Life as a Trainee Solicitor
Hello everybody, if you are reading this, chances are you are interested in a career in law and are at some stage of University. I thought writing this blog would help anybody considering a legal career see what the day to day is really like and show you all the progression of a training contract (TC).
After 3 years of university, 1 year of the LLM and 20 months of being a paralegal, I was very excited to start my TC at Consilia Legal. I have worked for Consilia for just under two years and was offered my TC last year. I have worked in Family, Employment and Mediation departments during my time as a paralegal and this has helped me gain valuable experience ahead of the TC. For those worried about not gaining a TC straight away and thinking about being a paralegal first, I would say there is nothing to worry about taking this career path. It is highly common nowadays and it is a great way to get your foot in the door at a law firm. It also shows you have tough being a paralegal actually is.
The first seat of my training contract is in the Employment Team with Marie Walsh, Andy Boyde and Victoria Horner.
My first day in the Employment Team started as any day does, checking emails. After coming back from the Christmas and New Year break there will always be something in your inbox that you need to action or pass on to another team member, starting a training contract is no different.
My first morning comprised of an Employment Team Zoom call, to see what work everyone has on that week, and helpfully for me, a review of all the cases that are currently ongoing in the Employment Team. After this, I was given my first tasks, a review of several documents provided to us by a prospective client and then provide a chronology and assessment of the merits of his case. This work is really interesting and provides you an insight as to all the documents used in the employment process, it is also great for honing your skills at picking out relevant details in what can sometimes be very large documents.
Continuing through the week I was given various tasks by all the members of the employment team; the tasks were varied to give me a broad range of knowledge in the field of employment law. My tasks included cross referencing documents, drafting employment tribunal claims, liaising with legal expenses insurance companies and client meetings.
My first week as a Trainee Solicitor absolutely flew by and I really enjoyed it. The big difference for me from my role as a paralegal was the amount of time spent on tasks, I was encouraged to take longer on tasks and really get stuck into big drafting jobs rather than before my goal was to get tasks completed and back to a fee earner.
I will keep writing these blogs throughout my training contract so you are able to see how a training contract progresses and whether this is the career for you.