Case study

足球电子竞技平台

Employer
Taylor Wessing LLP

Freddie studied Law at Durham University, before embarking on a Legal Practice Course (LPC) at BPP University. He’s now a trainee solicitor at Taylor Wessing

How did you get your job?

I applied to Taylor Wessing's summer vacation scheme and was fortunate enough to be offered a space. I was then offered a training contract off the back of the vacation scheme.

What’s a typical day like as a trainee solicitor?

People will usually come to me throughout the day with a range of different tasks to help them with. This can be anything from researching a legal issue, drafting legal documents, writing cover letters to clients, or just proofreading an important contract. I am usually busy and juggling several different matters for various members of the team at the same time, so being skilled at time management, communication and prioritisation is essential.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love the scale of the work we get involved with, as it’s exciting to feel like you're adding value to the world and working on matters that will affect many people's lives.

I recently experienced working on a deal for one of our clients that featured on the front page of the BBC shortly afterwards, and it's exhilarating to know that you contributed towards that.

What are the challenges?

As a trainee, almost everything you experience will be completely new, so it can sometimes feel a little overwhelming to process so much technical information. The important thing is to stay calm and remember that you're there to learn - no one expects you to walk in on your first day and know the practice area back-to-front. A big thing for me has been to just tell myself to relax and enjoy the learning process.

In what way is your degree relevant?

Having completed a law degree, I am familiar with a lot of the fundamental legal concepts that we deal with.

How has your role developed?

I am still relatively new to my role, but I am already starting to experience increased responsibility with the tasks that I am given. I have found that if you show people that you are eager to learn, they are happy to give you progressively more complicated tasks to develop your skills.

How do I get into law?

  • Read the business news every day and think about what the implications are of what you have read to a legal practitioner. Law firms are keen to recruit people that have an awareness of how business and law interface.
  • Get as much experience as you can. Even if you have struggled to secure a vacation scheme, many law firms offer one-off open days that are invaluable for getting an insight into how the sector operates.
  • Tailor your applications. If you can remove the name of the firm from your application and still tell which firm you were writing about, that's a good sign that you're showing why you want to work at that firm specifically.

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