Responsibility | Training with us
If you train with us, you really will be an integral part of the team. We’ll rely on you, value your opinion and consider you a legal representative for the firm. You’ll need to embrace high levels of responsibility quickly, and be ready for a challenge.
Here’s what our last lot of trainees said about their responsibilities:
‘I attended a court case in the USA with my supervisor, who was acting as an expert witness for the Playboy Foundation.’
- Claire Morris
‘In my marine seat, I had to jump on a train and arrest a bulk carrier ship on my own, in Immingham.’
- Alex Teji
‘In my commercial litigation seat, I was responsible for putting together a PowerPoint on the new Bribery Act for an international data communication company, for use in training their staff. This was a really interesting and challenging task (it needed to be free from legal jargon, straight to the point and effective in raising awareness) and is definitely very different from your standard legal advice to the client. There’s a big variety of work to be done in commercial litigation.
‘In a corporate seat, you may find you have less responsibility than commercial litigation due to the nature, value and complexity of the transactions taking place, so you will usually get involved by drafting the ancillary documents while the solicitors/partners draft the transaction. Once, however, I was lucky enough to be made responsible for drafting all the documents; including the business purchase agreement for a transfer of intellectual property rights from one company to another.’
- Victoria Sham
‘In my fraud seat, I was sent to do court hearings and client meetings pretty much from day one.’
- David Keenan
‘I have attended court unsupervised, deal directly with clients over the phone and in person (providing advice and taking instructions) and run my own files with minimal supervision. The key to being able to do this is that I am trusted to just get on with things, but also trusted to pause and ask for help when I’m unsure about something.’
- Richard Parker
‘During my health seat, I have been travelling to Stafford for the Stafford Hospital public inquiry, looking into the standards of care received by patients at the hospital. It is a big responsibility as it is such a high profile case – there is daily attendance from the public, who all sit in the gallery, and high profile individuals from organisations like the Department of Health and members of the press. I am often sent alone as the Hill Dickinson legal representative, and my duties involve meeting with counsel and the clients, making a note of the evidence and dealing with any issues it raises, attending conferences with our client, and writing a daily report of the salient issues for the client.’
- Alaw Owen
Want to know what our current trainees get up to on an average day with us? Follow them on Twitter: @traineelawyers.