Two months into legal practice: My experience as a Trainee Solicitor

Jack Homan is a 2nd seat trainee in Shoosmiths’ Solent office. Here he reflects on his first two months of his training contract. In that short timeframe he has been involved in interesting projects and embraced numerous opportunities at Shoosmiths.

At the time of writing, I’m two months into life as a trainee solicitor. I’ve warm memories of induction week and remain close with the rest of my cohort. But by this point, the dust has started to settle on beginning a new job and I feel closely involved in the day-to-day work carried out by my team here at Solent.

In August, about a month before starting, I was informed the first seat of my training contract would be in Real Estate. I felt pleased and excited. I’d registered an interest in commercial property on two grounds: first, due to Shoosmiths’ reputation as a leading name in the practice area; and second, because I felt the experience would benefit my development as a lawyer whichever pathway I pursued when it came to qualification and beyond. Granted, I found studying land law at university a little uninspiring, but I resolved to put this impression to the back of my mind.

It makes sense then to begin with my take on the oft-proclaimed assessment: ‘property law is completely different in practice!’. On balance, and so far, I’d agree. Since joining the Real Estate team, I’ve drawn on various land law rights and principles but it seems these are deployed to achieve commercial outcomes, so play an ancillary role to the broader transaction. For the most part, I’ve been reviewing, drafting and reporting on agreements; analysing Land Registry data; and researching various statutory applications and updates. Some of these tasks have seen me collaborate with colleagues based in Shoosmiths’ Birmingham and Belfast offices, evidencing the firm’s value ‘Delivering Together’. All in all, commercial property seems dynamic and multi-faceted – a far cry from land law in the classroom.

As an applicant or incoming trainee, it’s easy to fixate on the work you’ll be expected to complete. But surely the focus ought to be on feedback, supervision and development. After all, it’s a period of recognised training you’re looking to undertake; you’re in a process of becoming. Shoosmiths has a strong reputation on this front, and I’ve found it to be one of the most impressive aspects of my training contract so far. My supervisor has routinely devoted ample time to reviewing my work and providing detailed and constructive feedback. She’s also organised weekly one-to-ones, creating a space whereby we can informally discuss how things are going more generally. The emphasis on support and development is clear.

Of course, a training contract isn’t just about completing tasks and receiving feedback. This would make for a very linear (and thus limited) direction of growth. It’s also about immersing yourself in the firm. Building connections and friendships. Creating and taking opportunities. And learning how the business operates both in its chosen markets and as a component of broader society. So far, I’ve been afforded the freedom to involve myself in as many charity, networking, social and Diversity Equity & Inclusion events as I please – and there has been many. In fact, my fellow Solent trainees and I are in the process of planning a pro bono project as I write. There are myriad ways of ‘Making a Difference’ and at Shoosmiths, the more you engage with, the better.

Have the first two months of my training contract differed from what I’d expected? Yes and no. I arrived in this job having extensively researched the firm. So I expected lovely people and I’ve met them, and I expected an inclusive, collaborative culture and I’ve found one. However, what I didn’t expect this early on was to be offered the breadth of opportunities that I have; to be working on projects for prominent clients within a matter of weeks – and to have received such considered and detail-oriented supervision and feedback in the process.

I couldn’t be more pleased with how my training contract has started, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

You may also be interested to read Misha’s blog where she discusses how to navigate the jump from paralegal to trainee solicitor.

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