department. There are other placement students from different universities working in various teams, which made settling in much easier.
Our placement intake all joined on the same day, and we had a lot of our training together which helped us learn a lot about the systems and software used within the firm- which for me anyway was more of a challenge that getting to grips with some of the legal work. There’s also a great sense of ongoing education and development within the firm, the banking department has weekly training sessions on various updates and developments both in banking law and in other practical matters, such as a LinkedIn workshop we had recently. There is also a great
wealth of knowledge and resources available for training within the firm, all previously held training workshops are available on the firm’s intranet which I have been able to avail of both for my own general understanding and for completing work on various matters.
My team mainly focuses on high-value assets—usually airplanes. We draft a variety of legal documents to make sure everything is in order before a plane is sold or leased. One of the interesting parts of my working in aviation is the multi-jurisdictional element, while we work only with Irish law we get to work with a variety of other international firms and clients. I’ve also helped draft company documents, perform research and deal with international regulations. On top of that, I’ve had the chance to visit the Department of Foreign Affairs and work
with clients, which was both exciting and a little nerve-wracking!
One of the best parts of the placement is the support from my team. Everyone is happy to help, and they take time to explain things properly even if it would be quicker for them to do it themselves which is helping me learn a lot of new skills.
I highly recommend placement to anyone considering it as an alternative to Erasmus. While studying abroad gets a lot of attention, placement gives you hands-on experience in the legal world. It’s not always easy, but it’s an amazing opportunity to develop your skills, gain industry knowledge and have the opportunity to work in a law firm while still in college.
A piece of advice I would give to anyone considering placement would be to start your preparations early. If you’re in 1st /2nd year a lot of the big firms run insights days which you can apply to, attend any on campus events with firms such as through your Law Society or Career’s fairs. Do your research online, if there’s a particular firm or a particular practise area, you’re interested in being able to say why and it’s never too soon to start on your CV or Cover Letter!
