A Day in the Life

Monday

On a Monday morning I spent my time researching a niche point of employment law concerning settlement agreements, redundancies and maternity pay for a legal director to provide advice to our client. By lunchtime I was travelling to a different client's office to deliver training to junior lawyers with a partner on discrimination law. Afterwards, I returned to the office to continue working on a first draft of an employment contract for one of our financial services client.

Tuesday

Rolling over to Tuesday, I find myself involved in two separate investigations tasked with managing all interviews and external parties spanning over the next few months to ensure everything runs to plan. However, part way through the day an associate advises that an urgent tribunal claim deadline is imminent and they have asked me to help with compiling the disclosure bundle.

Wednesday

Wednesday is our team's anchor day which means that the majority of the team are in the office. After being at my seat momentarily I have been provided with the opportunity to produce the first draft of an article on the use of employee health data for Practical Law UK. I spent the majority of the day researching key issues and relevant guidance and by early afternoon began putting together the first draft.

Thrusday and Friday

Thursday and Friday are a continuation of the work I have been provided earlier in the week and I am looking to finalise the most urgent pieces of work, primarily the disclosure bundle and employment contract tasks.

Networking

Our office is open plan and we have a hot desking policy whereby all of the team alternate where they sit on a daily basis. As a trainee, this is a great opportunity to speak and connect with the team (from paralegals to senior partners!) and it helps to create good working relationships with everyone. Some of the most interesting work I have been tasked with has been a result of sitting next to a partner on a particular day!

Every month I attend our trainee social where we go out to games or just to a local pub to catch up with each other. We have a variety of socials throughout the month involving both first and second year trainees – it’s not just restricted to our cohort! When we joined the firm organised for us all to go to Canary Wharf to meet everyone other over a game of virtual clay shooting and dinner which was a great ice breaker.

As well, in my seat we have a monthly social which varies from month to month but is another great way to wind down after a long week and get to know everyone in a more informal setting.

Learning and development

In each of our seats as trainees we are allocated a supervisor. My supervisor is a focal point of development and we have regular monthly 1-2-1 review to see how I am progressing. However, the majority of my work and learning is not restricted to one person but is shared across the entire team. This is an effective way to reduce any imbalances in either my learning or the support for the team. Some days I may find myself working exclusively with financial service clients and a large part of our team on advisory or transactional issues. On other days, I can be working solely with one partner or associate with a health or commerce client.

What I have found is that whoever I am working with is that they are always willing to aid my development and explain anything that is not particularly clear. It can be nerve racking starting your first seat feeling like you have not got the foggiest clue of what is going on, but in reality – and in my experience - everyone is more than happy to sit down and explain anything that is unclear. By not being restricted to one person, such as your supervisor, you can build your own craft by utilising different parts from your colleagues as you will find most people in your team will have a slightly different way of approaching similar tasks!