While each of these meetings has a serious purpose in terms of professional development and training, there is also ample opportunity for more recreational exchanges. Associates who have been with the Firm for at least two years are eligible to be considered for an international secondment under the Associate Training Programme. In essence, this involves a transfer to another office of the Firm for a period of between 3 and 24 months with a view to broadening experience, providing a new sense of perspective and fostering relations both with the office and the clients based in that jurisdiction. Of course, not everyone who is eligible participates in the Associate Training Programme, nor is such participation a pre-requisite for future advancement in the Firm. Nevertheless, it remains an extensively used programme.
Lawyers are professionals who attend to the legal affairs of their clients.
In so doing, they must observe rules of professional conduct that cannot be compromised, whatever the commercial pressures. On the contrary, the practise of commercial law is very much a business and the market for legal services has become increasingly competitive. The major corporations which are our mainstay clients are an increasingly sophisticated and demanding group. Today, many such companies have their own in-house legal capability. This has two important consequences.