Solicitor Apprenticeship Review

My role involves assisting my supervisor on some of his cases. I have attended conferences and interviews, and will be attending a trial in Summer 2020. I have also drafted various legal documentation, and liaised with a variety of people including clients, their insured and barristers.

I have really improved my confidence skills, and this is continuing to grow each day. My communication skills have also increased, as I spent a lot of my day sending external emails and liaising via the telephone. I have been involved in reviewing documents and reports, so I have learnt how to analyse documents and evaluate prospects.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my programme so far. I started at DWF as a Paralegal Apprentice, so I have been involved in a variety of tasks throughout that apprenticeship. This experience combined with that so far on the Solicitor Apprenticeship has been great, and I look forward to continuing my studies.

The programme overall is structured well and is generally organised. The Solicitor Apprenticeship is still relatively new as a whole, and is brand new to DWF so there has been changes and discussions internally which have taken time and caused some delays. This is inevitable when a new scheme is implemented. However, communication has been clear and we have been updated as and when new information has arisen. The Solicitor Apprenticeship has become more organised over the last 6 months it has been running.

I receive a great amount of support from my employer. We have regular catch ups with our Apprenticeship Manager about our progress and the university side. My supervisor is aware of the portfolio requirement, and sets me tasks that will achieve those outcomes. Where I have been concerned about meeting a particular outcome, I have spoken with my manager and we have come up with a task to complete that achieves this.

We are sent weekly emails from our provider, BPP, containing any updates we need to know about the course, upcoming deadlines or events etc. We also have termly review meeting with our Apprenticeship Manager at BPP to discuss how we are managing the university work and what sort of tasks I am completing in the work place. I feel more than comfortable raising any queries with the university.

As part of the Solicitor Apprenticeship, we rotate like a Trainee Solicitor completing a Training Contract. Firstly we spend 3 x 12 month seats in different teams in the firm, and then we have 4 x 6 month seats like a Training Contract. At the moment we are studying Tort Law, which fits in perfectly with the team I am currently in, Catastrophic Personal Injury, so this has really helped me understand the department and the cases. I used to undertake work that concerned Contract Law and some Landlord and Tenant issues, and we have just began our Land Law module so this has helped to understand previous work I have completed.

I am involved in the MTSG group and so I get invited to a large number of networking events to socialise with other Solicitor Apprentices and Trainee Solicitors in my area. I have also been involved in volunteering opportunities, such as Young Citizens Mock Trial Competition that various schools get involved in.

Yes

I have enjoyed my experience and have received plenty of support from the firm and my team throughout it. I am also completing the right level of work so that I can develop my legal knowledge and also meet the portfolio outcomes, which I am assessed on at the end of the apprenticeship.

I would recommend applications to this firm. The firm does a lot of CSR work and gets involved with various charities and schools, to promote events such as International Women's Day. We also get involved in large sleep outs to raise money for the homeless and donate food to food banks.