Amanda read music at Magdalen College, Oxford University
It was a long route to discovering that a career in law was what I wanted
I considered several careers including advertising, media and international development and spent my university holidays doing various internships including one at M&C Saatchi, one at Disneyland and one at the BBC in New York. I also worked at an orphanage in Bulgaria.
I also did two vacation schemes - one at Freshfields and one at another magic circle firm
At Freshfields I really liked the people I met. Everyone was interesting and highly intelligent, and the environment was challenging but not oppressive. I wanted to work for an international law firm and Freshfields offered lots of opportunities and the work was diverse and high profile.
I did the GDL at Oxford Brookes and then the LPC in London
Freshfields trainees do an accelerated version of the LPC, which only takes six months. I then spent six months brushing up my French language skills. I attended language school in France for two months and then volunteered in Madagascar teaching English and helping with a community radio project. Since starting my training contract at Freshfields I've joined the firm's advanced language course to improve my French still further.
All my seats have been three-month stints. The first was in corporate
One of the things I worked on was a restructuring transaction for Save the Children, one of the firm's pro bono clients. I had to get to grips with the charity's numerous contracts, agreement and schedules, and I helped with some drafting. I also joined some of the meetings with a huge oil and gas client we were advising on a number of acquisitions. Then I was part of the team that advised an international hotel group in 18 countries how best to restructure. This involved amendments to hundreds of its existing agreements.
Next it was dispute resolution
For the first three months I worked with the team that concentrates on EU litigation. The work was more academic and involved a fair amount of research. I had to put together a presentation for a partner on cartel damages, and I also prepared and delivered a presentation to our team on a privacy matter heard at the European Court of Justice.
Then I had three months working on commercial disputes. We advised on a German public procurement project involving several big European companies. One of my tasks was to attend and write up the witness interviews. Other disputes involved the Middle East, India and Venezuela.
And now I'm doing three months in intellectual property/information technology
My team advises on licensing agreements, brand issues and sponsorship agreements. I have spent much of my time working on matters related to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I have also assisted on a very large patent litigation against a leading telecoms company.
And I still have time for a social life
There's always something going on. We're spoilt for choice. A group of us play tennis at the Lincoln's Inn courts twice a week, and I've joined choirs at the firm and another City choir. I also took part in the firm's London film festival.
