Andrew Bailey

"I chose Herbert Smith because I wanted variety in terms of my seats and qualification options. Unusually for a city firm, the work at Herbert Smith is split fairly evenly between contentious and non-contentious. Trainees also benefit from the firm's market-leading practices in competition, IP and real estate, which supplement their experience in the firm's larger corporate, finance and litigation groups. This all ensures a well balanced training contract.

The firm has a genuine commitment to quality and commerciality. By quality I mean that, while Herbert Smith doesn't have the sheer volume of deals compared to some of its larger competitors, it nevertheless attracts the very best work and people. It does this by focusing on the cutting-edge of legal development and away from commoditised work. By commerciality I mean that all the work is underpinned by a sense of pragmatism and commerciality. You won't find many purely academic, back-room lawyers at Herbert Smith.

I have just finished a client secondment to Tokyo. Working for any client gives you the valuable experience of 'being on the other side', but working for a Japanese client gives you much more besides. In fact, it would be difficult to provide effective legal services to a Japanese trading house without having experienced their unique working culture first hand."