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!
Showing posts with label law trainee solicitor london legal aid civil liberties family personal injury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law trainee solicitor london legal aid civil liberties family personal injury. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 November 2011
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 :-)
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Legally Binding (5 weeks down!)
Well, it's been a stimulating couple of weeks. Stimulating - one of those euphemisms for HARD AND STRESSFUL.
I have been given a few dozen cases to oversee for a few weeks, and it is a lot different to doing work on other peoples' cases. Instead of spending 3 hours drafting one statement, I'm now working on many, many files every hour. Each task carried out needs to be recorded for billing purposes and case tracking purposes. This is easy when only working on 3-4 cases a day, but now I'm working on so many cases all the time, and having to switch my attention suddenly when I get a (dreaded!) phone call, it has thrown me a bit.
This is what they don't prepare you for during your degree, or on the LPC. Sure, I have a good idea of the actual law, and I know how to write (thanks more to primary school than the LPC, although they both teach it), and I'm pretty good at making tea, BUT I was not prepared for time recording or the administrative bits & bobs that have to accompany every piece of work I do. I could blitz through loads of standard letters asking for medical records or CCTV evidence etc. I'd feel like a king doing so much, and then a while later I'd realise that I hadn't recorded my time for something, or I hadn't updated the case tracker thing, or I hadn't scheduled a follow-up to one of the letters. VERY ANNOYING, especially because then I'd have to stop what I'm doing and go pull out the file and load it on the system and figure out what I should have done... and then file it away again. That all takes time.
I guess it's all part of the learning curve and I think I am getting better at it, but it's something that the LPC should have some regard to. On the other hand, lots of things from the LPC - such as legal accounts - appear to apply solely to qualified lawyers and are of no use to trainees. It seems to me that it'd be better if they taught us more about being a trainee. But perhaps other trainees are having a different experience.
Anyway, sorry for the rantlet, the administrative side has been bothering me a lot lately because I feel like I'm getting a lot less work done than I could if I didn't have to worry about all the faff. But I guess it goes with the territory.
The good news is that nobody seems to think I'm doing a bad job, though I think the woman who sits next to me is starting to get annoyed with all my questions! Big Christmas present coming her way!!
I have been given a few dozen cases to oversee for a few weeks, and it is a lot different to doing work on other peoples' cases. Instead of spending 3 hours drafting one statement, I'm now working on many, many files every hour. Each task carried out needs to be recorded for billing purposes and case tracking purposes. This is easy when only working on 3-4 cases a day, but now I'm working on so many cases all the time, and having to switch my attention suddenly when I get a (dreaded!) phone call, it has thrown me a bit.
This is what they don't prepare you for during your degree, or on the LPC. Sure, I have a good idea of the actual law, and I know how to write (thanks more to primary school than the LPC, although they both teach it), and I'm pretty good at making tea, BUT I was not prepared for time recording or the administrative bits & bobs that have to accompany every piece of work I do. I could blitz through loads of standard letters asking for medical records or CCTV evidence etc. I'd feel like a king doing so much, and then a while later I'd realise that I hadn't recorded my time for something, or I hadn't updated the case tracker thing, or I hadn't scheduled a follow-up to one of the letters. VERY ANNOYING, especially because then I'd have to stop what I'm doing and go pull out the file and load it on the system and figure out what I should have done... and then file it away again. That all takes time.
I guess it's all part of the learning curve and I think I am getting better at it, but it's something that the LPC should have some regard to. On the other hand, lots of things from the LPC - such as legal accounts - appear to apply solely to qualified lawyers and are of no use to trainees. It seems to me that it'd be better if they taught us more about being a trainee. But perhaps other trainees are having a different experience.
Anyway, sorry for the rantlet, the administrative side has been bothering me a lot lately because I feel like I'm getting a lot less work done than I could if I didn't have to worry about all the faff. But I guess it goes with the territory.
The good news is that nobody seems to think I'm doing a bad job, though I think the woman who sits next to me is starting to get annoyed with all my questions! Big Christmas present coming her way!!
Friday, 16 September 2011
Progress Report (2 weeks in)
Ok, there are a few things I want to write about this week.
Firstly, yes, everything is going great and I'm happy with the learning curve. Everybody is still very nice and I continue to meet new and interesting people. My work, I think, is steadily improving both in quality and in efficiency. I still have NO idea how people manage a caseload of 70+ though (and many lawyers do)!
This week & last week many of the paralegals who've been at the firm for years found out whether they were going to be offered a Training Contract at the firm, and needless to say most of them didn't get it. I was a little worried that there might be some tension between the paralegals and us new trainees who have just come in, but everything seems fine which is good!
Ok, that wasn't actually one of the things I wanted to write about, it just sort of came out (that's what she said?).
I did want to write about my first experience of doing work that was.... morally ambiguous. Basically, I didn't feel like I believed in the case. Not that I didn't believe it could win - actually it has quite good prospects - but reading through the file I found myself siding completely with the defendants! But I guess it's important to put those emotions aside and do a professional job. Do my best work and let the law decide who should win - that's how it works (in theory). I have to admit, though, I have found it easier and more enjoyable to work on a case where I can sympathise with the client. I've been told by more experienced lawyers that it's the sort of thing you quickly get used to, although some of them also said that they still sometimes go that extra mile when they really believe in a case. I'm not sure how much this applies to commercial law!
I have eliminated the basic, elementary errors that enreddened my face last week i.e. locking myself out of the office and accidentally turning off all the lights. The biggest mistake I made this week was calling a woman "Mr." on the phone. That's an improvement in my book :)
I'm happy it's the weekend as I got some stuff to do (I have to return some video tapes), but yeah, ROLL ON MONDAY!
**HERE FOLLOWS A RANT AGAINST COMMERCIAL LAW**
If you're not interested in my opinion on the differences between working in commercial law firms and working in smaller firms, there's no need to read on.
I have been chatting to some of my other TC friends who are at more commercial firms, and I gotta say it doesn't sound like they're enjoying it as much as me. Of course, they're getting paid a lot more than me, but I'm doing very reasonable hours (I can still have a life!), I'm doing work that I'm interested in, I love my colleagues, AND I feel like I'm getting a much higher quality of work than them. What I mean by that is that I'll be doing letters of claim, instructions to counsel, valuing injuries and being in direct contact with clients, whereas they'll be filing, making cups of tea, pouring over lengthy contracts to "check" them (for typos) and generally feeding their supervisors' egos. I'm sure I am exaggerating the remediality of their workload a tad, but the chances of getting your own cases at a large comemrcial firm is basically zero. At my (medium-sized) firm, many of the more experienced trainees get to run their own cases sometimes! I've been told that I may well be doing that soon, and while it sounds incredibly daunting having so much responsibility, ultimately it's going to make for fantastic training - it's like learning a language in another country, throwing yourself in the deep end for a fantastic learning experience, and you're unlikely to get that in a big firm.
OK, I'm biased against commercial law, but that's not entirely because all the commercial law firms rejected me (they didn't). I genuinely believe that a lot of what I just said is true, especially about the level of responsibility given. I think it's important for people to realise that being a lawyer doesn't have to mean the huge hours, huge salaries and huge pressures that come with commercial law. If you went to a law school like mine, you'd be forgiven for thinking that big city commercial law was the only type of firm worth going for. But you wouldn't be forgiven for putting too much milk in Mr. Topdog's tea. You'd have to work overnight to make up for that one.
Firstly, yes, everything is going great and I'm happy with the learning curve. Everybody is still very nice and I continue to meet new and interesting people. My work, I think, is steadily improving both in quality and in efficiency. I still have NO idea how people manage a caseload of 70+ though (and many lawyers do)!
This week & last week many of the paralegals who've been at the firm for years found out whether they were going to be offered a Training Contract at the firm, and needless to say most of them didn't get it. I was a little worried that there might be some tension between the paralegals and us new trainees who have just come in, but everything seems fine which is good!
Ok, that wasn't actually one of the things I wanted to write about, it just sort of came out (that's what she said?).
I did want to write about my first experience of doing work that was.... morally ambiguous. Basically, I didn't feel like I believed in the case. Not that I didn't believe it could win - actually it has quite good prospects - but reading through the file I found myself siding completely with the defendants! But I guess it's important to put those emotions aside and do a professional job. Do my best work and let the law decide who should win - that's how it works (in theory). I have to admit, though, I have found it easier and more enjoyable to work on a case where I can sympathise with the client. I've been told by more experienced lawyers that it's the sort of thing you quickly get used to, although some of them also said that they still sometimes go that extra mile when they really believe in a case. I'm not sure how much this applies to commercial law!
I have eliminated the basic, elementary errors that enreddened my face last week i.e. locking myself out of the office and accidentally turning off all the lights. The biggest mistake I made this week was calling a woman "Mr." on the phone. That's an improvement in my book :)
I'm happy it's the weekend as I got some stuff to do (I have to return some video tapes), but yeah, ROLL ON MONDAY!
**HERE FOLLOWS A RANT AGAINST COMMERCIAL LAW**
If you're not interested in my opinion on the differences between working in commercial law firms and working in smaller firms, there's no need to read on.
I have been chatting to some of my other TC friends who are at more commercial firms, and I gotta say it doesn't sound like they're enjoying it as much as me. Of course, they're getting paid a lot more than me, but I'm doing very reasonable hours (I can still have a life!), I'm doing work that I'm interested in, I love my colleagues, AND I feel like I'm getting a much higher quality of work than them. What I mean by that is that I'll be doing letters of claim, instructions to counsel, valuing injuries and being in direct contact with clients, whereas they'll be filing, making cups of tea, pouring over lengthy contracts to "check" them (for typos) and generally feeding their supervisors' egos. I'm sure I am exaggerating the remediality of their workload a tad, but the chances of getting your own cases at a large comemrcial firm is basically zero. At my (medium-sized) firm, many of the more experienced trainees get to run their own cases sometimes! I've been told that I may well be doing that soon, and while it sounds incredibly daunting having so much responsibility, ultimately it's going to make for fantastic training - it's like learning a language in another country, throwing yourself in the deep end for a fantastic learning experience, and you're unlikely to get that in a big firm.
OK, I'm biased against commercial law, but that's not entirely because all the commercial law firms rejected me (they didn't). I genuinely believe that a lot of what I just said is true, especially about the level of responsibility given. I think it's important for people to realise that being a lawyer doesn't have to mean the huge hours, huge salaries and huge pressures that come with commercial law. If you went to a law school like mine, you'd be forgiven for thinking that big city commercial law was the only type of firm worth going for. But you wouldn't be forgiven for putting too much milk in Mr. Topdog's tea. You'd have to work overnight to make up for that one.
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