We’ve all been busy this summer with seat rotations, holidays and qualification round the corner for the second years that we haven’t been blogging very much! We will return to more regular blogs as soon as the summer madness dies down. In the meantime though, I thought I’d let you know what I have been up to.
I am almost through my seat in private client (which I still think of as ‘my new seat’). I have been busy working with all sorts of trusts and private clients, drafting wills and researching a wide range of topics. I have also asked for work from the residential property team and have been able to run a few files of my own, sales and purchases as well as re-mortgages. You can tailor your training contract and find your own opportunities at Michelmores, which is great. If you are interested in certain areas of law, there’s nobody here going to stop you getting some experience in it.
We have had our new seats allocated for September now – my next six months will be in the insolvency team. It will be my first litigious seat; I am really looking forward to working in an arena which will be out of my comfort zone. When we rotate, we are given a list of available seats to choose from and allowed a few days or so to consider, before submitting our top three choices. It’s always an intense time, as it’s not an easy decision to make. I have always pondered the merits of choosing 4 seats which complement each other and are relatively similar, to the alternative of choosing 4 widely varied seats to try a variety of areas. I think it depends if you have a fixed idea of what you wish to qualify into. When I started at Michelmores, I wasn’t sure where my interests would lie, but a year on and I certainly have a better idea. It’s sometimes a matter of head v heart with seat choices, I’ve had a mixture of both and it’s all worked out well for me. It’s scary that we only have one more choice left now. I hate to recycle old clichés, but time flies…
The September 2013 trainee intake came to Michelmores for their induction on the 1 August. We spent the afternoon with them, letting them know a little about their seats as well as the many quirks that make up life as a trainee. The current trainee group met in the morning to discuss what we were going to say, and we kept remarking how we remembered being in their shoes this time last year. As a trainee, you live in portions of time – 2 years until I start my training contract, two years until qualification, six months until I change seats, etc (not to mention the daily recording of time at work!)… I doubt I’ll ever lose my acute awareness of the passage of time. Anyway, I am pleased to report that the new trainees are all lovely, engaging and intelligent. Roll on September…!