Morrison Foerster associate Michal Pati discusses what drew him to the firm and what aspiring lawyers should know about its training programme
From an early interest in politics and anti-corruption to qualifying into employment at Morrison Foerster (MoFo), Michal Pati’s route into law has taken him from Slovakia to London and Singapore. Having trained at the firm before staying on as an associate, Pati sits down with Legal Cheek Careers to discuss what drew him to MoFo, the responsibility and support trainees can expect, and how his training contract helped shape the lawyer he wanted to become.
Originally from Slovakia, Pati says his interest in law grew out of a broader fascination with politics and international affairs. Volunteering with an anti-corruption NGO helped crystallise that interest, particularly the link between public policy and the legal rules behind it. By the time he was choosing what to study, law had become the obvious option.
Pati went on to study law at King’s College London, where he initially considered areas such as public international law and public law, but soon realised his interests lay elsewhere. “I quite liked reading about the economy, companies, what they do, and the tech world,” he explains. He was particularly fascinated by how businesses operate and transact, as well as the pace of developments in technology, an interest he says has only grown with the rise of AI. It was this combination that ultimately pulled him towards commercial law and the solicitor route.
That interest in technology soon became an important factor when Pati began researching firms. “MoFo caught my attention for what I saw as its depth of expertise in tech and tech M&A, alongside its San Francisco roots and close ties to the startup and technology ecosystem there”. Just as important, however, was the sense that the London office had an identity of its own. Rather than simply servicing work generated in the US, Pati was drawn to the combination of cross-border matters flowing from San Francisco and “a lot of good homegrown UK work”. Pati subsequently completed a vacation scheme with the firm before securing his training contract.
The size of the London office was another draw. With fewer than 100 fee-earners, Pati felt MoFo offered the kind of close-knit environment he was looking for. “I realised throughout the process that I work better in smaller teams,” he says. “I prefer being in a smaller team and knowing everyone in the firm rather than being in a large team.” Having now trained and qualified there, Pati says that impression has held up. Rotating through different teams allowed him to get to know people across the office. “People talk about the open-door policy, and I genuinely think the doors are always open,” he says.
That smaller-team structure also shaped Pati’s training contract. He completed seats in litigation, a split employment and data privacy rotation, finance in Singapore, and corporate, with MoFo offering split seats in some practice areas depending on business needs. For Pati, combining employment and data privacy proved particularly useful. “I hadn’t appreciated the huge overlap between employment and data privacy,” he says, adding that working across both teams meant a varied workload and the chance to work with a wider range of lawyers.
Seat choices were also fairly flexible. Litigation and corporate are mandatory rotations, while trainees rank their preferences for the remaining seats around one or two months before each move. Pati says the firm’s Learning and Development team “tries their best to give everyone what they want”, adding that he was very happy with the choices he ultimately received.
That breadth of experience was matched by plenty of hands-on responsibility. During his litigation seat, Pati recalls being only a couple of months into the training contract when he and another trainee were asked to help coordinate a straightforward but relatively large document review, supervise other trainees and carry out quality control, with an associate providing oversight. “The level of responsibility is great but not scary,” he says. While lean teams can mean trainees are asked to step up, Pati stresses that the work is matched to their experience, with scope to take on more as their confidence grows.
That opportunity to take on more also extended beyond London. For his third seat, Pati spent six months in MoFo’s Singapore office, drawn by the chance to work abroad, experience a different office and get to know colleagues in another part of the firm. “As lawyers, we do not always get many opportunities to work abroad during our careers,” he says. The location brought its own appeal too, giving him the chance to explore Southeast Asia alongside his work.
Professionally, the secondment also pushed him in new ways. Compared with his earlier litigation seat and split employment/data privacy seat, Pati found himself having much more direct contact with clients and local counsel, often acting as a first point of contact and helping to coordinate matters. “It was much more about direct client communication,” he recalls. The experience gave him greater responsibility, while also helping clarify the kind of work he wanted to pursue.
The secondment also helped narrow Pati’s thinking ahead of qualification. While finance had been one possible route, his interest in employment had been building since his vacation scheme, when he first sat with an employment lawyer at the firm. “It was the first time I realised that employment law is actually quite interesting,” he says. By the time qualification came around, his choice was between corporate and employment, two areas he had enjoyed for different reasons.
Employment ultimately won out because of both the work and the team, offering Pati a combination he had not expected when he first encountered the practice. “It is the best of both worlds,” he says, pointing to the chance to work on corporate transactions while also developing specialist employment expertise. The team’s work overlaps with areas such as the use of AI and automated decision-making in recruitment or workplace monitoring, which appealed to Pati given his longstanding interest in technology.
That variety carries into Pati’s day-to-day work. He might begin by checking for overnight updates on transactions or emails from overseas counsel, before moving on to advisory work, legal research or drafting. The team also spends time on practice development, from preparing client presentations and training sessions to writing articles on the latest legal developments. “Every day is different,” he says, with the mix of transactional and advisory work keeping things varied.
For those considering an application to MoFo, Pati’s main advice is to be selective and genuine about where you apply. “It always shows when someone is genuinely passionate about the firm and what we do,” he says. Rather than focusing only on headline factors, he suggests thinking carefully about things like team structure, practice strengths and the kind of working environment in which you are likely to thrive.
He also encourages applicants to go beyond the firm’s website when doing their research. “Ask as many questions as possible to get to know us and what we do, because not everything is on the website,” Pati advises. For those reaching out to trainees or associates directly, his tip is to keep questions targeted: specific queries about a team, practice area or aspect of the training contract are far more likely to spark a useful conversation than broad, generic questions. Above all, his advice is simple: “Be yourself and be selective about the firms you apply to.”
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