New York

Max Cheung 

Trainee secondment to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

I spent the fourth seat of my training contract on secondment to Paul, Weiss in its Corporate M&A department in the New York office. The bulk of my work was as part of a three-strong team advising a private equity client on an active string of acquisitions. The partner supervised, the mid-level associate was responsible for the major transaction documents, while I assisted with everything else, including conducting due diligence on the businesses that the client was proposing to buy, and writing the due diligence memo -  this being the key document which summarises the results of the diligence and informs the client of all potential problems with the target business.

I was also involved in a pharmaceutical transaction which gave me a flavour of larger-value cross-border M&A. Here the project management really came into its own, as there was a need to coordinate advice all the way from the West Coast through NYC and the Cayman Islands to the PRC. 

Paul, Weiss was a very welcoming environment. Everybody was friendly and eager to give me NYC recommendations. The firm also has a seasoned programme of visiting lawyers from all around the world, and I spent lots of time with my fellow visiting lawyers, some of whom were from Slaughter and May's other relationship firms such as Hengeler Mueller and Bonelli. There is a firm-wide cocktail party every Thursday evening, with the office having a great view of the city, starting from Radio City Music Hall, all the way down Sixth Avenue.

A personal highlight of my secondment was during the second week when I threw my hat in the ring when Paul, Weiss offered free tickets to Charli xcx and Troye Sivan’s Sweat concert at Madison Square Gardens. Amazingly, I got the ticket and had a great time!

I would definitely recommend going on secondment - it’s an opportunity which is unparalleled!