Stephanie Tao

I definitely did not take the traditional route in coming to William Fry. I received my BA from the University of California, San Diego and then my Juris Doctorate from Western New England College School of Law in Massachusetts. I first came to Ireland as part of a study abroad program at University College Dublin, one of the few institutions in the world to offer a summer course on International Intellectual Property Law.

From my first contact I encountered a warm, friendly and supportive environment. It started even before I began working here with a personal phone call from the Partner who interviewed me to let me know that I had been accepted. As one of the top five firms, I expected William Fry to be extremely pressurised. While it is hard work, the Firm definitely still leaves time for the Trainees to have a very healthy social life and there are plenty of social events to choose from.

Everyone in the Firm is very accessible and the Partners and Associates have an open-door policy which makes it much easier for Trainees to learn and also gives them a wealth of knowledge to tap into. So far I have worked in Insolvency Litigation, Projects & Construction as well as Competition. I have learned an immense amount. It has been great experience and I have been lucky enough to have been involved in a multitude of different tasks including attending in court, assisting in the drafting of legal documents and researching various legal ideas. It is a great feeling to be able to see that the work you do actually fits into the bigger picture and helps towards a successful end result.

I would definitely recommend William Fry as a place where Trainees are exposed to many different aspects of the legal world and yet still maintain a balance between their professional and personal life.