Our trainee Hannah Funnell gives an insight into her working day as a trainee solicitor with Blaser Mills Law. Hannah is in her second year, currently undertaking her third seat with the Employment team.
Hannah is based in the High Wycombe office and closely supports the lawyers in the team preparing cases for Court, meeting with clients to take instructions and carrying out legal research.
8:30am I am not a natural early bird, but we have a Case Management Hearing with the Employment Tribunal this morning at 9:15. It is a telephone hearing and I will sit in on the call to take notes whilst my supervisor undertakes the advocacy. I am very interested to see how the Judge handles this case as we are dealing with a very difficult Claimant on the other side. Whilst I am waiting for the hearing to start I grab a coffee, check my calendar and discuss the case with my team.
10:00am When the hearing ends the team has a brief moment of celebration – the Judge agreed with us on most points and made an Order that is favourable to our client’s case. I discuss the next steps to be taken with my supervisor and a Senior Associate who is also working on the case. It is great to feel included in the department and to know that my thoughts are valued by my supervisor – the hearing was certainly worth coming in early for!
10:15am I clean up my note of the hearing and then begin work on contacting medical experts to provide a single joint expert report, which was ordered in the hearing. I have had a lot of experience dealing with experts in my previous seat (Personal Injury) so am aware of what to look out for when choosing an expert and know how to draft an initial email of approach. I email a number of experts, keeping a table of everyone that I have contacted and collate CVs as they come in throughout the day. Once I have enough responses I will pass this information on to my supervisor to choose our nominations.
11:00am I am due to sit in on a client meeting shortly with a Senior Associate who is advising on a Settlement Agreement. I was in contact with the client via email yesterday to request a copy of the agreement and his employment contract. I have some time to read these prior to the meeting and take the opportunity to go over the documents making notes on anything my supervisor may want to flag up with the client and looking up clauses that I am unfamiliar with.
11:30am The pandemic has led to most client meetings being conducted via telephone or Teams which is convenient for everyone; today the meeting is over the phone. I take notes throughout the call as my supervisor goes over the client’s settlement agreement, advises on the practical implications of each clause and explains any amendments that we may want the company to make prior to the agreement being executed.
12:30pm Following the meeting I draft an email to the client’s employer explaining the amendments that our client would like to be implemented into the settlement agreement before it is signed. I send this on to my supervisor to review then head out to lunch.
1:00pm I meet up with some of the other junior staff and we go out for lunch. Wycombe has a lot of great places to eat and it’s really nice to catch up with everyone after working from home last year. All of the junior staff in the firm get on very well and support one another which creates a great atmosphere in the office.
2:00pm In one of our current Tribunal cases we are acting for an employer who dismissed their employee (the Claimant) after he harassed a fellow member of staff. The Claimant is now claiming that he was discriminated against. My supervisor explains to me that the Claimant received a criminal conviction for harassment prior to dismissal and asks me to do some research on this area of law. I review the sentencing guidelines in relation to the offence and also the criminal procedure rules then draft a note for my supervisor.
3:00pm One of the solicitors in the department has agreed to provide her client with a privacy notice to complement the consultancy agreements that she has drafted for the company. She asks me to do some research on privacy notices, consider the agreements that she has drafted and any specific requirements of the company and then draft the notice for her to review. I spend some time reading through the documents and then research privacy notices on practical law before drafting. The task gives me an opportunity to learn more about GDPR and data privacy as well as considering how notices can be adapted to suit the needs of a specific company. Once I have finished the draft I send it to the solicitor to review.
4:30pm Myself and some of the Solicitors within the department are booked onto a Webinar with the Employment Lawyers Association this afternoon. As a trainee these webinars are invaluable to me and it’s good to now that the firm is happy to invest time and money into my professional development. The webinar focuses on recent developments in relation to the gig-economy and workers’ rights which is well presented and interesting.
5:30pm This evening is the first time that the Trainees have been out in a group since the pandemic hit. Whilst it has been a strange time to be a Trainee I think we all feel that we’ve come back to the office as stronger and more dynamic lawyers. It’s great to finally have the chance to go out for a nice meal and catch up.
If you want to apply for a training contract with Blaser Mills Law or would like to find out more click here.