Graduate Recruitment brochure - Holman Fenwick Willan

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY We promote a workplace where diversity is valued, where everyone has the opportunity to contribute and fulfil their own potential. This in turn, we believe, helps us to deliver the best service to our clients, and is central to everything we do. ■ We are signatories of the Law Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Charter. The Charter is a public commitment to developing and implementing best practice in equality, diversity and inclusion. ■ We are members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions’ Programme, and attend the Law Society’s Firms’ Diversity Forum. ■ We monitor all stages of our recruitment and promotion processes to ensure that the criteria used are appropriate, remove unintended bias and give everyone an equal chance. ■ Where possible, we facilitate flexible working for those with care responsibilities. ■ We recognise that as an employer in the legal sector, we have a responsibility to promote access to the profession from all sectors of society. We support a number of initiatives to encourage students from low income backgrounds to consider law as a career. ■ We are signatories of PRIME, the work experience commitment from the legal profession. Through this initiative, we provide quality work experience for school-age students across the UK from disadvantaged backgrounds. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Our corporate social responsibility programme extends to: 6 HFW Graduate Recruitment: Growing Potential ■ Charitable programmes: On a global basis, the firm supports ChildHope, an international charity which supports programmes in Africa, Asia and South America that challenge violence suffered by children and young people. In addition to this, individual offices take part in a range of fundraising activities for local charities working with their communities. The firm also regularly donates to fundraising efforts in response to some of the world’s worst disasters. ■ Community programmes: The firm runs a number of mentoring, literacy, language and art projects in local communities, working with local schools and colleges to encourage children and young adults to participate in education in a way they may not previously have thought about. We also support The Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust, a charity set up to renovate the Chauncy Maples steamer as a floating clinic on Lake Malawi, providing treatment for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, measles and HIV/Aids. ■ All Trainees play an active role in pro bono and community legal work. We offer advice, on a pro bono basis, to charities and other not-for-profit organisations. For example, we operate a weekly drop-in advice centre in a south London borough staffed by Partners, Associates and Trainees. ■ Environment: In 2009 the firm joined Green500, a carbon reduction scheme, pioneered by the Mayor of London. As a result, the London office recycles 60% of its waste material.
Sarah Jane Thompson (Associate – Hong Kong) Degree: History at Cambridge University Seats: Trade & Energy; Commercial Litigation; Corporate, Projects & Finance; Shipping & Transport Qualified: 2010 What is the most exciting aspect of your role? One of the most fantastic things about working for HFW Hong Kong is being able to see what we work on from the windows of the office. International commerce is the lifeblood of most of the world’s major cities, but it’s often tucked out of sight: in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, which teems with ferries, helicopters, cruise ships, yachts, tugs, cranes, lighters and barges at all times of day and night, it’s the star of the show. You simply can’t escape the fact that this city is and always has been a hub for trade and transport, and I really enjoy working somewhere which feels so closely connected with what we do. Much of our work involves engaging with the practicalities of the industries we serve – in my case, shipping and commodities. That’s one of the things I really like about my job: learning about and dealing with real world problems, such as why coal might start spontaneously combusting on the quayside or how a vessel’s steering gear can stop having any effect just as she’s coming into port. Here in Asia, we’re often assisting clients with these issues in real time, which provides great opportunities for gaining the kind of in-depth industry knowledge that can really help you provide clients with expert service, tailored to what they genuinely need. Outside of work, Hong Kong is simply a great place to live – there’s an incredible amount to explore beyond the central high rises, shops and bars, including ancient temples, beautiful country parks, floating fishing villages and (believe it or not) deserted coves. I’m very glad I made the decision to come out here on qualification, and I think the remarkable opportunities HFW offers for working abroad deserve serious consideration by any Trainee. Toby Savage (Associate – Insurance & Reinsurance) Degree: Theology & Religious Studies at Bristol University Seats: Trade & Energy; Commercial Litigation; Corporate, Projects & Finance; Insurance & Reinsurance Qualified: 2006 What have been the highlights of your career to-date? Travelling the world and experiencing new cultures has always been a passion of mine. In that respect, I have been lucky that the majority of the cases I have worked on during my career in the Insurance & Reinsurance department in the firm’s London office, have involved an international element. This has allowed me to travel to a number of other countries including Germany, Bermuda, Iceland and Thailand. One of the highlights of my legal career to-date arose on a recent case where we were instructed by a group of reinsurer clients, together with the local insurer, in relation to a claim by an international energy company in the Thai courts. It quickly became clear that, unlike some other jurisdictions, the time frame between the issuance of a claim form in the Thai courts and the dates set down for the final hearing can be extremely short! This meant that we only had a very short period of time to work alongside local counsel to prepare our defence. This involved travelling to Thailand to interview the witnesses as well as preparing our client’s evidence for disclosure under the Thai court rules. Having had no previous experience of the Thai legal system, it was a steep learning curve and a number of challenges had to be overcome along the way. However, it ultimately proved to be a very interesting and hugely rewarding experience. We even managed to establish new law along the way, with the court granting permission for the use of electronic disclosure for the first time in the Thai courts! Being a very keen sportsman, I have also been lucky enough to be involved in a number of HFW sports teams, including rugby 7s, cricket and football. The highlight was definitely travelling to Dubai to play for HFW’s rugby 7s team in the international invitation tournament. Other highlights have included getting to the final of the annual Lloyd’s Rugby 7’s tournament, as well as playing cricket for a client team at the renowned JP Getty’s estate against the Lloyd’s of London Cricket Club and the Stock Exchange Cricket Club. HFW Graduate Recruitment: Growing Potential 7
Page 2 and 3: We believe that we are different at
Page 4 and 5: WHAT WE DO We have concentrated the
Page 6 and 7: WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR? We encourag
Page 10 and 11: YOUR DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING Our a
Page 12 and 13: Dimitri Vassos (Office Head - Pirae
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Graduate Recruitment brochure - Holman Fenwick Willan

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