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As a Trainee Solicitor, you consistently want to be working at the forefront of a field or sector, and during my secondment in the Environmental and Regulatory team at Severn Trent Water, that is exactly how it felt. Currently, UK water companies are under great scrutiny but working at an industry-leading utilities provider like Severn Trent was a rewarding yet challenging experience. However, I greatly enjoyed this challenge and thought it would be useful to share some of my key takeaways.
Practical skills
Understanding the legalities of the work you are undertaking is always important, however working in house brings the practical skills of being a lawyer into sharp focus. I would often be working on multiple similar matters at once that could change priority rapidly. To not lose track of this caseload required a high degree of organisation, good time management to make sure all matters got the attention they required, and an adaptable sense of prioritisation. These are invaluable skills that can be transferred to any seat and will allow me to deliver higher quality work within given deadlines.
Building professional relationships
My time on secondment has also taught me a lot about building relationships. Importantly, the secondment allowed me to build a detailed understanding of a client’s business including what issues they were facing and their long-term goals. Through developing this deeper understanding and having consistent day-to-day contact, I was able to foster strong, meaningful relationships with the client’s team and I hope to translate this learning to future relationships.
On top of this, my time at Severn Trent taught me how to build professional relations with third parties and moreover the value of these relationships, such as those with regulators or external experts. Specifically, this has aided my ability to effectively manage expectations and clearly communicate instructions, intentions or queries.
The three C’s
The secondment also helped improve my commercial, collaborative and creative thinking. Experiencing first hand, the day-to-day issues, processes and culture of Severn Trent has certainly aided my ability to think commercially and undertake work informed by the underlying needs and goals of the business.
The secondment also required a great deal of multidisciplinary collaboration across different teams and directorates. After four months of daily interaction with multiple different experts across the business, often on the same project, I now understand that collaboration is an invaluable tool for delivering the best possible outcomes.
Within these many complex projects and interactions there was also a number of niche regulatory topics or issues that required a creative approach which has improved my problem-solving abilities.
Confidence
After a few months in the team, I was often given individual ownership of tasks and matters. This meant that, under the guidance of my supervisors, I was encouraged to progress matters independently.
This has helped to build confidence in my ability to give clear and practical advice to members of the business and feel comfortable fielding questions on issues they may be facing. This will give me more conviction going forward with client interactions and hopefully give me a base to build on when it comes to explaining matters or alleviating concerns.
Conclusion
Whilst initially excited when I secured the secondment, I didn’t really know what to expect. However, I can now say that my time at Severn Trent was an invaluable experience. An opportunity to go on secondment, especially at such a large and dynamic company, should be seized with both hands – you will come out the other side a better and more well-rounded lawyer.