Legal Support Co-ordinator Review

My role as a legal support co-ordinator is to complete admin tasks for the fee earners within my department. This includes daily tasks such as proof reading, document management, Companies House searches etc. I also attend the training for my department and for the trainee solicitors within the firm.

I have received lots of training and, although some of it went over my head, I feel I have picked up legal knowledge and terminology. I have developed transferrable skills such as organisation and attention to detail from working in the office environment.

I have enjoyed my experience of the gap year programme and think it will prove to be very beneficial in the future. My team and the firm as a whole were friendly and welcoming. The gap year has met my expectations, however I think this can be heavily dependent on what department you are placed within.

I felt that the work I completed was appreciated by those I was working for and so I was valued by those in my team.

The beginning of the programme was very well structured with a trainee/gap induction, an IT induction and then a further department specific induction. The training throughout my placement was regular and well structured. I received regular contact from graduate recruitment.

I received support from my mentor who held regular appraisals with me and gave me feedback on work I had done.

I received support from the graduate recruitment team who had a catch up with all gap students half way through the placement. They also organised a review day at the end of the placement which allowed all the gap years from various offices to meet in Leeds. The Graduate Recruitment team are always there if you have any problems but I personally haven't needed to go to them with any issues.

The salary allowed me to pay transport costs and also save enough money to go travelling for 3 months after my placement. However I did live at home and so had limited living costs.

There are lots of social events to get involved with outside of work as well as sports teams and volunteering. I personally joined the netball team and took part in the maths mentoring. The mentoring is run by the Starfish programme and allows staff to go to a local high school to mentor in literacy or numeracy.

Yes

The firm has a good reputation and the experience gained on the gap year placement is invaluable.

I would advise anyone applying for the gap year placement look up the firm's competencies, listed on the website, as these are looked for in an interview. Additionally to anyone who gets on the programme, I would advise them to get involved as much as possible both in and outside of work.