Training at Irwin Mitchell and life as a Newly Qualified Solicitor
Irwin Mitchell is a friendly firm to work for, a
place where diversity is actively encouraged,
and where individual's strengths are identified
and nurtured alongside a recognition that
the team, and ultimately the firm, benefit
from the wide variety of skills offered by its
employees. Irwin Mitchell encourages a team
approach, and has developed a strong support
structure around the training and development
of each employee.
Looking back at my path to becoming a
solicitor I would say that whilst my law degree
taught me the important principles underlying
the English legal system, it did not really
prepare me for the day-to-day working life of
a solicitor when skills such as client care and
case management, and even common sense
are of utmost importance.
As a medical negligence solicitor, the
principles of tort law need to be fully
understood, and it is therefore important to
be aware of any new developments in this
area. Irwin Mitchell makes this task easier by
making available a dedicated training team,
whose regular sessions allow fee earners to
brush up on their skills and knowledge base.
In a typical day, the morning starts with me
enjoying a coffee from the on-site canteen
whilst checking my task-list and reviewing
new emails. I prioritise my workload each
morning but it is important to be flexible as
it's not unusual to receive an urgent email or
telephone call needing immediate attention
and change of plans.
Clinical negligence investigations are very
hands-on, involving close client contact
in what can often be difficult and emotive
situations. A typical day might involve
conducting a client interview, instructing an
expert and ...
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Jessica O'Gorman on training at and qualifying with Dechert LLP
Dechert is an international firm with offices
across the globe. The leading London firm of
Titmuss Sainer Dechert was an established
and successful outfit before it merged with
US firm Dechert Price & Rhoads in 2000.
Since then the London office has kept much
of its British identity and office culture, and
retained a lot of UK-based clients and work.
The American influence has manifested itself
in attracting a much greater variety of work
and transactions of a far more international
nature.
On a personal level, the advantages of
working here have meant a generous salary,
the opportunity for international secondments
and exposure to international deals. I was
responsible, for example, for liaising with
foreign counsel in 12 jurisdictions including
the US, Korea, Brazil and the Cayman Islands
on a refinancing deal.
The firm's six-seat rotation system suited me
perfectly. I was initially unsure as to what
areas would interest me so it allowed me to
experience a variety of departments and make
a fully informed decision on qualification.
The flexibility of the system also meant
that once I had found an area which suited
me, I was able to spend more than one seat
there to consolidate my experience in that
area. Indeed, during my
training contract,
I spent a total of one year in the Corporate
and Securities Department before qualifying
there in September.
Some of that time was spent on secondment
to the Corporate department of our New York
office. I was able to apply my experience of
transactional work in London to the deals
with which I assisted in New York. The
transition was surprisingly easy and despite
my having no knowledge of US securities
laws, or ...
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Bird & Bird
I could not be further from war torn Basra
city sweltering in 50 degree heat. A couple of
years ago I was on my second tour of duty in
Iraq with the British Army, now I am training
with international law firm Bird & Bird.
Having completed a degree in Applied
Marine Biology and worked as a voluntary
research scientist, I joined the Army looking
for adventure. I trained at Sandhurst and
joined an Infantry regiment. It turned out to
be an exciting time to join the forces. Within a
few months I was deployed as a peacekeeper
to Kosovo helping to control ethnic violence
between Serbs and Albanians. Over the next
few years I worked in countries all over the
world including Canada, Germany, Poland,
Cyprus, Gibraltar, New Zealand and the
Middle East.
Soon after returning from the war, we were
back in Iraq to assist with the first post conflict
elections. Between patrols I started a distance
learning Masters in Business Administration.
I was 29 and had spent almost 8 years as a
solider but with my interest in both business
and law growing; I resolved to make a career
change. I was keen to exploit my MBA and
science degree in a commercial firm with an
excellent IP department. Bird & Bird was
top of my list and fortunately offered me a
training contract prior to leaving the Army.
I received several excellent recommendations
about the firm before joining and now I really
enjoy the high quality work. From my first
visit I had a good sense that the firm's culture
was right for me. They were receptive to
my previous experience whilst being honest
and frank about the realities of starting a
new profession. I also liked the policies on
diversity, community work and extra mural
activities which are not works of fiction but
actually ...
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Introduction to Law Firms
Law Firms as Businesses - What Type of
Companies Are They?
- The legal market is highly fragmented
- The top end of the market mainly serves corporate clients and is dominated by large firms which can offer a wide range of legal services.
- Small firms can compete successfully by providing specialised expertise or by operating locally.
- London and New York house the greatest concentration of law firms.
- These cities house the world's largest capital markets and companies everywhere want to tap into them.
- International business is therefore often conducted under English or American law regardless of the client company's own jurisdiction.
- Demand is dependent on the volume of economic transactions.
- Profitability depends largely on the reputation and contacts of the partners.
- Happily for lawyers, salaries are the major operating expense.
- Unlike most other industries, marketing is often aimed at other lawyers since a large amount of work is done through referrals.
- Referrals are mainly inter-jurisdictional but some are inter-specialisation.
- Serving corporate clients is both the most profitable and the largest slice of the market.
Partners not Shareholders - Law Firms are Different
- Margin not Profit
- Unlike limited companies which aim to maximise total profits for their shareholders, almost all law firms operate as partnerships or LLPs.
- With no shareholders to worry about, the profits are distributed across the partners. Therefore they are incentivised to maximise profits per equity partner (PEP).
... Read the full article
Finding the Right Solicitor Training Contract for You: Food for Thought
So you're on your way to completing the academic
requirements, and now it's time to start looking for a
solicitor training
contract. Where do you start? How can you possibly choose between all
those firms? And once you've chosen, how can you convince them to take
you on? Give some thought to each of the following points and you'll be
well on your way to finding the right legal
training contract for you.
Why do you want to practice law?
We know, this sounds like a stupid question.
"Because I want to", right? Well, no. Law is one of the most
competitive fields out there. If you can produce a convincing answer to
this question you're one step ahead. Think about what first sparked your
interest in law, or what you like most about it. Maybe being a solicitor
was your childhood dream, or maybe it runs in the family. Whatever the case,
you need to show that you are passionate about the law. With all the
academic requirements and vocational training, becoming a solicitor is a
long-term project. To be offered a
law training contract you need to show
that you have the passion and the drive to see it through to the end.
Which kind of practice do you want to get into?
The work of solicitors is more varied than you might
think. There are a number of different settings in which solicitors work,
for example commercial, private or in-house practice. You should be aware
of the differences between the various settings, but if you're not, do some
research. Find out about the kind of role you might find yourself in if
you were to go for commercial practice, for example. Is this what you hoped for
when you embarked upon your law studies? If not, look into the other
options. Being aware of your preferences is ...
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Tread Safely on the Path to Getting a Training Contract and Becoming a Solicitor
Getting into law is no easy task. It is a long journey that is
embarked upon by would-be solicitors, and not without difficulties. You can
make it though, with our guide to the road ahead. With our help, you'll avoid
the potholes and sail smoothly to your destination.
You
key selling points are the qualifications you hold. Do not lose sight of this.
Whilst there may be much noise made about the multitude of aspects which make
up a CV, your top priority before entering law must be to study. Fortunately,
with good academic results the path to that coveted job as a solicitor is
relatively straightforward.
After
graduating (if your degree is not in law then graduate diplomas are offered at
numerous institutions), you will need to sign up for a legal practice course
(LPC), which will teach you how to apply your academic training to real-world
issues. Following this will be a
training contract at a solicitor's firm, at
the end of which you shall finally be qualified as a solicitor.
This
is your main route to becoming a solicitor, but there are other things to bear
in mind.
It
will help you on your way if you begin to think about a specialism as soon as
possible. While you are still studying, research the options available to
solicitors, and consider which one would be the best fit for you. By the very
nature of their work, solicitors work in a wide variety of settings, and it
will help your focus to have a more specific ambition. Typical fields of law
you may consider specializing in, aside from criminal and family law, include
banking and finance law, human rights law, intellectual property law and media
law.
Gaining
work experience is crucial to your future career. Internships and placements at
law firms are a key part of any solicitor's CV. Work experience demonstrates
enthusiasm and commitment. If an
employer ...
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Training Contract Applications: 3 Mistakes to Avoid &hellip
Spelling
or Grammar Errors
This is the number one
training contract application mistake to avoid on every
recruiter's list. There are good reasons for this.
It is something that can be easily avoided. Quickly pasting your work into a
word processor for a grammar and spelling check should get most of the job
done. Printing a hard copy and proof reading it, with a pen in hand, will do
the rest. Do this when you are completely cold to what you have written, the
next morning for example.
Making
these types of mistakes shows a lack of attention to detail, which is not taken
lightly by prospective
employers. Given the type of service that Law firms
provide to their clients, attention to detail is especially important. Errors
in drafted legal documents expose cracks in a firm's amour of professionalism.
You can imagine that a client will then start to question the firm's competence
in other less visible but more important areas.
Drafting
errors also provide ammunition for the opposite side and their lawyers. In the
manoeuvreing that happen during negotiations it is much harder to hold your
ground and assert your side of the argument if your work is being questioned
for lack of quality.
In
a profession where a firm's reputation and the perceived quality of its work
are the cornerstones of its business success, unpolished work is a big no-no.
Enough said.
Cutting
and Pasting
There are no shortcuts to a well-written and constructed application. Next to
spelling and grammar errors, cutting and pasting from other sources is not only
a waste of time with applications, but also easy enough to detect.
Copying
and pasting is often betrayed by inappropriate or incorrect information.
Addressing the application to the wrong person or company happens all too
often. ...
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Get a Legal Training Contract Grant of £30,000!
The
Legal Services Commission (LSC) provides funding to support the training of new
legal aid solicitors. The package includes over £30,000 per grant.
Need some funding? The Legal Services Commission (LSC)
runs a grant scheme offering over £30,000 per grant! This covers tuition fees
for the LPC and PSC, plus a 75% contribution to salary costs for the 2 year
Training Contract.
The Training
Contract Grants Scheme (TCG) was introduced to support Legal Aid
organizations in their recruitment process. The LSC currently provides 590
grants to support the training of new Legal Aid solicitors.
What Does the Grant Cover?
If you are able to secure a TCG, it will provide up
to 75% of your salary during the 2 year
Training Contract. The package also
includes payment of tuition fees for the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and the
Professional Skills Course (PSC). The grant will NOT cover any additional costs
such as exam re-sits or living expenses.
NOTE: If you have already completed the LPC, the grant
will not cover the tuition fees retrospect. Also, if you are starting your
second year of a Part-Time LPC when the grant is awarded, only the second
year's fees will be covered.
How Do I Apply?
Grants are awarded to solicitor and not-for-profit
organizations which are committed to Legal Aid work. You will need to apply via
the successful organizations. You cannot apply for a Grant directly from the
LSC.
For a current list of Grant Awarded Organizations,
follow this link: -
http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/public/training_contract_grants.asp
The list can be located under the Documents tab, entitled
"Training Grants Recipients 2007". There are also a ...
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Choosing a Law Training Contract Firm: Five Crucial Factors to Consider
Practice Areas
This is undoubtedly one of
the most crucial factors for you to weigh up as part of the process for choosing
a
training contract firm.
There is a big difference
between studying the law and practicing it. As a law student, it is easy to believe
that what you learn at university will correspond to the workplace. You may not find the books and lectures of a
particular subject especially interesting, but the same subject may be much
more dynamic and exciting when you are out in the field and working on real
cases.
Whilst the larger firms may
have departments that cover all practice areas, each department will be a
different size and carry its own reputation within the industry. Whether you are
looking to work in Corporate, Real Estate, Finance, Litigation, Employment,
Incentives or Competition, doing your research about the different departments
within your prospective firms will help you choose the best ones to apply to.
It will also provide you with invaluable credibility when it comes to the
training contract interview stage. You will probably not be given the exact combination of seats that
you would like in your legal
training contract. However, you can't go too far wrong
if you have chosen a firm whose major practice areas match those that you are
interested in.
Client Base
The
profile of a firm generally corresponds to the profile of its clients. Some
people prefer to work with high profile organizations, but will usually have to
contend with dealing with people from varying levels within the organization.
Smaller clients give you a chance to work more directly with the key people and
your input will be more visible.
...
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Eight questions you must ask yourself when choosing a law firm
The
decision to apply to any law firm for a
training contract can be daunting
enough without having to decide on which ones to apply for. Though it may be
tempting to apply to everything you find to increase your chances, this can be
counterproductive. Not only will it be time-consuming to go through each
application process but your answers to application questions may become
generic and unfocussed. It is therefore a good idea to pick only a few
companies based on criteria which are important to you, remembering that different
law firms can vary as much as the employees who work for them. Here is a list
of basic questions to ask yourself when thinking about where to apply:
1. In
which location do I want to work?
Whilst most big companies tend to be located in
London, a good number will have offices in other cities
such as Leeds,
Manchester or
Birmingham. If you have never lived or worked
in
London, it
may be worth considering the type of lifestyle change you may have to undergo,
but also realise that salaries in the capital will tend to be higher to balance
costs. Also, large international firms often offer opportunities to work in one
of their offices abroad, so if travel appeals to you this may be something to
think about.
2. What
size of company do I want to work for?
The size
of the firm will determine a lot about the kind of work you will be doing and
what life at the company will be like. New trainees can suffer from "small
fish, big pond" syndrome when working in large organisations but this can also
be more rewarding than working in a smaller company that deals with less
impressive work.
3. What
are the main areas the firm deals with?
Most ...
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