Robert Laird Craig - Second Year Trainee

Where did you go to University and do your degree?

I read Modern History at St Andrews followed by the GDL and LPC at the College of Law in Guildford.

What seats have you taken so far?

I am currently working in the Corporate department after seats in Construction, Commercial Property, Family and Commercial Litigation beforehand.

What is the training like at Forsters?

Forsters has a very collaborative approach to looking after its clients. Whatever your department, you will always be involved with or able to observe, associates and partners across different departments collectively working out solutions to a client’s needs. The four month seat rotation offers a Forsters’ trainee a comprehensive experience of the specific areas of work within the firm with a broader perspective of the context in which those particular fields operate.

In Corporate I have recently been given the responsibility of managing the completion of a company sale on behalf of a client for whom I have also worked in previous departments. While the responsibility was considerable, the support was plentiful and everyone was always approachable. In previous departments I have had opportunities to advise clients on the basis of my research, given a legal talk on location to thirty lawyers and accountants on a Landed Estates training day and taken responsibility for managing a major client’s file in Construction.

What about Forsters’ social side?

More than comprehensive, never pretentious and always varied. We are fortunate enough to have a wonderful roof terrace which has been the scene of many barbecues and drinks parties – a good proportion of which have been fancy dress. We are also lucky to have an ample selection of food and drink haunts in the area and in the Summer there is always the opportunity to join our keen and able softball team in Hyde Park. Indoors we have an excellent book club and for those flexible enough there is always yoga below an eighteenth century frescoed ceiling.

Why did you choose Forsters?

Property and Private Client were at the top of my list and I was hard-pressed to find a firm with such a strong reputation in both fields. Having eschewed the slightly more frenetic culture of the City, Forsters appealed beyond the high-calibre work as a place where people seemed to matter and everybody got on. Now well-ensconced into my training contract I can safely say the reality matches the pitch.