Allen & Overy

"The people I work with are not only colleagues, but also friends"

One of the main reasons I chose A&O was because they actively encourage staff to have a healthy work/life balance. I’m pleased to say that even during the ‘work hard’ times, there is still time to ‘play’.
Joining A&O with people you know from law school makes the realisation of finally no longer being a student and starting work so much easier. In fact your first training week includes a number of social events to welcome you to the firm – as well as plenty of training and seminars. However you’ll soon discover that whilst the Friday night drinks at the A&O bar may become a permanent fixture in your diary, there’s also plenty of other opportunities to socialise!
The diversity of activities available at A&O cater for everyone. The facilities at the new office are fantastic, we have a brand new fitness complex with a multi-use sports hall and fitness studio and state of the art music rooms, not forgetting giant Connect 4 and Jenga on the 6th floor terrace!
Since I started last March I’ve thrown myself around at a Ceilidh in the client conference rooms, helped organise a Masquerade Ball for all our trainees as a member of the Trainee Social Committee, taken 30 vacation scheme students ice skating (with no broken bones!), entertained future recruits at our very own Winter Wonderland party, and taken part in the Manches Cup Sailing Challenge
A&O offers something for everyone, I have friends who have conquered the 3 Peaks Challenge, ridden on a sponsored bike ride to Paris, scaled the heights of the local climbing wall and battled against other law firms as the ‘Amazing Ovaries’ (our ladies football team).
 
Joining A&O has exceeded all my expectations not only with the challenging variety of work I have done but also with the opportunities to socialise outside the work environment which has meant that the people I work with are not only colleagues but are also friends.