August 14, 2024
Celebrating Level's First Newly Qualified Lawyer, Yvie Seville
We are thrilled and incredibly proud to congratulate Yvie Seville on her recent qualification as a solicitor. Yvie joined as Level’s first-ever trainee and was part of one of the first cohorts to embark on the new SQE route to qualification. Over the past 2 and a half years, she has been on an incredible journey at Level and beyond, which included a 6-month secondment at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
In between celebrations, we caught up with Yvie to hear how she has found the last few years and what she’s looking forward to now that she is a fully qualified lawyer.
What has been the highlight of your training contract at Level?
It’s difficult to pick one particular moment during the last couple of years, but I would have to say that the day to day moments in the office with the team have been a real highlight for me. And of course, our annual Level Ski-Trip, which is always a really great few days with LOTS of laughs!
How does Level differ from traditional law firms in terms of training and opportunities?
One of the most obvious differences is that we don’t have traditional seat rotations at Level. Instead, I spent my training contract supporting a number of Level’s partners across a range of different sectors and areas of law. This structure means that a day in the life of a Level trainee is very varied, no day is the same and you never really know what may land on your desk.
That being said, I trained predominantly with our sports team, which allowed me to fully immerse myself in the work and intricacies of sports law without worrying about moving to a new team in 6 months’ time!
I would also say that Level’s training contract differs from that of a traditional law firm due to Level’s flat structure. From day one of my training contract, I worked closely with the firm’s partners and managing associates, in the same office, often on the same bank of desks! This gave me an amazing opportunity to learn directly from Level’s lawyers and their wealth of knowledge and experience.
Tell us a little more about your secondment at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team?
My time with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team was fantastic and a BIG thank you to both Level and Mercedes for allowing me this opportunity. I learnt so much during my time with the legal team at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1, and I really got a sense for the wide variety of legal matters an in-house legal team deals with on a daily basis. An obvious highlight was working in the factory and getting an insight into the workings of a Formula 1 team. However, something that I particularly enjoyed was the ‘team’ mentality of the whole workforce, you really felt that everyone was working together to get the best possible outcome on the track.
What advice would you give to aspiring lawyers considering a training contract at Level?
My biggest advice for any future trainee applicants would be to be yourself and to show your personality. For me, one of the best parts of Level is its people and how down-to-earth the culture is.
We give applicants the opportunity to submit a short video during their application, and I would really recommend using this opportunity to show your personality and let us get to know you more (even if it’s completely unrelated to law)!
