It is strange to think back to the start of university, I would have never believed I would end up qualifying into litigation. Largely because I didn't think I would have the confidence to appear in court!
Although, my views on that had changed by the end of my Diploma in Legal Practice. My traineeship was focused on transactional and real estate related seats, with one seat in litigation. Litigation was my first seat, and I knew from the outset, that litigation was the area that I wanted to qualify into.
What does a typical day involve?
Part of what makes my role so enjoyable is that no one day is the same. I specialise in restructuring and insolvency matters where I deal with all aspects of personal and corporate insolvency. My days vary from appearing in the Sheriff Court, to preparing advice notes for clients, to assisting with Court of Session actions. In addition to servicing client work, I also get involved in business development activities. This involves developing relationships with internal and external contacts to promote the firm and team.
Being a full-service firm means that I am asked by colleagues across a range of departments to provide advice on a variety of different sectors to our clients. This means that I get to undertake a real variety of work, which is one of the things that makes my role so interesting.
Why Brodies?
Brodies is top of the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners rankings for litigation, I knew this would mean there would be a real variety and plenty of interesting work that I could get involved with. Before applying for the role, I knew Brodies represented clients in the Sheriff Court as well as the Court of Session. I was keen to get involved in advocacy and appear myself in the Sheriff Court. I knew if I worked at Brodies there would be a high chance of me being able to improve my advocacy skills.
Brodies takes training seriously, both on the job and through its internal litigation training. They also have programmes in place to help colleagues achieve their career ambitions through the setting of transparent goals and targets to help you achieve the personal objectives that you set each year. What this means is that you get real support and you can measure your career advancement.
Every NQ at Brodies gets assigned a mentor to assist with the settling in process. This is someone outwith your team, and they provide you with support during your transition from trainee to NQ.
Top tips for applying for an NQ role:
- Brodies' values are really important both in terms of the work we do for clients but also how we deal with clients and colleagues alike. You should do your research – think about our values and how you will be able to show, at interview, that you display them.
- Think about the practice area you want to join and find out what type of work they focus on. Again, do your research. This will be even more important if you are applying for a role that you haven’t had experience of before. You might not have had the opportunity to work in that area yet, but if you can show that you have thought about the area of law, the clients and issues you might get involved with, that should reflect well on you at interview.
- Be yourself!
Our NQ vacancies are now open. Apply here!
Contributor
Senior Solicitor
