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For my third seat, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to go on a six-month secondment to one of Michelmores’ clients – Natural England. Since September 2024, I have been working full-time within Natural England’s in-house Legal team, which has been an extremely interesting and rewarding experience.
Below I reflect on the first few months of my secondment, the things I have learnt, and why I would recommend a client secondment to current and future trainees.
An overview of Natural England
Natural England is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), and is the government’s adviser on the natural environment in England.
It was established by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC Act), which dissolved two previous bodies (English Nature and the Countryside Agency) and transferred their powers to Natural England.
Section 2 of the NERC Act gives the organisation its general purpose of ensuring that the natural environment is “conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development”. This includes promoting nature conservation, protecting biodiversity, and conserving and enhancing the landscape.
Natural England has approximately 3,000 members of staff, and the in-house Legal & Access to Information team is formed of approximately twenty employees working under a Legal Director. The team is spread geographically across Natural England’s multiple offices, and I have worked both with colleagues in the Exeter office and remotely with the wider team across the country throughout my secondment.
The Legal team supports staff from across Natural England in achieving their aims. This involves working across a variety of areas, including advising on developing areas of environmental and conservation law, public and administrative law, planning and property law, litigation and enforcement, and commercial contracts and procurement.
What have I been assisting the Legal team with?
The work I have been doing since joining the team has been extremely varied – never has the phrase “no two days are the same” been more applicable!
Here are a few examples of the types of work I have been involved in:
- Monitoring and responding to new client enquiries, including conducting an initial review of clients’ queries and directing them to the appropriate member of the Legal team.
- Reviewing commercial contracts between Natural England and its external partners and advising clients on negotiating key clauses (such as limits on liability and intellectual property rights).
- Conducting complex legal research and preparing advice for clients in relation to various areas of environmental and conservation law, including law relating to protected sites, species licensing and access to information.
- Regularly attending and taking notes of calls with clients, including being involved in ongoing discussions regarding conservation covenants and nutrient neutrality.
- Assisting with judicial review claims and litigation, including serving documents, preparing court bundles and liaising with counsel.
Outside of day-to-day work, one of the key highlights for me has been travelling to meet colleagues in person, both on my induction day at Natural England’s London office and at a networking event for the Legal, Governance and External Affairs teams.
What have been the most valuable aspects of the secondment?
My secondment experience has been extremely enjoyable – I have had the opportunity to work with enthusiastic and supportive colleagues, whilst undertaking work which I have found extremely rewarding, particularly given my longstanding interest in environmental law.
I have found the two aspects below to be particularly valuable parts of the experience:
- In-house experience: It has been interesting to compare working in-house with private practice. The breadth of queries that in-house lawyers deal with means that they must be adaptable and willing to apply their skills to various areas of law, as well as engaging with external lawyers and consultants when appropriate. Working in-house has improved my time management skills and my ability to juggle multiple tasks on a range of different topics.
- Building client relationships and commercial awareness: Being on secondment has allowed me to work independently on a full-time basis with one of Michelmores’ clients. I have therefore been able to act as an ambassador for the firm and build positive client relationships, which I hope to develop further when I return to private practice with the firm. I have also developed a good understanding of Natural England as an organisation, having learnt about its structure, objectives, priorities, and constraints. I hope that having seen things from a client’s perspective will help me provide a better client service in private practice.
Overall, I feel truly fortunate to have been given this opportunity and would encourage current and future trainees to consider any secondment opportunities that they are offered.
The experience has boosted my confidence and my ability to take on new challenges and responsibilities. Working on such a variety of matters has broadened my knowledge and allowed me to discover new areas of interest, which I look forward to exploring further at Michelmores. The skills I have developed will be invaluable as I progress towards qualification later this year.
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