MHC Intern Life: Ava O'Connor

For the next MHC Intern Life, we talked to Ava O’Connor, who just completed her final year of Law in Trinity College Dublin. Ava describes her first week as an intern here.

The first week as a summer intern here has been a wonderful experience, packed full of fun activities, social events and new and exciting work challenges.

Upon arrival at the firm on our first day we were greeted with a warm welcome from several of the partners, senior associates, associates and trainees. We then got acquainted over some coffee and pastries which helped settle everyone’s nerves and get excited about the experience to come. We then launched into our induction training which began with a greeting from some of the partners who presented an overview of their successful careers with the firm to date. We then received a more in-depth presentation of the firm which delineated the firm’s impressive history and how it grew to be the fastest growing law firm in Ireland. The presentation also gave a considerable insight into the many different practice areas within the firm, which illuminated the opportunity to gain experience across a wide range of legal and corporate services, a very exciting prospect for a group of budding solicitors.

As it is WOW month in the firm, we were all kindly invited to participate in the various activities taking place over the coming month, for example quizzes, daily sports activities, not to mention the unlimited free supply of ice cream! This gives us a great opportunity to integrate into the social life over the course of our internship.

Following our induction, we met with several trainees and newly qualified solicitors where we chatted all things FE1, internship and traineeship related over coffee and a walk around the grounds. The trainees and solicitors shared the highlights of their own experiences working with the firm to date and useful tips for how to get the most out of the next three weeks which has been an invaluable part of our introduction to the firm. We then spent the rest of the afternoon meeting our mentors, the senior associates and associates in our assigned departments who helped us settle in and prepare for the weeks ahead.

Our second day was also filled with fun activities. The day began with an introduction to our group projects, a cornerstone of the internship which gives us an opportunity to put our newfound practical legal skills to use. Having been placed in our groups we were then assigned our project topics and given the morning to establish our plan of action. To assist us in our research projects, we received a comprehensive tour of the extensive library facilities available to us in our research endeavours. All the project topics are highly relevant and topical areas of law, for instance my group is conducting research in relation to the new regulations concerning Artificial Intelligence, presenting us with and interesting and equally stimulating intellectual challenge. We then had the pleasure of spending the afternoon in GoQuest where we worked in teams to complete various physical and mental challenges. Collaborating on the battlefield, enabled us to bond with one another whilst partaking in some friendly competition. To end our team bonding experience, we finished off the evening with a trip to Paulie’s Pizza for a bite to eat and some drinks where we were joined by some of the mentors and other trainees.

On my third day, I was very fortunate to attend a settlement alongside a senior associate at the Four Courts. I was privileged to observe first-hand how solicitors simultaneously engage with, advise and represent their client during a high-stake negotiation. Upon returning to the firm, we attended a demonstration given by the director of learning and development here who shared key skills for how to excel in our professional legal careers which was not only extremely relevant for our internship but also for our future careers.

From spending just over a week in the firm, it is evident that the firm have a very professional, hardworking and results driven culture. Notwithstanding the fast-paced and complex nature of the work undertaken in the firm, there is a strong sense of teamwork and collegiality prevailing throughout the firm, offering great opportunities for both personal and professional development.

Learn more about our internship programme.