MHC Intern Life: Ellen McGrath

For the next MHC Intern Life, we talked to Ellen McGrath, a law graduate from Trinity College Dublin. Ellen describes her second week as an intern here.

Our second week started off with some work at our desks with our departments. I’m interning in the commercial department with the technology and data privacy team. I was delighted to find out that I was in this department prior to the internship as I did my final year dissertation on law and technology. We had a few deadlines for different tasks this week, so I spent Monday morning working on these. Each intern has been assigned a glossary article and a case note related to our departments.

Before lunch all of the interns gathered in the study for talks from different departments. We heard from the commercial litigation, construction, employment and medical law departments from both newly qualified lawyers and trainees. It was great to gain some understanding of what these departments do and why the newly qualified lawyers chose to qualify into these areas.

On Monday afternoon I met with the partner I’m paired with who is head of AI here to talk about my glossary article on high risk AI systems. The opportunity to talk directly with partners has been a particularly valuable aspect of the internship. This is encouraged and is made accessible through the open plan layout of the office which is an aspect of the firm that I really like.

As part of the internship programme, we are allocated teams for a group project with three other interns. I met up with my group on Tuesday to discuss some aspects of our project which is on the Corporate Enforcement Authority. We spent some time in the study working on it and got coffee from the Bench Café in the office. It has been enjoyable both to research a topic and to get to know other interns through the group project.

We then had lunch with our trainee buddies which was great to talk to them more about their experiences at the firm so far and their paths here from college to sitting FE-1s. I also met some trainees from other departments who I hadn’t met yet, so it was nice to get to know more people in the firm. It’s good to be able to talk to people at different stages from those who started their traineeships a few months ago to those who are almost qualified.

Wednesday began with some work with our departments. I think that now, in week two, we’re all settling in well with our teams and getting to know the other interns. I caught up with the senior associate I’m paired with and explained some information about a task I could assist her with related to technology. I worked on this throughout the day which was great to get an understanding of what the department is doing.

We had a talk after lunch at about CSR at the firm which was very informative. The green committee, D&I committee, pro bono and the RISE (Responsible Investment in Social Engagement) committee spoke to us. We learned about different events at the firm such as a Family Fortunes Pride edition. We also heard about sustainability at the firm and how effective getting rid of single use plastic cups has been.

On Thursday we had a talk on the life as a commercial lawyer with Will Carmody, the Managing Partner and Sarah Cloonan, a Partner in the Financial Services department. It was really interesting to get an insight into their career paths, ask questions and learn more about life at the firm. We also have a table quiz with the trainees this evening which should be fun to continue to get to know each other.

The internship programme has flown by so far, with us now coming to the end of our second week here. It has been fantastic in gaining an understanding of a career in law and getting to know each other through social events such as Go Quest and dinner at Paulie’s Pizza. We have a lot to look forward to next week such as completing our presentations, lunch at Angelina’s with our mentors, and last day drinks at Slattery’s.

Overall, the internship has been a really wonderful experience, particularly having the opportunity to work in technology and data privacy. I am very grateful to have had the chance to experience working here and I would definitely recommend applying to the internship programme.

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