An experience report by Kevin Barthelmann
In the summer of 2024 I had the opportunity to get to know the processes and structures at the Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft in Dortmund, a renowned business office, during a six -week internship during my semester break.
First to me briefly. I am now 28 years old, which is why there are professional experience. The law studies have been accompanying me to my full -time job since April 2021. Now there was a corresponding six-week mandatory internship in the area of justice.
Based on a random contact, I got into conversation with a lawyer from the Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft. Due to my intensive interest in terms of work in a business office and the upcoming compulsory internship, this contact came at the right time. After a brief exchange of the relevant documents, I was offered the opportunity to do an internship at Aderhold in Dortmund.
On my first day in the law firm, I initially received a short law firm with the appropriate presentation of the employees present. I was also shown my workplace in a community office, which I shared with three other trainees and scientific staff. The principle of the community office was an advantage for me because I always had a contact person for short questions and a professional exchange.
A lawyer was also assigned to me as a fixed mentor in the firm. The lawyer assigned to me advises primarily in the area of M&A, corporate law and in the area of banking and bankruptcy law.
The tasks were usually given to me by my contact person, so that the focus was on these areas of law. I also could always address other lawyers and partners of the law firm and gave me interesting tasks. As a result, I was integrated into different areas of activity and always looked after by committed lawyers.
The specific tasks were quite different. There were research tasks on certain legal issues, on topics in the area of corporate transactions, insolvency law or corporate law. In addition, the creation of different briefs, such as the reasons for claims and plans for action, was one of my tasks.
I was able to work independently and support the work of the law firm accordingly. In addition to these activities, I was able to attend various dates with clients on a wide variety of subject areas, as well as gain experience in civil process in court. Participation in negotiations in the context of M&A transactions, which was concerned, was particularly interesting to represent the interests of the clients optimally.
Furthermore, I was able to get an insight into the work of a partner in the area of German and European antitrust law including merger control. I was pleasantly surprised at the relevant question/problems in this area that did not occur in the course of study and which interesting mandates are advised by the Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft in antitrust law.
However, the period of six weeks was very quick due to the exciting work. The internship was an extremely enriching experience for me. It not only enabled me to deepen my legal knowledge, but also to gain a realistic insight into the way of working and the requirements in a business office.
I was welcomed openly at the Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and quickly integrated and will therefore keep the internship in very good memory!
