In my last blog post I discussed my first seat in the Bristol office in the Agricultural Property Litigation team. I am now coming to the end of my second stint in the seat and wanted to share my experience six months on.
You might think that completing a year in the same seat is a seat wasted, but this really isn’t the case. Firstly, I have had an incredibly broad range of experience for a trainee. From knowing absolutely nothing about this area of law before, I now feel I have a strong grounding in Agricultural Property Litigation. Being in the seat for an extended period also means I have been able to see cases through from start to finish, which has been really rewarding. I recently attended a week-long trial in the London Chancery Division as instructing solicitor to Leading Counsel. I had been working on the case since day one in the team and it has been fascinating to see it through to trial. My experience in the team meant I was able to attend upon Leading Counsel on my own and to lead daily meetings with the client and Counsel. This was a fantastic experience and one I certainly never thought I would have as a trainee. Just as importantly, I have also developed strong working relationships with colleagues, building up trust and therefore responsibility. Having been here almost a year now, I genuinely feel part of the team.
We are now fast approaching the time for another seat rotation. The seat list has been sent out to the soon-to-be second year trainees and we are in the process of shortlisting our preferred seats. We should find out in the next few weeks what our next seat will be. Although I’ll be sad to leave the team in Bristol, it’s also a very exciting time. I will be moving to Exeter for the next seat, which will give me the opportunity to build working relationships with other colleagues and to become more involved in Exeter-based firm events. I am also looking forward to joining the Michelmores netball team!
As for Bristol, we have our summer party this evening. This involves a few games of rounders on the Downs with Pimms and afternoon tea… Fingers crossed the British summer does not let us down!