As any law student will know, experience of working in the industry whilst a law student is one of the key things law firm’s will look for on a trainee applicant’s CV, so when I was accepted by FJG to spend a week at the Colchester office, I couldn’t have felt more excited. Despite my enthusiasm, I must admit that as mature student with years of work experience already behind me, returning to the work place as a work experience student was rather disquieting, however from the moment that I was greeted by the firms Learning & Compliance officer – Andrew and offered a cup of coffee (a very nice one at that), I soon realised that I had nothing to worry about. Andrew gave me an introduction to the company, provided me with my own laptop to use for the week and introduced me to the company’s client management system.
The first thing that stood out for me was the firm’s open door policy and how friendly everybody was. It also took quite some getting used to navigating around the building as FJG, a full service law firm, is a lot bigger than I expected. During the course of the week, I spent a day in four different departments; private client, family, commercial and commercial property. Having an opportunity to experience the day in the life of a Solicitor in each of these departments was so useful, as I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the law so much that I am finding it rather difficult to decide which area I would like to specialise in. Each morning commenced with a meeting with the head of department who gave me a departmental overview, followed by the assignment of very practical task such as, drafting a financial consent order in the family department, drafting a will in the private client department, drafting a share purchase agreement in commercial and a rent deposit deed in commercial property. The tasks that I was assigned were typical of the day to day work of a Solicitor therefore provided me with a realistic idea of what I will be doing once I qualify. The complexity level was just about right and there were plenty of people available for me to ask when I wasn’t quite sure about something.
The final day was structured rather differently from the rest of the week and was dedicated to my own professional development. I was given some hints and tips on refining my CV by the HR Manager, Anthony and given a mock interview which was excellent practice for future trainee contract interviews. Overall, my week here at FJG has been more than I could have hoped for. I have learnt so much and have been given an opportunity to develop my legal skills which is invaluable for a law student. The complexity of the level of tasks assigned was challenging but enjoyable and I have never worked alongside such a friendly bunch of people. I can highly recommend FJG.
Written by Lauren
If you are interested in work experience at FJG, please contact Su Barker, Training & Knowledge Co-ordinator – [email protected].