Law Traineeship Insights: What I’ve Learned So Far Across Three Practice Areas

It’s hard to believe that I am now halfway through my traineeship, and only 12 months away from becoming a qualified solicitor.

I am currently in my third “seat” (practice area) of my traineeship. I started off in our Employment Law Team before moving to Commercial Real Estate, and I have just started in our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team. While each of these areas of law are completely different, I have gained so many skills which are transferable across all departments.

Employment Law

During my first seat in the Employment Law Team, I spent a lot of time drafting and reviewing policies, contracts, letters and tribunal forms. One of the first things I learned is how vital attention to detail is. Even the most minor error can have significant consequences so spending extra time to ensure your work is accurate is necessary to fine-tune your proof reading skills.

As a trainee, more often than not, you will be assigned tasks from different partners or solicitors rather than having your own cases, so it is crucial to effectively communicate with whoever you are working alongside in order to ensure nothing slips.

I attended multiple meetings during my time in Employment – whether over video call, over the phone, out on a client site visit or having a client visit our office. This enabled me to build relationships with clients and helped develop my soft skills which is a vital skill in any department. In my opinion, constantly growing this skill is just as important as developing technical, legal skills as instructing a solicitor can be a daunting, stressful experience and you need to ensure that your client always feels supported.

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate is an incredibly busy seat and is a great opportunity to get “hands on” as you will have the chance to take on your own transactions. One of the key skills I have built upon during my time in Commercial Real Estate is time management and prioritisation due to the fast-paced nature of transactions and strict deadlines that must be adhered to. I have learned that it is crucial to constantly re-evaluate the priority order of your to-do list as more often than not, something will crop up which requires urgent attention.

Similarly, file management is very important as other members of the team will be working on the same transactions, so it is important to make it easy for them to pick up from where you left off and ensure that nothing is missed.

While I didn’t have to attend many meetings with clients during my Commercial Real Estate seat, I was able to improve my communication skills from a different angle as I dealt mainly with corporate entities rather than individuals. There are multiple parties involved in real estate transactions, so I had to ensure that I was constantly updating everyone involved to guarantee that everyone was kept in the loop.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Litigation and Dispute Resolution is an area that I am drawn to due to the varying nature of the work. No two cases are the same meaning that my breadth of legal knowledge will undoubtedly widen over my next six months in the department. Although I have only been in the team for a couple of weeks, I have already carried out various tasks including conducting research, preparing bundles and drafting letters.

 Even if you are set on one area of law, I would definitely recommend that you keep an open mind and try other areas. You will pick up different skills from each department which will be beneficial to the practice area you will eventually end up in.