Two weeks ago, I attended an in-person networking/insight event at Dentons’ London office. I have also been a campus ambassador for the firm for the first semester. This article will compromise a summary of the event, and a general overview of the firm.
Dentons is the world’s largest law firm, with over 21,000 employees in over 200 locations, they are as global as it gets. What makes Dentons so unique is its polycentric nature; the firm does have a headquarters, rather than multiple offices in multiple locations as equals, making each office a local, community-based feel. This is important to Dentons as such a large firm, the ability to stay in touch with the communities that surround the firm even as they continue to grow.
The insight event began with a short presentation by Partner Anna Copeman, who talked about the firm generally and about her role as joint head of Intellectual Property. She highlighted partners at Dentons' commitment to realising the values they set out, so that “they aren’t just words on a page”. A good example of this is the encouragement and expectation of pro bono work, with UK staff contributing over 10,000 hours to this last year. It is a testament to the firm that this work is valued in the same way as paid work, which was evident in the next part of the evening, the trainee panel Q&A.
The trainees spoke in great depth about the pro bono work they have been able to get involved in, one of which being writing to prisoners in Guatemala, keeping them updated with current news affairs. They also talked about the culture being one of togetherness and support, with no ego or competitiveness, rather everyone had a genuine interest in helping each other and building each other up.
They also all shared a common interest in international matters and the ability to work and interact with offices across different countries. This was one of the main reasons why they chose Dentons, and they highlighted the vast amount of interaction there is between different departments and offices within the firm. Interaction between departments also meant to be exposed to so much more than their current seat during their training and means they receive a very holistic and educational training period.
Open Day applications for first-year law and penultimate-year non-law students are currently open at the firm, a day that allows you to get to know the firm, its culture and some of its people. For penultimate year law students and all final year students and graduates, vacation scheme and training contracts applications are also open You can apply to all of these opportunities through the link below if you are interested in a future at the world’s largest law firm!
Cover Image sourced from Law.Com