My Experience As A Trainee Solicitor In The Family Team.

When I became a trainee, my first seat with the firm was within the Family Department. Thankfully, I was fortunate that I had already worked with the Family Team at Lanyon Bowdler for eight months as a legal assistant prior to becoming a trainee.

I therefore had the benefit of already knowing the systems, how the team worked and had already started to feel like an integral member of the team. I worked in the Telford office directly with the head of department, Sue Hodgson, who delegated work in a way that allowed me to feel trusted. I quickly started developing my own written style and formulating my own ideas for what the possible next steps might be on each matter. This meant that from early on in my training contract, I was taught to consider case strategy when drafting documents to ensure that we continue to act in the best interests of our client throughout their case. Of course where case facts change or new information comes to light this strategy can change, however, I have been taught that this is best considered early on.

The personal nature of family work became apparent relatively quickly. I was keen to take new enquiry calls to get a sense of the types of enquiries we were receiving. I realised very quickly that these matters are often incredibly emotional whether they involve children, divorce, financial matters or even cohabitation. The range of work coming through was vast and it meant that I had to get to grips quite quickly with the sort of work we do and which lawyer may be particularly interested and experienced in each case so that work was allocated to whoever might be the best fit.

The emotions do not stop at the initial call however, and I have often had to reassure clients during initial appointments and even Court attendances. Although it can be difficult to separate your personal feelings in this type of work, it is incredibly rewarding to receive feedback from clients who are thanking you for being their comfort during some of the most difficult times of their lives. I felt incredibly privileged how clients continually accepted that I would need to attend their appointments for my own learning, and their openness to having me, an unqualified stranger, listening to their personal issues, has allowed me the necessary exposure to develop the skills required for a multitude of sensitive scenarios.

No two days are the same in family, which makes it an exciting place to work. Daily tasks included talking with clients, arranging new appointments, attending Court hearings, liaising with the Court in relation to further queries, drafting various applications and statements and reviewing client evidence. It is this variety in workload that keeps family engaging and has allowed me to explore my ability in every aspect of the work.

Family was in my preferred list of seats and I feel that my confidence has soared since being exposed to this type of work. I have been taken out of my comfort zone on multiple occasions and felt that throughout this I was provided with the support I needed to enable perpetual growth in a number of areas.

My advice to anyone starting out with their training contract is to take it all in and slow down. We spend so long trying to reach the end goal that we forget to think about where we started. Although I have only been a trainee for six months, I feel that the skills I have learnt by simply being in a team which encouraged me to give everything a go, without fear of getting it wrong has allowed me to recognise that I have come a very long way from where I began.