What I have come to realise more and more is the importance of a good atmosphere in the workplace

Emanuel Bergqvist

Summer Intern

Do what Emanuel Bergqvist did and apply for a summer intern position with us! We took the opportunity to ask a couple of questions at the end of the ten summer weeks:

Tell us a little about yourself Emanuel
I am 24 years old, from Borås and I live together with my partner in Uppsala. I like to run, play golf and spend time in nature. I am actually a tech-nerd who somehow ended up on the lawyer path.

Why did you apply for a summer intern position at DLA Piper?
I applied to DLA Piper because I attended a career fair (Kontaktdagen) in Uppsala and had a career interview where I got to ask questions, talk about career opportunities and had the opportunity to present myself in a bit more informal manner than a typical job interview (recommended!). I also took part in a few activities that DLA Piper arranged during the autumn of 2018 where I got to talk with my current colleagues and ask more questions about what it was like to work here. One thing led to another and after that I applied for a summer intern position here which was a great decision! What appealed to me from the very beginning was the international touch and the opportunity to work abroad on secondments.

What have you been doing during your time as a summer intern?
I have primarily been in the Corporate Group and secondarily in the IPT Group. I have been given a great variety of tasks, mainly within Corporate. A major part of the summer has been spent on a large project which included that my intern colleague Madeleine Lyth Segerman and I travelled to Malmö to help a client on site with its corporate documentation. That project continued to evolve and has been in progress since the second week of the summer intern period and for the rest of the summer. It was great fun to be allowed to follow a project from start to finish! What I have spent a lot of time on otherwise is judicial inquiries, reviews of various agreements, preparation of miscellaneous corporate law documents and due diligence work.

Did the summer intern position match your expectations?
In many ways it exceeded my expectations and I am really glad that I applied and ended up here. Above all I feel that I have had a chance to do real work and be involved in projects in a serious way where my efforts have had real impact on a project. I think my expectation was that I would be given some less important "minor tasks" and perhaps not get involved in anything big, but it has been quite the opposite and that has meant that I have learnt an awful lot.

What has your impression been of DLA Piper during the time you have worked here?
My impression has gone from already very good to even better you might say.  I have met so many wonderful people that I have had the opportunity to work with and get to know. What I have come to realise more and more is the importance of a good atmosphere and team spirit in the workplace and I think DLA Piper is really good at welcoming new employees. You quickly feel that you belong.

What did you learn from your time as a summer intern?
I learnt the importance of always asking questions if you are unsure of a task. It is easy to just try to solve things by yourself even though you can save a lot of time by just asking a quick question or two. What you also quickly learn is how important it is to be very meticulous when you work as a lawyer.