Is being a commercial solicitor the career for you?
We recently offered a week-long work experience opportunity to a pupil from Kings College in Chester. James’s objective was to gain more hands-on knowledge and experience within a law firm to help him decide whether to take the path of reading Law at university. He was also keen to learn about the type of skills a solicitor needs to do his/her job on a day-to-day level.
Senior Commercial Solicitor, Max Tebbitts, set out a range of tasks and legal duties, more or less as an employee would, but with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience. All aspects of the normal running of the firm were covered, from handling initial telephone enquiries and typing draft letters, to conducting legal research online and attending the South Cheshire Magistrates Court in Crewe.
James gained first hand experience that, as a junior lawyer, you’ll start on legal research and small supporting documents and work up to the more important ones. Senior solicitors will then focus on shaping the most important sections of the key documents. They’ll make sure that they draft documents carefully to accomplish its legal purpose, and that its terms are in accordance with their client’s instructions and in the client’s best interests. Some of the rest of a junior solicitor’s time will be spent in meetings or conference calls with clients or other lawyers. There are discussions with colleagues and some collaborative work but you’ll also spend a part of your day on emails and working independently.
As we understand, James enjoyed his week at Tebbitts & Co Solicitors, and is hoping to enrol on a Law degree course at university in 2018. We were naturally glad to learn that the experience he had with us was positive, and didn’t put him off the idea of pursuing his career as a commercial lawyer in the future!