Soyoun studied Business at Seoul National University before completing her MA in Legal Studies at Bristol University . She took part in a vacation scheme at our Hong Kong office.  She is now in her third seat, in Corporate.

“I was always interested in law, but it wasn’t until I joined a management consultancy that I realised how interested I was in becoming a lawyer. Being a consultant was more intangible than I expected, and I craved for the opportunity to give meaningful and direct advice.

“I didn’t study law at university in Seoul, so I decided to do an MA in Legal Studies so that I could explore careers in international firms. Although I was tempted to go to the States, UK law firms seemed a lot more global than those in the US, and so I chose to go to the UK. When it came to deciding which firm to apply to I looked at the Legal 500 for inspiration. It was internationalism that really appealed to me, plus I wanted to be able to join a firm with a broad range of practice areas. Attending law fairs and visiting firm websites really helped me to narrow my choices.

“I was lucky in being able to attend a vacation scheme in the Hong Kong office before gaining a training contract with Linklaters. During my four weeks I sat in Banking and then Real Estate for two weeks each. It was great to get experience across different practice areas and to get involved in delivering live work for them. The people around me were really supportive and gave me lots of help and advice – and that really sold Linklaters to me. It was an experience that I would recommend to anyone thinking about a career in a law firm.

“Since joining in 2006, I have worked in three practice areas – Capital Markets, Projects and Corporate – and the work has been really demanding, but you expect this really. I’ve had to liaise with clients and regulators and learned how to work under pressure. I’ve also been on a secondment to London. And it’s been really multinational – one deal I worked on in London involved lawyers from France, the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands.

“I wanted to work in Hong Kong, because I love the international scene and living abroad. Hong Kong is unique – people from all over the world come here and this makes the life in Hong Kong an interesting and diverse experience. It’s also a real gateway into Asia – where there are always some exciting new commercial developments, which Linklaters is often involved in. And lastly the food is great!”