Weekly Newsletter #2

While so much attention is placed on training contract opportunities in London at a small handful of firms, there are thousands of pathways and careers in law that rarely get the attention they deserve.

Meanwhile, plenty of capable and hard-working aspiring lawyers are being overlooked, often not because of ability, but because of access.

This newsletter shines a light on those careers, offering a more inclusive view of the legal profession and helping you make informed decisions about your future.

Here’s what to expect this week…

Let’s get into it 👇

📚 Trainee Roles

📍 Work Experience & Insight Schemes

💼 Paralegal/Entry Level Roles

Our response:

Firstly, please know that you are not alone in feeling this way. The legal industry is incredibly competitive, and many successful lawyers faced multiple rejections before securing their first opportunity. The average age of those qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales is 30.

A 2:1 is a great predicted grade, and the fact that you've been consistently applying already shows resilience and commitment. A few practical things that may help:

And one final thing, please don’t let applications distract you too much from your degree. You’ve worked so hard over the last few years and you’re so close to the finish line now. Rejections are frustrating, but they don’t define your future career. Right now, giving yourself the best chance of a strong final result is one of the best things you can do.

Content note: This piece references care proceedings, child protection matters, and domestic abuse.

Most of our caseload involves care proceedings, which are court proceedings issued by the Local Authority when there are concerns that a child is at risk of suffering, or has suffered, significant harm. I also do work with victims of domestic abuse, obtaining Non-Molestation Orders and Occupation Orders for them, which are injunctions that protect a victim from an abuser. 

Here’s what a typical day looks like, but given that so much of our work is urgent, no two days are the same! 

8:45 - Logging on

My work day starts at 9am, but I try to get to the office a bit early so that I can get ready for the day. Once in the office, I’ll start by clearing a few emails that would have come in last night, and writing down my to-do list in order of priority. I find that writing it down on paper helps me remember it better and crossing tasks off is more rewarding!

However, it is usually not long before we get an urgent hearing, new case or problem that needs solving. When children are at risk of significant harm (or unfortunately, have been harmed), professionals need to move fast. 

9:00 - Brief to Counsel

Starting my day with a brief to counsel. Because parents to children in care proceedings, and the child themselves, are eligible for automatic Legal Aid funding, the majority of my caseload is Legally Aided. Therefore, we try to keep as many fees as possible in the firm, so solicitors often do their own advocacy at Court. At more junior levels, such as apprentice solicitors, we are also encouraged to go to Court and build up our advocacy skills on less complex legal matters such as Non-Molestation Orders. 

However, today I am drafting a brief to counsel on a really complex matter involving non-accidental injuries, overseas carers, complex expert evidence, and numerous parents and children, where we represent the children. This is a case where a very senior barrister is required to progress the case at a Court hearing with their specialist advocacy skills. 

A brief to counsel will generally include:

10:00 - Appointment with client

One of the main roles of a legal professional at all levels, is to take instructions from their client. As an apprentice solicitor, one of my responsibilities is to meet clients and go through the Local Authority’s evidence with them – the allegations made against them, assessments, and statements of professionals. Parents in care proceedings are then given an opportunity to respond to this by way of a statement. 

It takes a lot of preparation to see a client. First of all, reading the bundle, which can be several hundreds of pages long, and summarising this into language that a lay person can easily understand. Then, considering the most salient points in the evidence and considering how to progress the case in light of those – for example, do we need to instruct an expert? Or, is there a gap in the evidence and we need to request further information? I then like to draft a basic statement before meeting my client so that we can make the most use of our time, and draft the complete statement together on instructions in our appointment. 

If it is our first appointment, I will explain to my client what care proceedings are, and we’ll go through:

After we have finished going through the Local Authority’s evidence, I’ll usually have a list of questions to ask the client to take instructions on, and we will draft the statement together. I’ll then ask my supervisor to check the statement, see if there are any additional questions to ask the client, and if not, we will file and serve the statement. 

12:30 - Lunch break

I try my best to take a full hour lunch break! Nothing exciting here - I’ll eat something and go for a short walk in town. Given how quickly the day can escalate, stepping away from my desk and getting some fresh air is less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

13:30 - Initial call with a potential client

Another one of my responsibilities is to call new enquiries that have contacted our office and take initial information from them to ascertain whether they have merits for a case and how they will be funding it. I’ll contact new enquiries for all areas of children law and for victims of domestic abuse.

I start off by doing a conflict check on our system, and if it’s clear, I’ll progress to asking the client what it is they need advice with. Often, letting the client talk freely will answer all my questions anyway, so I avoid having a rigid structure in these calls. These are also people at some of their most stressful and upsetting times in their lives, so letting them express their emotions in a supportive environment goes a long way. 

If there are merits to make a court application, I’ll ask how they wish to fund the proceedings. Usually, clients contacting our firm seek Legal Aid, so I’ll ask questions like: 

If they have merits and are eligible for Legal Aid, I will then refer them to the appropriate solicitor to advise and assist with their Court application. 

14:00 - Urgent Part 25 Application

My supervisor calls me, and informs me that the Children’s Guardian is instructing us to make an application for an expert to complete an assessment in respect of an injury to a child. My colleague Georgina will contact various experts to obtain their CV’s and quotes for such work to be undertaken. I will start drafting the statement in support – basically, convincing the Court that our application is necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings justly. This can be quite a lengthy exercise as I need to:

Meanwhile, Georgina will complete a C2 application, which is necessary for all court applications in children proceedings. Having a set division of labour where both me and Georgina know what to do really makes drafting urgent applications efficient and easier to deal with. Once all of the documents are approved by my supervisor, we will file this application with the Court and wait for their decision. 

16:00 - Non-Molestation Order Application

Another application! A client has contacted the office, disclosing that they have been a victim of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and coercive and controlling behaviour, alongside other forms of abuse. I contact the client and establish that there are grounds for making this application. Non-Molestation Orders are urgent injunctions, so we need to draft this application quickly. I’ll advise the client what a Non-Molestation Order is, what the process looks like, and establish whether they’re eligible for Legal Aid funding.

I’ll draft and submit a Legal Aid application and we’ll then draft a statement together, setting out the abuse and why the court needs to intervene. Then, I’ll draft an FL401 (basically a form setting out all the key information such as parties’ details, solicitor details, etc), a draft order, and a notice of acting. I’ll get this checked by my supervisor and filed with the Court as soon as possible, and wait for a Court hearing. 

17:15 - Winding down

After a busy day, I’ll reflect on what I have done today, what I can learn from today, and begin to look at what needs to be done tomorrow. I’ll try to finalise all the admin bits too.

My work day ends at 17:30. I try my best to finish on time so that I can go home and do a bit of studying for my SQE – but I am very grateful that my firm offers me an entire day of studying per week, so I have time to turn off my brain in the evenings too! 

A huge thank you to Bartosz for sharing this with us. You can find Bartosz’s LinkedIn here and, in case you missed it earlier in the newsletter, Ringrose Law are currently offering legal work experience to A level (and equivalent) students.

Don’t underestimate the value of joining professional communities early.

For those interested in tech, Society for Computers and Law currently offers free membership for trainee lawyers and students. It gives you access to free or discounted webinars and events, plenty of online resources, and an interesting network of people working at the intersection of law and tech.

If you’re curious about AI, digital rights, cyber law, or the future of legal careers, their SCL Student Bytes site may be a great place to start.

That’s all for now. See you next week!

As always, please send any feedback to [email protected]. Equally, if you’re interested in writing a piece for the newsletter, please drop me an email. I’m always interested to hear your ideas!

^{The careers advice shared in this newsletter is intended as general guidance and should not be treated as formal legal or recruitment advice. I do my best to keep all opportunities and deadlines accurate and up-to-date at the time of writing, but always double-check the employer’s website before applying.}