I knew from early on in school that I wanted to eventually study law. I was always very interested in essay writing subjects; I enjoyed piecing together stories in subjects such as history and have always found myself considering why certain decisions were made. I then realised in sixth form that I could use these inquisitive characteristics when considering the motivations of companies as I studied economics. Law as a subject, combined my love for wanting to dive deeper into problems and seeking solutions to these problems through analysis.
I have always been a very hands-on learner, finding it easier to grasp an understanding of a topic if I can tangibly see how knowledge is being used in real life. The apprenticeship route has allowed me to learn from the best in their respective fields through working directly on matters alongside them.
I actually found out about the apprenticeship route fairly late at an insight day. As soon as I was told about the course, I knew that it was something that I would enjoy, perhaps more so than going to university. I then turned to researching which firms offered apprenticeships and began to consider which firms I would be well suited to.
The apprenticeship at Winston Taylor is a six-year course, which includes studying towards your LLB and SQE exams and so by the end of these six years you will become a fully qualified solicitor. For the first four years of the course, you will rotate departments yearly, working for four days a week in the office and taking one day a week as study. After these four years, you will effectively join the trainee cohorts and will swap seats every 6 months.
Currently I am sitting in the contentious construction team. As this is a small team my tasks are very varied on a day-to-day basis. My usual work would include drafting letters of claim, preparing trial documents, researching case law, attending client meetings and interviews, preparing for mediations etc.
I enjoy the responsibility that I am given to deal with my own matters and communicate and build relationships with clients. The amount of client contact and opportunity to take ownership on matters that I have had over the last 3 years has been great. It is something that I didn’t think an apprentice would be trusted with, however I was obviously very wrong!
I think balancing work and university is always a challenge, it is often easy to slip into the mindset of working on a Friday (our designated study day), especially if something is urgent or even just really interesting to you! It's important to make sure that even if you are working on a Friday, you are setting aside plenty of time to complete your uni tasks.
I would love to qualify into Winston Taylor eventually! I am very much looking forward to deciding what department I would like to specialise in and joining that team as an NQ. I would then love to help incoming apprentices – I think I would really enjoy being an apprentice supervisor one day!
I would say to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Take every opportunity that is given to you as you never know which contacts you might meet or what ideas those opportunities might spark.
