When I was deciding what to say in this week’s blog I thought I would write about Jacksons’ trainee solicitor programme and how we take a new trainee every six months and how proud we are of our role as a training practice. However, one of the management skills that I am trying to develop is delegation, and I thought what better way to hear about this aspect of our firm than from one of our trainees, so I asked Sam to write this piece on the eve of his qualification as a solicitor.
A trainee’s perspective
My first day at Jacksons seems like it was just yesterday. My two years here as a trainee solicitor really have flown by. Like all trainee solicitors at Jacksons, you start in the firm’s Litigation Department which is headed by Partner, Toby Joel. Litigation is a very busy department and you are therefore thrown in at the deep end and given lots of responsibility including running a number of your own files. The work was varied and challenging but Toby and others in the department were always at hand to assist when I needed them. I spent eight months in the Litigation Department before I moved to the firm’s Employment Department, headed by Partner, Mark Foster for four months. Mark, as well as Julie (Dalzell) and Stacey (West) tried to get me involved as much as possible and I was lucky enough to attend and assist Mark and Julie on two employment tribunal claims they had on during my stint in the department, including a claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination and another for sex discrimination. Employment law was a subject I really enjoyed at university and on the LPC so it was good to experience it in practice.
My last year of my training contract has been split between the Insolvency Department and the Company Commercial Department, headed by Partners, Stephen Wiles and Tony Wentworth respectively. On the Company Commercial side, I was fortunate enough to be involved in a large transaction at the end of last year assisting a senior solicitor in a deal worth up to £19.5million which involved the sale of a software management company to a plc. I then assisted Tony with the sale of a local franchise business for just under £3millon and the sale of a local manufacturing company for £10million. Given the size of Jacksons, as a trainee you are encouraged (and need) to take an active role in everything the firm does. I have friends at larger firms who have not acquired the hands-on experience that I have here at Jacksons. Away from the transactional work, I have carried more general commercial work including drafting and revising contracts and advising on corporate governance issues.
Stephen has taught me the basics of the nasty underworld that is Insolvency! I greatly value this experience, not just for its practical value, but because it links in well with my experience in the area of company and commercial where I will qualify into. Amongst other things, I have assisted Stephen on the drafting of CVAs, asset sale agreements to purchase assets from liquidators, varying and defending a claim from a trustee in bankruptcy together with varying an IVA.
I think in short, I have acquired some good experience alongside some decent and nice people. Due to personal reasons I am due to move on and leave Jacksons this week but I will look back on my time here as a trainee solicitor with fond memories on both a professional and personal level.
Samuel Baker
