Vacation scheme

Day 3

I loved Wednesday. I was able to explore a new area of law, commercial dispute resolution. 

The first task required me to write a draft response letter a claimant regarding breach of copyright. Their argument referenced a number of case law which I was able to distinguish from the current case and put together as a response, laying out the predicted total in damages. - I loved the opportunity to research and apply case law and found the experience extremely insightful into the type of cases you might deal with in dispute resolution. The second task involved me looking through a contract to check if UCTA 1977 could be applied and as a consequence terminate an unwanted contract. 

The day also gave me an opportunity to speak to the trainees there already. Normally the TC involves 4 seats based on where the firm needs and what the trainee is interested in, this might be spread across their three different locations. Each of the offices have a different environment. He said the TC offers hands on work from the very beginning, and immediate client contact as soon as they are ready. - This is extremely important to me. The application process itself involves two interviews, an examination style exercise on property law and a presentation (his was on the LSA 2007). The hours are long but the staff know what they are doing and committed to the work. I also had an opportunity to speak to the recruiter who reflected what the trainee had already told me and highlighted the flexibility a trainee would need at the same time as the flexibility the firm might be willing to offer if they found the right candidate.

In the afternoon I was invited to court to assist one of the senior partners in a very high profile case, where the press were involved. It was a great insight into pre-trial preparation and the discussions needed between the client, advocates, CPS and clerks. I was able to have a chat with him afterwards about how the criminal law profession has changed following cuts and how short staffed and over worked the courts are concerning time and the need to deal with as many cases as possible. 

Day 4 and 5

I spent the remainder days with family law. Most of which was filled up with helping make bundles and writing divorce petitions a lot of administrative tasks. Whilst my perfectionist and logical side loves tasks like this, I was disappointed I didn't get an opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge of the law or other skills as I was with the recruiting partner for the remainder of my placement. However, I did have the opportunity to attend the civil court with one of their barristers.

Summary

I absolutely loved my time at the firm. Really enjoyed the work allocated and felt extremely valued throughout the entire placement. I felt the firm was full of lawyers who value the work they do and are committed to stay up to date with current affairs and application of the law. I would love to work there again. (fingers crossed).

Day 2

I was placed in the crime and regulatory department for my second day. The morning was spent in court, which was fairly familiar territory for me. In the afternoon I helped with three cases; confirming there was an evidential link between a defendant and co-defendant, legal research on a breach of a restrainining order for what was a 'reasonable excuse' and then prepared questions for the cross examination of two witnesses for a trial the following day.

I really appreciated the time I spent on the cases in the afternoon. Particularly for the guidance I received building questions for cross examination - ask open questions to your client so they tell the story and build on it, closed questions to the appellant/ (prosecution) therefore directing what you want the court to hear.

Vacation scheme Day 1

I applied over a year ago for this placement. I was attracted by their location, regional spread of offices and the sectors they practice including crime. 

The vacc scheme involves me visiting 5 different departments. This provides an opportunity to explore different areas of law (commercial, crime and regulatory, employment, family and residential conveyancing), at the same time as getting to know the entire team at the firm. 

My first day started off with an introduction to the firm. Whilst the firm are a fairly large regional firm the departments are relatively small, except for crime and regulatory. The office is open plan which means all the departments are right next door to each other. This was a real positive for me, as it meant I could see how areas of law overlap and interact with each other. The lawyers would consult each other  if anything outside of their specialist area came up. It gave a real sense of team work and feeling of a firm cooperating together, rather than churning out clients (I have just been working at a conveyancing firm which felt more like a factory rather than a law firm.)

I spent the remainder of the day in the commercial department. I was given a task to summarise in my words and format the standard regulations for commercial property. Whilst normally, scanning through  documents with a lot of information on and picking out the important detail is a skill of mine, I really struggled with this. Largely because I didn't recognise a lot of the law and found it difficult to condense something I didn't understand myself. It put into context for me how my academic studies form only the very base of what you might use in practice. All that studying and there is still so much more to learn!

I really enjoyed getting to know the commercial department. The exercise helped me understand the process of commercial conveyancing and also the necessary skill to be able to read large quantities of information on a daily basis without missing any important or changed terms. 

Speaking to one of the lawyers, she expressed how important she felt it was to have a commercial seat as the law overlaps with each, particularly in the progressing market today. It teaches a different set of skills which can be transferred to other departments and develops a broader base of knowledge.

I would really like the opportunity to explore this area of law further and hope my time at the firm might give me a better understanding of how it infiltrates into other areas. 

Filling in the gap.

My last post was in February 2013 - just around the time of my dissertation hand in. Since then, I have abandoned this blog and let myself become consumed by, what I like to tell myself is, "a very busy and time consuming schedule."

In other words, I was embarrassed by how many people appeared to be reading my terrible literacy skills and shied away.

So now, I have my brave boots back on and will try harder to find the time for the blogs original purpose - reflecting on my journey into the legal industry and more recently, my hunt for a Training Contract.

For those that don't know...

I graduated from History last year and have since been studying the GDL at the University of Law. My end goal is to become a Solicitor Advocate specialising in Criminal Defence. However, I consider myself to still be young, so keep my mind open to areas of law such as Private Client and Employment.

What happened between February 2013 and May 2014?

Other than graduating, I spent the summer travelling Eastern Europe and moved from the Midlands to Greater London. I completed a mini pupilage (confirming I prefer solicitor over barrister) and transferred location with the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

I sent off three Training Contracts, all of which I got through to the second or final stage, but haven't yet made it to the last post!

I have started, and now almost completed law school - I am about to enter exam period in June.

What's it like studying the GDL?

The GDL is radically different to my History degree. The course is EXTREMELY intense, although is designed around a manageable structure by the University of Law.

I previously studied a course where you could read a couple of books over night and splurge out some argument, which was awarded with good grades without trying very hard at all. I now study a course where it takes you 400 years to even try and remotely put together a decent argument , with the exact PRECISE law (may be slight exaggeration).

In essence, to study the GDL you have to be committed and driven. So now, I spend every waking minute with a law book, at least in the corner of my eye.

Despite the fact it is mentally draining, it's for a worthy cause. To qualify in law it isn't just about academic prowess - you need commitment.

At the University of Law, I have made full use of the Careers service and got involved with the Mooting competition which I really enjoyed. My time at the college has taught me that the legal industry isn't full of these strange insanely intelligent creatures, but instead, it is made up of lots of people like me who all want to do one thing - practice law.

The battle of the Training Contracts

Training Contract applications are often even more time consuming than your academic work for law school. I have a lot of relevant experience, which I hope makes me stand out. However, there are a lot of other, want to be lawyers out there, who may have just as much experience and are blessed with the gift of being a straight A Oxbridge student. So, the battle continues.

I have sent off three applications so far, which in comparison to most, isn't a lot at all.

Each firm has been different. For the first stage, I have sent off either online applications or CVs with covering letters. Some of them jumped straight to interview, then assessment centre, whilst others have interim stages such as tests or writing exercises. For one firm, I had to submit a paper on 'How to solve the problems of medium sized firms'.

Each stage is coupled with the agonising wait to hear the outcome - staring at your email inbox or jumping every time the phone rings and the letter box opens. The process makes you a nervous wreck.

However, with each experience my application and interview technique has improved. Most importantly my confidence grows.

It is important to always take a reality check in this process. I have been extremely fortunate to get through the first couple of rounds with all of my applications. Only 10% (if that) of my year have a Training Contract so we're all in the same boat together.

Advice for other want-to-be Trainees

Take a reality check. We have entered one of the most competitive industries. As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. Take every experience as an opportunity to improve until you land your Training Contract.

Also consider your application technique. For me, I have started to realise the importance of networking. Firms will prefer applications from faces they know.

What next?

I will continue with my battle for a Training Contract and complete my law exams. I have a place confirmed at the University of Law for the LLM LPC and have secured two legal placements in Hong Kong and Sydney.

In the next couple of posts, I'm aiming to look at applications, my CV and my experience at the Citizen's Advice Bureau with clients and company negotiations.

#saveukjustice

I promise I will be back soon. I have so much to say. For the last couple of months I have been concentrating on exams and dissertation. I will continue to do so for just three more weeks! - I have three more weeks until I will no longer be a History student. I will be studying law, finally!

So, for now make sure you sign the e-petition to save UK justice.
https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48628

Most of you who read my blog don't need to be told by, nevertheless I will cover it in June - WHEN I HAVE GRADUATED!

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48628

A new kind of experience.

As part of my role in the History Committee and as a Mentor manager, I take part in a Leicester award scheme. Below is the reflective blog I have using to evaluate the scheme. Helping with the workshop was something I had not done before and difficult as it involved taking a leadership role amongst my age group and class mates. - however, it was an extremely valuable experience towards a professional role as I learnt how to conduct myself appropriately and gradually build confidence within my role. It is always interesting to gain experience outside of law as it often holds qualities which can be useful within it at the same time as providing perspective.

If you are interested in seeing any more of the posts, or thinking about setting up a similar scheme see www.ullamentor-manager.blogspot.com.


The History Society, of which I am Treasurer have set up a pilot scheme which involve second and third years mentoring first years. The aim of this scheme is to integrate years and provide support to first years who may be struggling to settle into university. We have collaborated with not only our university academic department but also the university careers service. After multiple meetings, Leicester University Careers agreed to support our scheme by collaborating their Mentoring Award with us, which is a recognised Leicester Employability Award. From this, our members who take part in the scheme benefit from increased awareness and development of employability skills alongside receiving an award which appears on their degree transcript, making theme more attractive to employers.

This mentor scheme has now been running since October. We have had a high number of members enroll on the course and the mentors have been extremely effective with mentor and mentee interaction.

Today, this scheme, was my 'do something that scares you everyday'. A top up mentor training session was organised, of which me and a fellow committee member were asked to help run. This required organising an Icebreaker, monitoring and supporting the exercises in the workshop and acting as a judge on a panel marking presentations in an assessment center interview st. - Most of the students attending this workshop were my peers, students I take classes with. This was EXTREMELY DAUNTING.

Whilst I have certainly not been swayed away from a profession in Law, acting in a teaching role was extremely valuable experience.

My only solution to the days task was - to go for it. I ended up really enjoying myself.

Tasks throughout the workshop

1. Organise the Icebreaker.
   This was the first task of the workshop. We had only a vague idea of how to carry it out, so it was a bit of a pilot test. We needed to get the attendees warmed up and chatting with eachother. Therefore, the suggested Icebreaker was to tell 2 lies and 1 truth, whilst the rest of the group had to guess which was the truth. - This worked well. Although, it took a little bit of prompting the students got to know each other and were provided with the opportunity to try each others acting and detective skills. It certainly worked well as a bonding session.
2. Integrate and provide support to the groups whilst carrying out workshop excercises. By moving between each group and asking for an update on how they were doing, every student was always very responsive and positive. It was a great opportunity not only to offer advice on their projects but also to find out how they felt about the scheme. The workshop or some other type of facility should certainly be used in the future to collect feedback and opinions of participants, which can then be fed back into the scheme and improved on.
3. Judge the presentations. This was aimed to be carried out in a style that would be found in an assessment center as part of a job application. For me, this was the hardest part, as I was critiquing people who were of my own age and in my classes. However, it was all carried out professionally and appropriately so therefore became a non-issue. Again, it was really interesting to see students ideas on improvement which could be made within student life at the university and how they would implement this. I learnt a positive skill on how to provide constructive criticism. This also helped to improve my leadership skills by building my confidence and helping me to find the right balance between professionalism and remaining approachable.

Word count: 613

Is there going to be a place for me?

To begin, my new plan of prioritisation is off to a shaky start. It turns out it takes A LOT of motivation to stick to a plan and not get sidetracked. My 'to do list' is still being ticked off, just not in the right order. I'll get there...eventually.

This week, I have been trying to track down a bit more work experience, motivated by the deadlines for a lot of the vacation placements. I contacted a fair few of my previous contacts for references and advice, who have all been extremely helpful! However, they have filled me with gloom and doom about the future for criminal defence lawyers.

I came away from this rather shaken up. Whilst I have certainly never considered it an easy task to find a place in criminal law, I had never thought of it being potentially impossible. Therefore, it provided me with a wake up call. I can't put all my eggs in one basket.

Before I get ahead of myself, I do actually have a long way to go before I choose my area in law. Nevertheless, it is daunting to feel that the reason you want to do law may not necessarily exist in the form it is today by the time I qualify - let alone it being a stable choice.

So, do I start to explore other areas of law or do I carry on submersing myself in criminal law, with the acceptance it may not have an entirely prosperous outcome? - I have come to the conclusion, the answer is to do a bit of both.

I want to do criminal law because I want to be part of the right side of the criminal justice system, not because I want to be Mrs Moneybags. If nobody has the funding to take me on by the time I qualify, I am certain there will be voluntary work I can take on, until I become experienced enough to become beneficial to a practice.

On the other hand, as I have already said, I still have two years (ish) to decide officially, which means lots of time to explore other areas. - I enjoyed family law, although that is going much the same way (if not worse) as practices in criminal law. - I have started looking at firms which specialise in areas of employment law, healthcare and supporting charities. As these sectors all still provide aspects which I find attractive in Criminal Law.

Therefore, I will continue to increase contacts and work experience (starting to explore other areas). I have recently applied to work for the Citizens Advice Bureau, which will be great experience and have my first 'on call' next week with YOS. Very excited!

So my conclusion is, carry on finding work experience and following my interest in criminal law but branch out and find experience in other areas which compliment the factors I look for.