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During your time as a trainee, you will have the opportunity to complete both contentious and non-contentious seats. The SRA requires all trainee solicitors to undertake a contentious seat, which often involves settling disputes between parties via litigation or alternative settlement methods such as mediation and negotiation.
Throughout my training contract, I have completed seats in Property Litigation, Employment and Commercial & Regulatory Disputes. All three have focused on contentious work and I have developed an appreciation for the tasks and skills required to be a successful lawyer in a contentious field.
Below, I have set out the typical tasks that you can expect to undertake as a trainee solicitor in a contentious seat, in order to give you a flavour of what to expect.
Attending hearings – A day in court
The nature of contentious work means that you may work on disputes which eventually reach their conclusion at court, unless they settle before. Attendance at court may be necessary for a final hearing (a trial), or an interim hearing following an application by a party to the dispute.
Attending court is often the cumulation of months, sometimes years of hard work preparing the case. It is an exciting opportunity to have as a trainee and during my training contract I have been fortunate enough to attend final hearings in the Employment Tribunal, as well as interim hearings for strike out applications at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. As a trainee, your role at a hearing will often involve taking an attendance note of the hearing for the legal team to refer back to at the end of each day. This is a great opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the detail in the case, as well as to understand the case strategy and procedural steps the parties need to take at court.
Collaboration – Counsel, Clients and Solicitors
Contentious work is collaborative in nature, bringing together multiple teams to provide various expertise that can assist in resolving the issues in dispute. For example, a complex commercial dispute relating to breach of contract may require a solicitor’s involvement, input from a barrister, expert reports, witness interviews and third-party e-disclosure assistance during large disclosure exercises. This means there are often many teams pulling together to complete various work streams and meet numerous deadlines during the lifecycle of the claim. The solicitor is often the central point of contact for all parties and is the primary point of contact for the client.
As a trainee, you may be tasked with preparing case updates to the various parties, managing key deadlines and updating the client as the case progresses. Therefore, organisation and project management are key to stay on top of various moving parts in a case as it progresses.
Expect the unexpected
Litigation is an uncertain process, and whilst parties work to a timetable set by the court, it is not unusual for this timetable to be varied due to shifts in the parties’ positions along the way. Unexpected events may arise in the form of strike out applications, offers to settle, amendments to pleadings or applications to adduce expert evidence, to name a few.
The risk/reward to the client should be constantly monitored in light of developments. This requires critical thinking and careful analysis to decide how to act on any changes in a way that is most beneficial to the client. Usually, the options available are presented to the client, along with a suggestion of the best route forward.
As a trainee, you will be involved in drafting updates to the client, as well as attending calls with the legal team to discuss options available in light of any developments. You may also be required to conduct research into certain points of law that need to be considered in light of an application by another party to the dispute.
People management
As a hearing approaches, it is important to help manage the various persons working on a case, which is a great opportunity to develop softer skills outside of your legal role. There are many individuals who may attend a hearing on behalf of each party, which could include the legal team (both solicitors and Counsel), the client, multiple witnesses and experts.
As a trainee you will often be assisting with managing people ahead of the hearing. This could involve liaising with witnesses to ensure they know which day they will be called to give evidence, or it could involve sending emails to ensure everyone feels comfortable getting to the court and knowing where to go on arrival. Throughout the hearing, as a trainee, you may also be a point of call for witnesses, experts and the client, and should be prepared to assist with answering any questions they have.
These tasks may seem obvious but when a case is being prepared for a hearing and multiple parties are attending, the importance of ensuring everyone feels comfortable, understands their obligations and knows what to expect should not be overlooked. This is where softer skills and communication skills outside of your legal knowledge will be utilised and developed.
And finally…
Completing a contentious seat puts trainees into a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Cases are constantly progressing, and you must keep up with developments and ensure court deadlines are met. No two cases are the same, so you are constantly learning from each case and absorbing information from those around you. Even if you decide contentious work is not for you, take the opportunity to develop valuable skills which will transfer into other areas of law and develop your professional expertise.
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