For the next MHC Intern Life, we talked to Cathal Feely, a fourth year student of business and law in University College Dublin. Cathal describes his first week as an intern here.
My first week as a summer intern has been fantastic. We have experienced a great mix of social events, informative talks, briefings and department work already in our first week. Any first day nerves I may have had were quickly alleviated on meeting my fellow interns and the welcoming team here at Mason Hayes & Curran.
The week began on Tuesday in the study. I introduced myself to the other interns and we got to know each other over coffee, pastries and a quick bit of induction. We were introduced to our trainee mentors at lunch in the Bench Café. My mentor was kind enough to buy me lunch on the first day and made sure I was aware of the free ice cream available in the canteen throughout June for WOW month here at the firm!
After lunch, I was introduced to the team I will be working with for the next couple of weeks in the real estate department. My buddy made sure to introduce me to everyone on the team. Everybody made me feel extremely welcome and I had a conversation with my partner and senior associate mentors. They told me all about the work that the team does and what I will be doing as part of that team. They gave me a couple of tasks to do and made a point of telling me that I could always ask them for help with any of the work I was doing. This was reassuring.
Wednesday began with us receiving our project briefs and meeting our project groups. I am both excited and apprehensive at the thought of presenting in front of the partners. Our group got straight to work brainstorming ideas. We were introduced to the library team and the resources available to us during our time with the firm. These will be a great help in researching our projects.
Some newly qualified solicitors gave us a talk on their journey to becoming qualified. They spoke to us about their traineeship here, the departments in which they work and why it was attractive to them.
We went to GoQuest, an indoor challenge zone with a mixture of physical, mental and skills puzzles, for a team bonding session. My team played to our strengths and finished in a very respectable third place. To finish the day, we were taken for dinner and drinks in Paulie’s Pizza. It was a great opportunity to get to know my fellow interns better, as well as an opportunity to chat to the partners and associate who joined us.
On Thursday, I was able to do more department work as part of the real estate team alongside my buddy and partner mentor. I was tasked with looking at the statutory renewal rights for tenants of commercial properties. We received a talk about our case note assignment. It will be interesting to receive feedback on this from the team.
Friday involved getting started on our group project. We analysed the question posed to us around the role of sustainable lending. It is an interesting and growing area of law, not only because of the critical threat that climate change poses for business but also the opportunities available for us to help business to move in a more sustainable direction.
We assigned tasks and booked a slot with the library staff to help with our researching. The annual summer BBQ also took place on Friday evening which is always a highly anticipated event, and for good reason!
My first week with Mason Hayes & Curran has been stimulating and enjoyable. I am excited to see what week two has in store.
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