Quite a lot has happened in the last few weeks, so I feel this will be more of a descriptive (rather than analytical) post. That's probably a good thing, because I have a tendency to write without really thinking in these blog things so the analytical ones don't always make a lot of sense (see the previous post, Compensation Culture, wherein I think I was labouring towards a valid point but not sure how well I wrote it). On the other hand, descriptive posts are just a series of related sentences that inform rather than probe so it doesn't really matter how well it's written.
Anyway, I'm doing it again: typing and not really thinking!! Ok, so since my last post in late November, the days have become shorter (though the working hours have not) and the weather has taken a turn for the freezing. I've continued to enjoy my time in personal injury and have taken on a third case of my own. This one is a bit more interesting than my previous two. It'd be great if I could tell you all about it, but I can't because I'm still paranoid.
I've also been to court a few more times. I'm getting a lot more court exposure than I'd anticipated! However, this is largely because whenever one of the lawyers in the team has a court hearing coming up they'll invite me to go along, so it doesn't necessarily mean that there is more court time than I thought in PI. Usually I simply go to take notes, but it has been really varied and interesting. I even got some criminal experience, accompanying a client to a Magistrates' Court for a trial relating to the same incident at which she was injured. The other day I got to go to court on my own, 1-on-1 with a District Judge. It was a very simple procedure - I didn't have to do any advocacy. Nevertheless it was great to get the experience.
I've also submitted my preferences for my next seat. In March I will switch from PI to something else. I will keep you all (or you both) posted on that. Without wishing to tempt fate I am really hoping for a seat in Clinical Negligence!!
Finally, last Friday was the office Christmas party. Apart from on my gap year in 2004-2005, when I worked in a tiny firm with about 5 employees, I realised that I'd never been to an office Christmas party before. It was a little awkward to know how to act amongst colleagues (and superiors!) in social situations. It couldn't be good for one's reputation to get devastatingly blotto. Some people did just that, and when there is an open bar it's definitely a temptation! But no. Not a good idea. On the other hand, though, you want to appear sociable and easygoing. And that includes that most dreaded/loved behemoth: banter. It's kind of necessary to be banterous these days, but it can be difficult to know where the line is drawn, especially if you're doing it with a partner of the firm! I guess a good rule is: if they give it, take it and return it (maybe with a little interest). If they don't, play it straight.
Not sure how much of that made sense. I am pretty tired still... But next week I will be off for my Christmas holiday and I will hopefully do a well-considered reflective post on my first 4 months in law. For now, though, I have the exciting task of laundry to sort!
Adios.
Sunday 18 December 2011
Sunday 27 November 2011
Compensation Culture
Following on from my last post, where I mused about various client types, one thing that sticks out is the number of them who think that being hurt automatically entitles them to compensation. I blame the adverts. You know the ones I mean. They're the ones that people quote back to me, in a bemusingly smug manner, whenever I tell them that I'm a trainee in a personal injury team.
Anyway, I got a new client call the other day from someone who was walking (running) down some stairs and fell. I asked him if there was anything wrong with the stairs - any obstacles or any slipping hazards - and he said "no, no... I was just being a bit clumsy to be honest. Just thought I'd call up and see if I could get anything". Fair play to the guy, I suppose. If it's available then why not take it?
I'd like to dispel a myth: most of the time when one of our clients gets compensation, it's very much deserved and fully justified. In order to win a case we do need to show that there was someone at fault, and not just a minor fault, but actually negligent. This is the part that they don't really get across on those silly TV adverts (although they do seem to bring in a lot of new clients which I guess is the point...) - having an accident is not in itself enough to get money! Sometimes life is just unfair.
It's fine when, as in the previous example, the client understands and accepts this, but sometimes they really don't and are adamant that someone other than themselves must be to blame. And then, after explaining that it's not that easy to get compensation, they'll have a go at me. And after work I'll be in a bar having a quiet drink alone, doing my crosswords as I do every night, and someone will do their silly mocking impression from the TV adverts because they think that I'm an ambulance chaser who'll stop at no lengths to find a way to blame the blameless. That's not how it is! Bah.
Another thing people seem to forget is that when someone's suffered a proper injury (which our clients have to - we make them see an independent medical expert to verify their injury) they will have suffered genuine losses and will really need the money. That's why it's called "compensation", to compensate them for what they have lost. If they haven't lost anything then they won't get any compensation. People don't realise this either. Just to clarify - loss of health/amenity does count as a compensationable loss, but it has to be quite significant for it to be worth a lawsuit.
I was going to mention some of the interesting things I did since my last update, but I've forgotten most of it now. Oops. One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that I went to a trial the other week (pretty rare in personal injury!) and the defendant had fired his lawyers and was representing himself. It was pretty interesting watching him compared to our educated, qualified & experienced barrister. A bit of a no-contest in the end.
My hands are tired now.
Anyway, I got a new client call the other day from someone who was walking (running) down some stairs and fell. I asked him if there was anything wrong with the stairs - any obstacles or any slipping hazards - and he said "no, no... I was just being a bit clumsy to be honest. Just thought I'd call up and see if I could get anything". Fair play to the guy, I suppose. If it's available then why not take it?
I'd like to dispel a myth: most of the time when one of our clients gets compensation, it's very much deserved and fully justified. In order to win a case we do need to show that there was someone at fault, and not just a minor fault, but actually negligent. This is the part that they don't really get across on those silly TV adverts (although they do seem to bring in a lot of new clients which I guess is the point...) - having an accident is not in itself enough to get money! Sometimes life is just unfair.
It's fine when, as in the previous example, the client understands and accepts this, but sometimes they really don't and are adamant that someone other than themselves must be to blame. And then, after explaining that it's not that easy to get compensation, they'll have a go at me. And after work I'll be in a bar having a quiet drink alone, doing my crosswords as I do every night, and someone will do their silly mocking impression from the TV adverts because they think that I'm an ambulance chaser who'll stop at no lengths to find a way to blame the blameless. That's not how it is! Bah.
Another thing people seem to forget is that when someone's suffered a proper injury (which our clients have to - we make them see an independent medical expert to verify their injury) they will have suffered genuine losses and will really need the money. That's why it's called "compensation", to compensate them for what they have lost. If they haven't lost anything then they won't get any compensation. People don't realise this either. Just to clarify - loss of health/amenity does count as a compensationable loss, but it has to be quite significant for it to be worth a lawsuit.
I was going to mention some of the interesting things I did since my last update, but I've forgotten most of it now. Oops. One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that I went to a trial the other week (pretty rare in personal injury!) and the defendant had fired his lawyers and was representing himself. It was pretty interesting watching him compared to our educated, qualified & experienced barrister. A bit of a no-contest in the end.
My hands are tired now.
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Client Care
Last Friday (which was 11/11/11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I had my second supervision review with my supervisor. It went well. She is very good at allaying any fears I may have. It seems I have done a pretty good job so far. Apparently other people in the department have caught wind of the fact that I have covered my supervisor's case load while she was away, as well as LEX's case load which she was away, and now they want me to do the same for them. That's flattering, I guess, but it does sort of feel like I'm a dog everybody wants to pet! Except that petting me somehow gets their work done.
Anyway, yes... it's definitely a good thing. It's better than nobody wanting to give me work on the basis that I'll screw it up.
So, I'm trying to think of what happened lately that was out of the ordinary. Hm. Not that much that I can say on here without incurring a breach of confidentiality lawsuit! But I've had a lot of client contact lately - interviews and such.
Today I had my first client interview flying solo (i.e. on my own). It's also my first ever case! The interview went fine, but the case is less than great. I guess I can't go into much detail because I'm getting paranoid (even though I have a total readership of about 3). Basically I could have got a better case. I highly doubt this one is going to go anywhere, but I will try my best of course.
Clients are funny old things. They really do come in all shapes and sizes and with a whole host of different mentalities. Hardly a surprise, I suppose, given that everybody in the world is a potential personal injury claimant (except people Denmark where nobody gets hurt, and people in North Korea where nobody gets compensation). I might like to do a more extensive article on the common client stereotypes after a few more months.
Anyway, yes... it's definitely a good thing. It's better than nobody wanting to give me work on the basis that I'll screw it up.
So, I'm trying to think of what happened lately that was out of the ordinary. Hm. Not that much that I can say on here without incurring a breach of confidentiality lawsuit! But I've had a lot of client contact lately - interviews and such.
Today I had my first client interview flying solo (i.e. on my own). It's also my first ever case! The interview went fine, but the case is less than great. I guess I can't go into much detail because I'm getting paranoid (even though I have a total readership of about 3). Basically I could have got a better case. I highly doubt this one is going to go anywhere, but I will try my best of course.
Clients are funny old things. They really do come in all shapes and sizes and with a whole host of different mentalities. Hardly a surprise, I suppose, given that everybody in the world is a potential personal injury claimant (except people Denmark where nobody gets hurt, and people in North Korea where nobody gets compensation). I might like to do a more extensive article on the common client stereotypes after a few more months.
Saturday 5 November 2011
Romanus Eunt Domus (2-month report!)
Bonus points for who(m)ever knows where the Latin quote is from and/or what the grammatically correct phrase would be!
Anyway, today it is the 5th November. And on this day I am looking back in history, not to 1605 like most proper British folk, but merely back to September when I was a fresh-faced, naive do-gooder out to right the wrongs of society and provide justice for those who have been injured by the big, nasty man.
So, what have I learnt in this time?
1. One of the very first things I learnt - the "man" can be anything from a family-run business, to a nursery, to little Jonny's grandmother who forgot to clear the ice from her driveway. Now it's not as bad as many people make it out to be - indeed, it's not as bad as I just made it out to be - but there have been occasions where my natural allegiance has been more with the other side than our client.
2. One of the most recent things I've learnt (and this ties in nicely with the above paragraph) is separating the intuitions of personal me and lawyer me. In fact, that's not something that just clicked, it's been a gradual process. Some might call it dehumanisation, but I call it professionalism! But in all honesty, it is a necessary skill in order to do this job. Not just because I might feel a bit bad for sending a nasty legal letter to a struggling family-run corner shop, but because some of the clients have real bad injuries and having now talked to a lot of them, I realise the severity of their situations.
Many of them really don't care (much) about their lawsuits because they are so upset about the position they find themselves in. That really got to me this week in particular, when I realised that all my hard work on a particular client's case wouldn't rectify the fact that s/he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his/her life. It can be a little disheartening, but it's not my job to worry about their physical or psychiatric conditions, so I'm learning just to put those thoughts out of my mind and just do the best job I can.
3. Another thing I'm just getting used to is waking up early every day. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to take me this long, but until this week I had felt very tired every morning, even when I'd got a solid 8+ hours sleep! But then I did spend the previous year doing very strange hours, and then a very lazy summer waking up late.
4. I've learnt that clients are usually very ungrateful, considering they don't have to pay a penny for the work I do.
5. I've learnt that clients watch too many American courtroom dramas.
6. I've learnt a lot about clients.
7. I've learnt that complex cases are WAY more complicated than simple cases. I mean, I knew there'd be a difficulty gap, but I wasn't expecting it to be that big!
8. I've learnt that blogging is hard. Well... it's not hard to write random rubbish, but it is hard to regularly blog and keep things interesting.
On that note I'm going to go. Bye bye!
Anyway, today it is the 5th November. And on this day I am looking back in history, not to 1605 like most proper British folk, but merely back to September when I was a fresh-faced, naive do-gooder out to right the wrongs of society and provide justice for those who have been injured by the big, nasty man.
So, what have I learnt in this time?
1. One of the very first things I learnt - the "man" can be anything from a family-run business, to a nursery, to little Jonny's grandmother who forgot to clear the ice from her driveway. Now it's not as bad as many people make it out to be - indeed, it's not as bad as I just made it out to be - but there have been occasions where my natural allegiance has been more with the other side than our client.
2. One of the most recent things I've learnt (and this ties in nicely with the above paragraph) is separating the intuitions of personal me and lawyer me. In fact, that's not something that just clicked, it's been a gradual process. Some might call it dehumanisation, but I call it professionalism! But in all honesty, it is a necessary skill in order to do this job. Not just because I might feel a bit bad for sending a nasty legal letter to a struggling family-run corner shop, but because some of the clients have real bad injuries and having now talked to a lot of them, I realise the severity of their situations.
Many of them really don't care (much) about their lawsuits because they are so upset about the position they find themselves in. That really got to me this week in particular, when I realised that all my hard work on a particular client's case wouldn't rectify the fact that s/he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his/her life. It can be a little disheartening, but it's not my job to worry about their physical or psychiatric conditions, so I'm learning just to put those thoughts out of my mind and just do the best job I can.
3. Another thing I'm just getting used to is waking up early every day. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to take me this long, but until this week I had felt very tired every morning, even when I'd got a solid 8+ hours sleep! But then I did spend the previous year doing very strange hours, and then a very lazy summer waking up late.
4. I've learnt that clients are usually very ungrateful, considering they don't have to pay a penny for the work I do.
5. I've learnt that clients watch too many American courtroom dramas.
6. I've learnt a lot about clients.
7. I've learnt that complex cases are WAY more complicated than simple cases. I mean, I knew there'd be a difficulty gap, but I wasn't expecting it to be that big!
8. I've learnt that blogging is hard. Well... it's not hard to write random rubbish, but it is hard to regularly blog and keep things interesting.
On that note I'm going to go. Bye bye!
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Certiorari (nearly 2 months!!!)
I really have no idea what to title my posts, because I really have no idea what I'm going to write about when I come here. Why not leave the title until the end of the post, you ask? Shut up. This ain't your blog. Besides, when I finish a post I want to click publish, not sit around for 10 minutes trying to think of a funky title. That's why from now on - unless I think of something beforehand - I'm just going to entitle my posts with random Latin legal phrases. If you don't know what it means you can look it up... could be fun! :)
Anyway, LEX came back last week and I am most pleased to say that she was very happy with the work I did. That was nice and validating, but I didn't really have time to bask because my supervisor was away and I had a whole new caseload to deal with. And my supervisor's cases are a wee bit more complex, to say the least!
I'd love to go into some more detail on them, but I really shouldn't, just in case. It's occurred to me that my true identity will be as easy to uncover as .. well ... I don't have time for tortured similies right now but I'll be pretty damn discoverable if someone bothers to try unmasking me. That said... as far as I'm aware, my entire audience here consists of myself and the ~3 friends I invited to read this blog. THE POINT IS that I can't really talk too much about the cases due to confidentiality, but they're complicated ok!
The complicatedness does add an additional element of interest that was admittedly lacking when I dealt with LEX's cases. I'm doing a lot more thinking, which is great, although it's still nowhere near as academic as the law degree, but it'll never be. The duties of a lawyer (well, a solicitor at least) are far too practical for that.
Anyway, in addition to the cases being more complex, the clients are also generally a bit more difficult to deal with, which is annoying but it's something I'm going to have to get used to.
So... this has been the worst post yet. I'm well aware of that and I apologise. I'm just very, very hungry and my tea is now ready so ... :D yay. At the end of the week I'll try to do a proper 2-month-review post.
Anyway, LEX came back last week and I am most pleased to say that she was very happy with the work I did. That was nice and validating, but I didn't really have time to bask because my supervisor was away and I had a whole new caseload to deal with. And my supervisor's cases are a wee bit more complex, to say the least!
I'd love to go into some more detail on them, but I really shouldn't, just in case. It's occurred to me that my true identity will be as easy to uncover as .. well ... I don't have time for tortured similies right now but I'll be pretty damn discoverable if someone bothers to try unmasking me. That said... as far as I'm aware, my entire audience here consists of myself and the ~3 friends I invited to read this blog. THE POINT IS that I can't really talk too much about the cases due to confidentiality, but they're complicated ok!
The complicatedness does add an additional element of interest that was admittedly lacking when I dealt with LEX's cases. I'm doing a lot more thinking, which is great, although it's still nowhere near as academic as the law degree, but it'll never be. The duties of a lawyer (well, a solicitor at least) are far too practical for that.
Anyway, in addition to the cases being more complex, the clients are also generally a bit more difficult to deal with, which is annoying but it's something I'm going to have to get used to.
So... this has been the worst post yet. I'm well aware of that and I apologise. I'm just very, very hungry and my tea is now ready so ... :D yay. At the end of the week I'll try to do a proper 2-month-review post.
Sunday 23 October 2011
Legal Privilege
I went to court (the Royal Courts of Justice, no less) this week for a proper hearing! It wasn't a full-on trial, but I can assure you it was just as exciting. It was amazing to experience true courtroom drama! It was incredibly tense as the judges delivered their verdicts; I can't imagine how the actual clients must have felt at the time. It was also great to see two top QCs in action. They make advocacy seem so easy but anyone who's tried it will know that's definitely not the case.
Actually this leads me onto a practical point about being a Trainee Solicitor. One thing I didn't realise beforehand is how much of a privileged position us trainees are in. I don't know if this is the case in other firms, but at my firm they are very much of the mindset that we are there to learn as well as do work for them. They are perfectly content for us to take time out of chargeable work to do a little research if we feel we need to read more about an area of law or a practice point. My whole excursion to court was on a case in which I had next to no involvement, but I asked to go and they agreed that it'd be great experience. When I compare my situation to that of the paralegals or legal executives - who constantly have to worry about meeting their billing targets - I do indeed feel quite privileged!
Anyway, LEX returns tomorrow. The pessimist inside me is flourishing & I'm quite apprehensive of what she'll say about the work I've done on her cases! However, my supervisor says I've done well and that LEX should be very grateful.
Righto, it's Sunday evening and as much as I'm enjoying this blogging thing, I think I'd like to think about something other than work for the next few hours! Tune in next time when I will consider all the blundering errors I have made on the job so far :-)
Actually this leads me onto a practical point about being a Trainee Solicitor. One thing I didn't realise beforehand is how much of a privileged position us trainees are in. I don't know if this is the case in other firms, but at my firm they are very much of the mindset that we are there to learn as well as do work for them. They are perfectly content for us to take time out of chargeable work to do a little research if we feel we need to read more about an area of law or a practice point. My whole excursion to court was on a case in which I had next to no involvement, but I asked to go and they agreed that it'd be great experience. When I compare my situation to that of the paralegals or legal executives - who constantly have to worry about meeting their billing targets - I do indeed feel quite privileged!
Anyway, LEX returns tomorrow. The pessimist inside me is flourishing & I'm quite apprehensive of what she'll say about the work I've done on her cases! However, my supervisor says I've done well and that LEX should be very grateful.
Righto, it's Sunday evening and as much as I'm enjoying this blogging thing, I think I'd like to think about something other than work for the next few hours! Tune in next time when I will consider all the blundering errors I have made on the job so far :-)
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Performance Review (6 weeks in)
Six weeks into the training contract and things seemed to be going ok. I've settled into a rhythm and I generally know what to do - and if I don't, I'm not afraid to ask for help! I have even started to get a little bit excited when I go to collect the mail from my pigeon hole (ok, it's not mine, it belongs to the woman with whose cases I'm dealing (let's call her LEX for now), but it's basically mine until she returns). I'm usually disappointed when I flick through the mail and read a bunch of snide letters from other law firms, but there's the occasional nice surprise, like a settlement for a case we had all but given up hope for!
Anyway, one thing I had realised was that I had no idea how well I was actually doing. In the first few weeks I didn't expect much evaluation as I was still getting used to everything, but after a month or so I really wanted to know if I was doing good work or not. Well, last week I had my first performance review. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the verdict is....................... yeah, I'm doing fine.
While I do talk to her a lot, it's nearly always about cases, or just general chit chat. And while it wasn't a gruelling assessment of my progress to date, it was nice to sit and talk with my supervisor about my general experience at the firm so far.
I think the real performance review will occur when LEX returns and discovers what I've done with all her cases! And I sure hope she's happy with my work, because when she comes back, my supervisor goes off on holiday and I'll be taking care of her cases for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, my supervisor's cases are a bit more complex so I'd really like to take control of them on the back of some encouraging feedback from LEX!
Other than that, everything is fine. I've had some amusing moments, some awkward moments and some facepalm moments. And I'm guessing you wish I'd written this blog post about the facepalm moments! Well tough, you'll just have to wait until next time! :)
Anyway, one thing I had realised was that I had no idea how well I was actually doing. In the first few weeks I didn't expect much evaluation as I was still getting used to everything, but after a month or so I really wanted to know if I was doing good work or not. Well, last week I had my first performance review. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the verdict is....................... yeah, I'm doing fine.
While I do talk to her a lot, it's nearly always about cases, or just general chit chat. And while it wasn't a gruelling assessment of my progress to date, it was nice to sit and talk with my supervisor about my general experience at the firm so far.
I think the real performance review will occur when LEX returns and discovers what I've done with all her cases! And I sure hope she's happy with my work, because when she comes back, my supervisor goes off on holiday and I'll be taking care of her cases for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, my supervisor's cases are a bit more complex so I'd really like to take control of them on the back of some encouraging feedback from LEX!
Other than that, everything is fine. I've had some amusing moments, some awkward moments and some facepalm moments. And I'm guessing you wish I'd written this blog post about the facepalm moments! Well tough, you'll just have to wait until next time! :)
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