Legal Support Co-ordinator Review

As a gap year student at Pinsent Masons, my job title is 'Legal Support Co-ordinator'. I work in the property team with 3 other gap years and 7 Assistant Paralegals. The majority of my tasks revolve around the management of all legal documents involved in property transactions. This could be anything from one lease to several boxes full of deeds. I aide lawyers of all levels and reduce their administrative work-load; this helps our firm reduce costs for the clients. I receive work directly from fee earners and have often liaised with fee earners in our other offices.

I have learned and developed lots of new skills relating to office etiquette. These include confidently approaching other employees, dressing appropriately, being punctual, writing professional emails and letters, etc. I have also learnt how to properly manage my time, work well in a team, delegate work (when necessary) and prioritise tasks to ensure that all deadlines are met.

At first, I was slightly disappointed by the programme. The induction was brilliant and meeting my new team was fun too but the nature of the work was not what I had expected. However, when I realised how much I would learn from the work I do I really started to enjoy it. I work in a team of other gap years and assistant paralegals. We all get along quite well and work together as a team. Sometimes I wish that a distinction was made between the gap years and the paralegals. We all get the same work but it would have been beneficial if it were acknowledged that the gaps are here to learn about the legal environment as well as lighten the load for the team.

I feel very valued by the majority of fee earners. I know that, as part of the Assistant paralegal team, we save the firm a lot of money and this saving is passed on to the client. I know that the work I have done is important and has helped with the success of multi-million pound deals. Most of the fee earners regularly thank me for the work that I have done on their project but, occasionally, I am not thanked. This is frustrating after working so hard and for so long on a single task.

I think the programme is very well structured. We had a 2 day induction to introduce us to the firm followed by a three day IT induction to train us to use all of the IT software and systems. I have received a lot of support from the firm in other ways too. I have a number of health problems and HR have been very understanding when I have had to miss work due to hospital appointments or illness.

I haven't had a specific training provider. I have received support from my team whenever I needed to ask a question or when ever I needed to be trained on something else.

I have received a lot of support from my employer over the past 8 months. My supervisor supports me and helps me solve any issues that I might have. The HR team have been very understanding of my disability and the problems that this has caused me in the work place. Pinsent Masons definitely looks after their employees.

My salary supports my costs well because my living costs are quite low. My monthly travel costs total around £160 (£120 train and £40 fuel). Aside from that, I only have my phone bill, board, health costs and social costs to pay. I have had money left over every month to put into savings too. My salary has been very fair considering that I have no legal qualifications.

There are quite a few opportunities for me outside of work. I have been to a lot of social events over the past 8 months and these events are both regular and affordable. I have also been involved in helping children from a local school with their reading as part of the firm's CSR. This has been very enjoyable. Furthermore, earning money has given me the opportunity to travel around the country to visit friends at various universities around the UK.

Yes

I think it's a brilliant opportunity and the benefits far exceed the time put in.

I would advise not to worry about the interviews. I know that I really stressed myself out worrying about how the personal and commercial interviews would go. However, the lawyers that interviewed me were very friendly and easy going. I would definitely recommend improving commercial awareness before the day. I was prepared for this interview because of the work I had been doing in my Economics A level but I know a lot of the other candidates said they struggled and panicked with this.