SIMA SHOKRI

• As an ambassador, I promote career opportunities and educational events for students. This role has developed my marketing, advertising and networking skills, and enhanced my ability to run events efficiently and effectively - all while helping put together social media content, writing blogs and liaising with school career departments to post on their career services. Through webinars on business, entrepreneurship, sales, and marketing, I have gained insights into the key industry trends while interacting with professionals. I have also earned experience from promotional outreach, which has bolstered my communication and organisational skills greatly. In this position, I have increased my creativity and critical-thinking skills as I develop pathways for our Young Professionals to expand their initiatives and increase engagement with students. My experience in this role assisted me in gaining experience in professional industries, strengthened my public speaking and teamwork skills and deepened my ability to network effectively in a professional setting.

The opportunity to complete a work experience placement with NatWest Group Legal gave me a profound and extremely valuable understanding of the practice of in-house legal work at a large corporate bank. My contacts with Retail & Wealth Legal and Commercial & Institutional Legal helped me to understand how much legal professionals work with the company to help manage risk issues, maintain regulatory compliance, and offer value-adding assistance. The team's strong emphasis on ESG initiatives and responsible banking for Retail & Wealth Legal really stood out to me. Observing an internal team meeting gave me an idea of how collaborative and solution-focused their work is. The assessment centre exercise on settlement agreements, which taught me how to recognise important legal risks and communicate them in understandable, useful terms, is one of my highlights. The group pitch for a hypothetical "AI bank," in which we were tasked with providing client-centred, commercially viable legal solutions in a creatively limited setting, was equally worthwhile. My time with Commercial & Institutional Legal provided me with equally insightful viewpoints on managing complex business alliances. Learning about NDAs and fee agreements demonstrated how risk mitigation techniques can be found in even the most commonplace documents. Legal analysis, articulating complex issues into clear, risk-based advice frameworks, economically motivated articulation for legal strategy alignment, and a nuanced grasp of communication by presenting complex legal arguments in simple language are just a few of the essential professional skills I developed during this placement. I gained more self-assurance in my ability to work cooperatively with diverse, cross-functional teams and in applying legal thinking in innovative ways to solve practical problems.

• As a BeComAware Ambassador, I actively promoted awareness of commercial and business knowledge through both student interaction and digital outreach. Through this role, I've gained first-hand experience with commercial language, core business trends, and industry insights, which I can use to facilitate understanding of complex concepts in a digestible manner. My role involved creating social media posts to expand the follower base and online traction while increasing commercial awareness among students. I have also gained a good ability to analyse business trends and share key insights through this experience, alongside marketing, communication and digital outreach skills. From this role, my public speaking, networking, and leadership skills have been sharpened; I aimed to raise the profile of commercial awareness, inspire students from all backgrounds and encourage wider engagement with business and finance topics.

• My one-week work experience placement with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) provided me with helpful insight into regulating professional auditors, accountants and actuaries and the role of the legal team in that organisation in terms of compliance and enforcement. I honed my grasp of regulatory frameworks and the interface between law, finance, and corporate governance. Through shadowing legal professionals, I was able to develop my analytical skills further, most notably my ability to assess complex regulatory matters while understanding their legal implications. This helped me to sharpen my time management, teamwork and networking skills by interacting with professionals within various departments. This experience provided a practical foundation in financial regulation and further fuelled my interest in the legal aspects of corporate accountability. The experience and exposure to high-level regulatory work further spurred my passion for a legal career in the fields of corporate law, financial regulation, and compliance.

• My various legal experiences have developed critical skills in advocacy, legal analysis and commercial awareness. I appeared in a mock human rights case at London's Supreme Court and represented one of the parties in a live murder trial: I made opening and closing speeches, cross-examined witnesses and analysed forensic evidence. I also explored perspectives of corporate law during an engaging session on commercial lawyers. I was also coached by expert barristers in specialist public speaking and assisted barristers in drafting a piece of legislation for debate in the House of Commons. In a high-stakes international treaty negotiation, I stood for the most advantageous terms for my client. During this experience, I worked with top attorneys from internationally recognised firms. Finishing the programme, I scored top marks in a final assessment, receiving a certification validating my understanding of legal theory, attention to detail and advocacy skills.

• At Willesden County Court I was able to gain insight into the judicial process by following the legal team. I was organising case files, assisting at reception and witnessing live court, all of which helped establish my attention to detail, client-facing communication, and an understanding of case management. Watching live hearings gave me insight into courtroom advocacy, judicial decision-making and procedural law. Collaborating with legal professionals honed my skills in managing confidential legal documents, discretion, and working in a dynamic milieu. It cemented my interest in the pursuit of a career in law and increased my interest in litigation and dispute resolution. The hands-on experience of this engagement with lawyers and the legal aspects of court systems will serve me in good stead in my career.

• I acquired important skills in areas such as international commercial law, corporate law and business law. Through this experience, I gained valuable insight into the intricacies of multi-jurisdictional legal issues and the part commercial lawyers play in advising clients on a global basis. Across sectors - energy, infrastructure, financial services, technology - I examined business models that existed within a framework of legal complexities that I understood more deeply than I had months before. Through this programme, I interacted with legal professionals who discussed commercial practice, which further confirmed my aspiration to build a career in corporate and commercial law. This experience not only deepened my understanding of the law but also sharpened my commercial awareness and provided me with insight into complex legal matters, which motivated me to be part of the profession.

• I participated in this experience due to my keen interest in the law, as well as to gain a greater understanding of the legal profession and possible career paths. It allowed exposure to various legal departments, practice areas, and the challenges and rewards of a legal career. I also learnt invaluable legal knowledge about the field, having gained commercial awareness of the main aspects of the private and public sectors, as well as business networking skills. A schedule packed with QCs, barristers and solicitors provided valuable insights into their respective roles. My participation in this experience deepened my understanding of the legal landscape.

• I attended the 'Law Virtual Work Experience' with Clifford Chance as I was keen to develop my passion for law and experience commercial legal practice. This programme gave me a common understanding of the issues that clients faced and also enabled me to fulfil tasks prepared by lawyers that involved consideration of legal aspects and the delivery of commercially oriented actionable advice. I gained a more in-depth knowledge of intellectual property law, commercial law and brand protection, as well as the skills and responsibilities involved in being a trainee solicitor. This helped strengthen my networking experience as I networked with legal professionals and learned about the skills necessary to thrive in a global law firm. The completion of the programme reaffirmed my skills in applying the law to real-time client challenges, fuelling my commercial awareness.

• I had practical exposure to the practice of law through role-plays, seminars, simulations, and Q&As with experienced lawyers. For two days, I acted as a lawyer immersed in a live murder trial, a human rights-focused deportation case, and a divorce dispute with implications for child custody. Top legal professionals in corporate, criminal, family and human rights law coached me on legal reasoning and presentation skills, resulting in an extremely rewarding experience that equipped me with problem-solving, commercial awareness, teamwork and public speaking skills. It was incredibly helpful hearing directly from experts within the field about the practice of law and the obstacles that lawyers encounter. At the end of the programme, I completed an assessment, which I passed with full marks.

• In this two-week programme, I learnt about key legal theories, practices, and professional responsibilities through interactive quizzes, activities, and live webinars with industry professionals. This experience gave me a solid understanding of legal research, advocacy, communication with a client, and contract interpretation and analysis & drafting. Engaging with lawyers in different practice areas helped me understand the intricacies of legal work, particularly the role of effective communication, research skills and precision in drafting legal documents. The programme included key legal principles such as contractual interpretation, client advocacy, and legal research methodology, providing me with the skills necessary for an effective legal career. This encompassed about 10 hours of organised activities, which gave me a holistic insight into the legal profession and what it entails. Such experience has only solidified my passion for law and commitment to pursuing a career within the industry.