Giovanni Carotenuto, Italy

LLM in European Law 1996-97

"I decided to apply to Queen Mary, University of London a year after having graduated in law in Italy (whilst I was already living and working in London) mainly because of its well known Centre for Commercial Law Studies. In particular, I was keen on deepening my knowledge of EU competition/antitrust law and thought that no better place than Queen Mary would have helped me to gain a practical and useful insight of such field.

The time I spent there confirmed in full my initial choice: above all, I benefited from the excellent preparation and constant availability of professors and lecturers, who managed to create a pleasant and challenging atmosphere, as well as from a truly international environment made of students from all over the world, with the most different backgrounds and experiences. With some of my former LLM colleagues I actually developed friendships that will last for a lifetime.

At the end of my studies at Queen Mary, after having sat the final exams (the first ones of my career fully in writing!), I felt ready to pursue a career in the law. Upon my return, it came as no surprise that I received offers from the best international law firms in Italy. After having worked ten years for a first rank Italy-based law firm (and one-year secondment in New York), in June 2008 I joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe as Of Counsel, focusing on corporate and baking/finance regulatory matters. Nowadays, I strongly recommend to my trainees to take an LLM course at Queen Mary. Based on my own experience, they would treasure for life the practical skills and legal knowledge they gain during LLM studies at the College."