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Michelmores is a full-service law firm and offers a wide variety of seat choices for trainees to complete, across the Business, Real Estate and Private Client groups.
By undertaking a training contract at Michelmores, you are afforded the fantastic opportunity to develop your skillset and work in a range of practice areas across the business. This is ultimately beneficial for personal and professional development as it allows you to engage in work across a range of seats, contentious and non-contentious, and enables you to learn which areas of the law interest you the most.
The following is a summary of my thoughts on why undertaking a training contract with a wide variety of seat choices is ultimately a great opportunity and hugely beneficial.
Legal skills in everyday life
Many of the Firm’s practice areas will touch on parts of your everyday life.
For example, my first seat was in Transactional Real Estate. This was a good opportunity because everyone deals with property matters in their lives such as when they are renting or purchasing a home with a mortgage. You get into the heart of the transaction and understand all the steps required in the process. The drafting, due diligence and negotiation that goes into agreeing a lease was interesting and helped influence my decisions and helped me know what to look out for and flag when I was negotiating the terms of my own tenancy with my landlords.
This will be the case in many of the firm’s teams across the business. It is a unique opportunity and a chance to further develop your skillset, both professionally and personally.
Cross-team collaboration
It is usual for trainees to work in collaboration with several other teams in a particular seat. This is a great opportunity to work with colleagues from across the business and a chance to work on matters which require a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving.
For example, I am currently in the Corporate and Tax team. When conducting mergers and acquisitions, there are many elements involved that touch on several aspects requiring input from other teams. A recent example, in Corporate, we had assistance from the Employment team who provided advice in relation to TUPE. We also had assistance from the Transactional Real Estate team who arranged the transfer of commercial property.
In the Tax team, we provide support to the Employment team by providing our input on areas such as employee related share scheme incentives and options and advise on how income tax and national insurance contributions are affected based on the client’s employment status. We are also involved in supporting the Transactional Real Estate team on various elements of Stamp Duty Land Tax.
Variety of clients
Although I am on the Business Sector Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship, I was encouraged to select seats in teams beyond the purely transactional seats in the Business Group. By engaging in a range of seats across sectors and practice areas, I have developed my skillset further.
When transitioning from the Transactional Real Estate team into the Employment team, I encountered many different scenarios that I would not have had the opportunity to experience in a non-contentious seat. For example, when preparing for a tribunal I had to contact various witnesses who had a sensitive history with the Claimant. Due to the nature of the case and the vulnerability of the recipients, I had to develop and adapt my written and verbal communication skills in a way that was more accommodating for those individuals when relaying information. I believe that my experience so far has helped me to become a more well-rounded legal professional in the long term.
Preparation for SQE assessments
As an apprentice studying the SQE, I believe that the variety of seats that I took will help me be better prepared when I sit my exams.
In the SQE, you will have to learn over a dozen academic law and legal practice modules. It is an invaluable experience to be able to work in a training contract seat that corresponds to the areas you are studying. For example, although I am a Business Sector apprentice, I am still able to take on Private Client Sector seats such as Tax, Trusts and Successions which would be particularly useful when I study my Trusts, Wills & Estates modules. This is even more relevant for the SQE 2 exam, where some of the practical exams could include conducting a client interview and then using that information to draft a will.
Regardless of your seat allocation, it is important to make the most of the opportunity and learn as much as possible.
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