MBA 2020 Summer Internships: Thinking global at Baker & McKenzie

Part of a series about summer internships from Olin MBA 2020 students. Today we hear from Rebecca Matey who worked as a JD/MBA intern for Baker McKenzie Law Firm.

My internship was nothing short of amazing. As a JD/MBA, I was able to merge my business and legal interests working in the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie, an international law firm. I primarily worked in the banking and finance practice group on projects and deals regarding private equity fund formation, mergers and acquisitions, refinancing, private placements and much more.

This summer confirmed my passion for banking and finance, and I will continue to pursue taking such classes during my final year at Olin.

To secure the internship, I knew I had to align my interests with the firm’s.  

Rebecca Matey

I quickly learned Baker McKenzie was primarily a transactional firm that focused on helping its clients pursue global legal and business endeavors.  I also researched my interviewers and tried to find noteworthy aspects of their lives and work that intertwined with my passion and goals.

Lastly, I made sure to introduce myself to the head of the summer program and show off my personality. Although she wasn’t an attorney, I knew interns spent the most time with her and knew she had the ear of the hiring committee.

Prepped well with Olin coursework

As a result, showcasing my global identity, interest in international transactional work, and ability to understand legal and business issues helped me secure my dream internship.

Courses such as Mergers & Acquisitions, Power & Politics, and the numerous finance classes I took positioned me to understand concepts and issues in great detail. I could ask questions about the makeup of particular private equity funds and follow the numbers our business partners drafted for acquisitions.

Also, navigating the politics of which attorney to work for or go to lunch with was equally vital in extracting the most value from my experience.

I made sure to meet attorneys and partners who worked on projects that intrigued me and expressed interest in working with them even if it meant listening in on calls. Being proactive not only introduced me to substantive legal work, but also enabled me to get to know partners on a personal level.

Working at Baker & McKenzie exposed me to how corporations operate in a multitude of jurisdictions such as Thailand, Nigeria, Honduras and more. I have a greater understanding of how the business and legal worlds intersect, especially from an international perspective.

Baker McKenzie is the perfect firm to pursue my global development goals because of the immense exposure to industry leaders across the world. With more experience, I hope to position myself gain the necessary expertise to pursue larger projects within Africa.

With an established African practice, Baker McKenzie is poised to support me in these endeavors. I am ecstatic that my dream internship ended with an offer to pursue my dream job.