Background

Deacons is a leading business law firm with over 900 legal professionals across Asia. They provide an extensive range of legal and commercial services to local and international corporations with business interests throughout this region. With over 150 years of experience in providing legal services, their clients are assured of the integrity and stability of one of the region's oldest and most respected law firms.

Deacons has offices or affiliates in Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, ensuring they are conveniently located to provide market-sensitive legal advice

Their principal service areas include Banking & Finance, China Trade & Investment, Communications & Technology, Construction & Arbitration, Corporate Finance & Capital Markets, Corporate Services, Financial Services, Human Resources & Pensions, Insolvency & Restructuring, Insurance, Intellectual Property, Japan Services, Litigation, M&A and Commercial, Private Equity & Venue Capital and Property

Trainees: 8-10

Summer Interns: 12

Winter Interns: 12

Commercial Litigation

My main responsibility was to provide support to the commercial litigation team by performing legal and non-legal research, drafting summons and orders, reviewing trial bundles, and taking notes during client interviews.

For internships, a telephone interview would be arranged for Australian students. The duration of the interview was for my case approximately 50 minutes. The questions were focused on who I am, why I want to work in Hong Kong, and why I chose Deacons. The interview was in English, except one question. The question I was asked in Chinese (Cantonese) is: why did I choose Deacons. My advice is, know your CV well and prepare answers to standard interview questions beforehand.

For trainee interview, there were two stages: an initial interview to shortlist the top candidates and a second interview with the partners. The initial interview is probably similar to those of the telephone interview. The second interview involved firstly a Chinese assessment. I was asked to read two articles, one in Mandarin and another in Cantonese. The interview itself was between me and two partners. The interview was short, about 15 minutes. Again, the questions are related to who you are and why you chose Deacons, etc. My advice is again, know your CV well, understand why you want to work for Deacons and answer the question confidently.

My first impression as an intern was a complete lockdown in communication between us and the outside world. We could not send emails externally with our work email system, and web based email such as google or hotmail are blocked. It immediately gave me a sense of the strong working culture of the firm and the emphasis place on individual productivity.

Different divisions of the firm are divided onto separate levels and this helps to foster mini-culture and a sense of containment. For commercial litigation everyone was absorbed with work and there seemed to be little time for small talk. Most of the time when there was a conversation it was exchange pleasantries or was work related. So the best friendships and support was from other interns and trainees, and this grew as the month progressed.

Work-wise, it was quite intensive. Litigation is one of the strongest areas of practice for Deacons and working as an intern was considered as part of the team. I got assigned with tasks from almost all the associate and partner in my team, so I get to work with a range of different lawyers, all with different style and approach. This helped me to learn an incredible amount of new things. But late nights, and conflicts at work, were part of the job.

Working in Deacons wasn't all work and no play. We occasionally had lunches with the partners and HRs and also attended a Friday cocktail drink. I was also invited to the Spring Dinner of the litigation group in the exclusive Bankers Club, where we were treated Lavishly with excellent food while a talented band from HSBC performed throughout the night. We managed to see the more jovial side of the senior partners as they brought the house down while singing Jay Chow and Ronald Cheng's latest songs. Having taped that Kodak moment on my Canon IXY digital was priceless, and well worth one-month of my vacation to work for Deacons!