A seat in Agriculture at Michelmores

I am currently in the third seat of my training contract at Michelmores in the Agriculture team, which boasts the largest number of Agricultural solicitors in the country. Although only three months in, my stint in the team has been full of invaluable experiences in what I’ve found to be an interesting and fun sector.

The Agriculture team undertakes a variety of contentious and non-contentious matters, which has made this a real mixed seat. My work has ranged from:

1. preparing a grazing licence to allow livestock to access our client’s land to graze;
2. reviewing land registry title documents to understand the property owned by our client, and
3. being involved in a client’s case at different stages of litigation, from the pre-action stage to receiving judgment after a Hearing.

As well as a real variety of work, I have had regular client contact throughout my time in the team. Through attending conferences with clients to go through advice, or client meetings with our Barrister to speak about the strategy for a case, it has been great to understand the needs of clients as well as the soft skills required for maintaining good client relationships.

A highlight of my time in the Agriculture team has been attending a hearing at Exeter County Court. As the trainee, I had responsibility for collating all documents that would be referred to and bringing these to the Court, which meant liaising with our Barrister to ensure we had all documents to support our case. I also communicated with, and supported our client who was providing evidence.

Across the three-day hearing, I was tasked with taking a detailed note of everything that was said by the Judge, the Defendant and their Barrister during the Hearing so that we could refer to it later if needed. This was a great experience and meant I built a rapport with both our client and Barrister. I was heavily invested in this case after getting to know our client which made the successful judgment we received all the better.

Outside the work of the bustling Agriculture team, the social side has also been great. Last month we had an away day at a farm in Pembrokeshire which consisted of a light bit of farm work, eating homegrown farm food and enjoying the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast. My fingers are crossed for another away day before the end of the seat!