Nathan Aldulaimi

 

Trainee secondment to our Hong Kong office

I am currently on secondment to the Slaughter and May office in Hong Kong. The office takes up the 46th and 47th floors of Jardine House and is on the waterfront, so you get a great view across the harbour to Kowloon. Most of the other international firms are also located close by, making it easy to catch up with fellow secondees over

Nathan Aldulaimi

I am sitting in the Corporate team, so, much like London, the work is varied. I have been given responsibility from an early stage and had lots of opportunities to interact with clients. I have also had the chance to get involved in business development work, which has been a useful way to see how a law firm is run as a business, and to understand the main factors that clients consider at the start of a potential project.

A particular highlight has been working on several IPO transactions. They tend to involve a number of different workstreams, providing exposure to different processes, documents and negotiations. One standout experience was getting to travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for one of these IPOs. It was a fascinating business trip, which involved holding meetings with various third parties and experiencing a new part of the world.

Outside of work, I have really enjoyed exploring Hong Kong. The city has retained its older character, with traditional food markets and local neighbourhoods to be found between the iconic high-rises. Beyond that, there are plenty of hikes and hidden beaches, all very accessible from our apartments in central Hong Kong.

The ability to travel to other countries so easily has also been a real plus. The office is located within minutes of the Airport Express station, which means a Friday evening flight for a weekend trip away is very doable. Highlights have included trips to mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

I would wholeheartedly recommend going on secondment - any chance to live and work abroad is worth taking, and Hong Kong is a particularly good place to experience. On the professional side the client contact and exposure to a different style of working has been great for my development. It is also a very sociable place, given the number of secondees from other firms, and the mix of culture, food, energy and nature is hard to beat.