Student Placement Programme

Our student placement programme will provide you with an opportunity to experience a dynamic, fast-paced and unique working environment associated only with a leading global corporate law firm such as Eversheds Sutherland. Over the course of the placement you will become embedded in the firm and our culture, build relationships, work on high quality transactions and gain an insight to life in Eversheds Sutherland.

The Programme

As a placement student, you are assigned to one of our legal teams; Property, Corporate, Litigation, Employment, Education, IP/IT, Tax, Banking, Funds, Construction & Projects or Pensions. You will directly work with our partners and solicitors engaging in high quality and interesting work. Our real open door policy ensures you feel comfortable and supported whilst learning and engaging in valuable work.

We understand that starting a new job can be an exciting but also nerve-wracking process, so as a placement student you are allocated a buddy to welcome and support you throughout your time in the firm.

You also receive feedback with a mid and end feedback session with your reporting partner.

And while hard work is inevitable our sports and social committee organise numerous events including pilates, fun runs, quiz nights, cinema trips and bowling. Our active CSR Committee also organise wellness programmes alongside community and environmental initiatives.

Learning and Development

The learning and development aspect of your work placement is designed on the basis of the 70-20-10 learning model – 70% on-the-job experience, 20% coaching and 10% structured or classroom based learning.

We encourage you to take full advantage of all on-the-job learning opportunities during the placement in order to gain as much hands-on experience as possible. Likewise, you will have plenty of opportunities to learn from those around you. Lastly, we are committed to ensuring you receive dedicated classroom based learning during your placement. We have selected classroom based modules in order to help you to meet the requirements of your day-to-day role and build long-term professional skills.

The duration of your placement depends on your course and university.

Testimonials

Rhiannon Mulcaire, NUIG Placement Student

"I completed the Eversheds Sutherland student placement programme during the 2021/22 academic year, and worked with both the New Homes and Pensions teams. The placement has afforded me a highly valuable insight into legal practice, and has enabled me to develop skills which will be of great use to me in pursuing a career as a solicitor.

From my very first day on the programme, the open and accessible culture at the firm became apparent. Throughout my first week, the other placement students and I were given a number of different induction courses which were very useful, particularly in respect of things such as the firm’s use of IT. Each person I met was really welcoming, and made it clear that I could come to them with any questions I might have. Even the partners I worked with were very patient, and always took time out of their busy schedules to explain something to me if I had a query. I always felt very supported, and that the firm was actively trying to make sure I reached my full potential throughout my time on the placement programme.

The programme itself reflects the firm’s culture of promoting the personal development of its staff – in addition to the work that we complete with our respective teams, students are also provided with weekly training classes. These Learning & Development classes cover a wide variety of legal-related topics and I found them to be really useful in understanding both the work itself, and also the process of qualifying into the profession. In particular, I found an FE1 preparatory course which was arranged for myself and the other students to be very helpful. The consistent provision of these L&D classes is a unique feature to the Eversheds Sutherland student placement programme, and I believe the information that I have acquired through completing such classes will be a great asset to me in progressing my career.

Although I had previously worked in a much smaller legal office before I began my placement, working at Eversheds Sutherland has offered me a vastly different insight into the profession from the perspective of an international law firm. The varied, fast-paced nature of the work, in addition to the firm’s numerous high-profile clients, ensures that each day is different from the last. The work is never repetitive, and I have had the opportunity to meet so many new people through the different matters that I have worked on. Working on such detailed, high-stakes matters at such an early juncture in a student’s legal career affords them invaluable experience before graduating into the legal profession.

Overall, the friendly and supportive culture at the firm, coupled with the programme’s immersive approach to assigning students with work, means that students are offered the best possible environment to explore the legal profession and develop as individuals. Participating in the student placement programme has solidified my ambition to qualify as a solicitor, illustrating how much I have enjoyed my time with the firm. I would really encourage other students to apply for the placement programme, and would also recommend Eversheds Sutherland as a law firm for anyone considering a career in law."

Eimear Osborne, NUIG Placement Student

"I was delighted to be offered an internship in Eversheds Sutherland for my placement year in college. From the interview stage at the very beginning, to being a member of the Eversheds team, my experience here has been nothing short of incredible. Everybody I have met and dealt with in the firm has been extremely friendly and welcoming, and I have gained considerable experience and exposure to many areas of law. I was given extensive opportunity to deal with clients, and be a part of important, high-profile transactions.

What I found most valuable was the involvement I had in different projects and transactions. The team partners had no hesitancy in involving me in any task, big or small, and viewed each task as an opportunity to learn and develop my legal knowledge. I was given feedback and guidance at every corner, which has helped me immensely to better my proficiency both generally and in the various areas of law.

One of the five core values of Eversheds Sutherland is their transparency and openness. I can attest that this, along with their other core values, is central to everyday life in Eversheds Sutherland. Both in the office and remotely, all team members were accessible and readily available to answer any burning questions I had.

My time in Eversheds Sutherland has only heightened my desire to pursue a career in law, and I could not have asked for a better firm to complete my placement experience in. I cannot recommend Eversheds Sutherland highly enough, and I would encourage every law student to apply to available roles in the firm."

Fiachra Leavy, NUIG Placement Student

"My time in the Eversheds Sutherland work placement programme has been a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile experience. My request to join the Property department was facilitated by the firm and it was here where I learned valuable skills and gained useful knowledge through challenging, gratifying and meaningful work.

Prior to applying for the programme I was apprehensive of my choice of department as I would not study land law until my final year of college. However, after starting in the firm I quickly realised this was a non-issue. Colleagues both within and outside of my team always offered a helping hand and a detailed explanation of any task I had difficulty with.

I learned much from others in the firm, who would always devote ample time to answering my questions regardless of their own workload. This collaboration between staff is a major part of the culture of the firm and its ‘open door policy’ makes all of the solicitors and partners very approachable, especially for a placement student just starting out at the firm.

As part of my work in the property department I was involved multiple deals, some of which were high profile. I played a small but significant role in these projects. It was a surreal and satisfying experience seeing a newspaper article about a deal which you were involved in. I was really impressed by the quality of work and the responsibility I was given while at Eversheds Sutherland.

The office itself is located in a fantastic central area of Dublin, and as I am studying in NUI Galway, the placement programme was a great opportunity to experience the city of Dublin and all it has to offer.

During the course of the placement the Learning & Development team organised a large amount of programmes and learning experiences for the interns. The programmes were spread out over the course of the 8 months and each were informative, comprehensive and interesting. It was clear from the effort and resources put into organising these sessions that the firm want to invest in you as a person and facilitate the development of skills which would prove useful in any career path you choose. The skills I learned during my placement will pay dividends not just in the short term but over the course of my entire career."

How to apply

To apply for a placement position please contact the placement officer in your university.