Gunika Phalswal (she/her)

I studied Law at the University of Leicester and also completed an exchange year at Singapore Management University. I secured my Training Contract with the Clifford Chance after a successful summer vacation scheme in summer 2019. I was living in Singapore at the time and I still vividly remember catching the flight to London from Singapore for my vacation scheme interview the next day! 

I joined Clifford Chance at the end of February 2021. During my first seat, I sat in Structured Asset Backed Real Estate. This was a fantastic seat which really provided me with an excellent skill set from the very beginning of my training contract. During my second seat, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to complete an international secondment to the Clifford Chance Amsterdam office as part of the UK Banking team. This international secondment taught me how to work in a much smaller team and take on a higher level of responsibility for certain workstreams. 

Tasks in the Amsterdam team varied from drafting and managing condition precedent documents such as legal opinions, fee letters, CP satisfaction letters and corporate documents as well as directly helping senior lawyers and partners to do the first drafts of facility agreements and security documents.  

There were a lot of highlights during the secondment: from a client perspective, I really enjoyed the high level of client engagement and interaction I had throughout my seat and the positive feedback I received from clients. The team have a wide range of expertise including trade and commodity finance, project finance and asset and leveraged finance. 

It was fantastic to have the opportunity to work alongside them and learn from their wide-ranging expertise. In terms of deals, one highlight was working on Windplan Groen. Windplan Groen is a large Wind Energy project forming part of an overall plan to generate 100% of the Dutch province of Flevoland’s electricity through wind energy and contribute to the country’s goal of generating 16% of all energy in the Netherlands sustainably by 2023. 

For this project, the Dutch team advised the lenders in relation to the due diligence and financing of six wind farms forming part of Windplan Groen. We assisted the Dutch team and advised the lenders in relation to the English law elements of the financing. 

From a social perspective, the Amsterdam office is full of kind and welcoming people. They play hard as much as they work hard – this is helped by the office having its own bar and games room! It was fun learning Dutch and practising with the barista (yes, they have their own barista coffee in the building!). 

The Amsterdam team was also kind enough to invite me and the other seconded trainee to their lawyers weekend away in Chamonix. Overall, I had an incredible time in the Amsterdam office and would definitely recommend an international secondment there. 

Not only did I develop my skills, but I gained some really cherished memories and friends. After completing my third seat in Litigation and Dispute Resolution (with a split seat at the Mary Ward Legal Centre), I'm excited to be going to Singapore for my final seat.