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Trainee Profile - Robin Wolfenden
 My first seat at Covington was in the Employment group. As a trainee you are given responsibility from an early stage and exposed to high calibre work for prestigious clients. During my first six months I drafted a wide range of agreements and policies, ranging from employment contracts and compromise agreements to family leave policies, employee handbooks, codes of business conduct and even a securities trading policy.
During my Employment seat I was actively involved in a disability discrimination claim. This involved drafting a number of documents, including the ET3 response and grounds of resistance, a response to a request for further and better particulars and witness statements. I also attended a number of client meetings and a case management conference.
I was responsible for co-ordinating the redundancy process for an international film and television sales agent; this involved drafting and negotiating compromise agreements for all of the employees. I also assisted in advising a multinational pharmaceutical company on the European redundancy implications of a corporate restructuring proposal.
Trainees at Covington are given challenging work and are involved in complex matters from an early stage. During my second seat in the Corporate practice, I had the opportunity to work for a wide range of clients, including a leading international marketer, producer and distributor of fresh fruit, a renowned Italian fashion designer, a state-owned company based in Africa that exports phosphates and phosphate derivatives, a wireless telecommunications research and development company and large pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
I have been involved in a variety of work during my Corporate seat, including assisting in two multinational transactions, reviewing supply agreements for the sale and purchase of phosphate rock, acid and fertilizer and agreements for the manufacture and supply of flu vaccine, making confidentiality order applications, attending a court hearing for the cancellation of a share premium account and filing numerous documents at Companies House. I was also involved in an internal investigation for a multinational energy company, which involved reviewing and auditing a series of employee correspondence.
The firm has a long-standing commitment to pro bono work. I have been actively involved in a number of pro bono matters ranging from advising on immigration and employment law issues to day seminar events and even a whistle-blowing claim.
Covington provides a good work-life balance and there are a number of social and sporting events to get involved in. The Women’s Forum also organises a number of social events including dinners, cooking demonstrations, urban golf and charity events. The Covington Cupcakes participated in a netball tournament during the summer - we always had a number of supporters from the office to cheer us on and even cupcakes waiting for us after the games! The London office also took part in a softball tournament among City law firms, which was great fun.
My first year at Covington has gone by incredibly quickly and has been challenging and enjoyable. I am looking forward to spending my third seat on secondment at a global healthcare company.
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