I joined Brodies as an NQ in August 2022, having already completed my traineeship with the firm. I chose to qualify into the professional indemnity team within the wider insurance & risk litigation team because I find the work varied and challenging, but also because it relates to people; the work we do impacts directly upon individuals, professionals and both small and large businesses.
A typical day as an NQ in insurance & risk
The professional indemnity team advises on all aspects of professional practice and discipline and handles claims and regulatory complaints against professional service providers. In my role, as well as having my own case load, I assist the wider team with some of the largest litigated claims in Scotland. This means I have some autonomy and responsibility over my own files, but also the opportunity to work collaboratively with colleagues and learn from them.
I have direct contact with clients every day. These tend to be insurers and their policyholders, and I act for a very diverse range of professionals across a range of sectors, from legal to construction to education. I can also then be asked to assist in Sheriff Court and Court of Session actions, whether it be liaising with counsel or preparing for court hearings. I have the opportunity to develop my advocacy skills in preparing pleadings and appearing in Sheriff Court actions and negotiating with other parties in alternative dispute resolution settings, such as mediation.
The work is challenging and wide-ranging. Part of my role is to assist in analysing claims and evidence in detail, consider the strengths and weaknesses of possible arguments and defences that are available, and present recommendations to clients as to strategy for handling the case going forward. I feel very supported in my role as all my work is supervised, and I have direct contact with partners and senior team members.
Opportunities at Brodies
In addition to client work, I actively participate in the business development which involves liaising with current and prospective clients in order to demonstrate how Brodies can help them. This is encouraged by my team who have wanted me to be involved as much as possible from day one so that clients get to know me as part of the team. This allows me to develop my own internal and external network of contacts and clients, as well as developing close links with the team's key clients. There are also opportunities to go on secondment to work with some of our clients for varying lengths of time.
Brodies offers internal litigation training seminars and a clearly defined career pathway to assist in planning career advancement, with transparent goals and targets that help in setting personal objectives for each year. Each NQ, whether recruited internally or externally, is matched with a mentor out with their team to provide support during that first year which is helpful as the transition between trainee and NQ can be daunting. As Brodies is a large firm, there is also a large cohort of NQs each year, so there is a good social aspect to working here, and lots of colleagues at the same level means there is a lot of support and people to ask for help if needed.
Why Brodies?
We act for most household name insurers as well as many specialist firms and professional services firms. Some of the cases I work on have a very high profile which is great experience and, even in my short time in the team, I have worked on several claims that have been reported in the press. Being a full-service firm means that I can call upon colleagues and experts in other areas to assist or provide input into some of these matters, without having to seek external advice. This also means we can undertake the large variety of work that makes my role interesting, as we have the in-house expertise to handle it.
Our NQ vacancies are now open. Apply here!
