Last week, we invited Sophie Voigt (ELS, Class of 2023), now a transactional lawyer at Freshfields, to speak to our current ELS students about her career trajectory. Having gone straight from her LLB to working for a big firm in Germany, Sophie had a lot of insights, tips, and answers to questions that our current students had: She answered questions ranging from how she got her job, her favorite interview questions, how ELS prepared her for practice (if at all), what kind of profiles big firms are looking for in their applicants, and the path to becoming a solicitor in the UK even as an ELS grad (under their new Solicitor Qualification Exam) with two years of qualifying work experience (i.e. working as a transactional lawyer).
I am so proud to see ELS alums succeeding out in the real world, and I love it even more when they take the time to share their experiences to guide/mentor our current students.
I am not only grateful to Sophie, but last week alone, I reached out to other ELS alums like Kamila Sotomska (ELS, Class of 2017) and Annika Harju (European Studies & Law, Class of 2020) asking if they would be able to mentor a few current students, who are facing similar issues that they themselves expericed as students and they have been incredibly generous and kind in offering to help their juniors. Others like Eve Meurgey (ELS, Class of 2016), now working as an Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills, I’ve pretty much bothered every year, any time an ELS student has a question about qualifying in the UK. Much to my pleasant surprise, she has not blocked or ghosted my communications, allowing me to share her contact info with students so that they can ask her questions directly.
So a big special thank you to Sophie, Kamila, Annika, Eve, and to all the other ELS alums helping out current ELS students!! You are the network that keeps ELS going strong and we cannot thank you enough!!