Apprentice Paralegal Review

Communicating with clients via email, organising and attending client calls, taking notes during calls, lots of legal research and then using the research to share knowledge with colleagues in easy to access and interactive ways, broadening understanding of legal world, keeping up to date with landmark cases within area of work.

Throughout the course of my apprenticeship I have developed many new skills already. these include becoming familiar with new software, learning how to bill clients, how to take detailed client call notes, how to converse with clients in a professional yet approachable way, how to understand client's issues empathetically and plan how to help them.

I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of my apprenticeship. Perhaps one of my faviroute factors is how varied each of my days are and how many people I speak to and work with daily despite working from home. Despite being an apprentice with no legal qualifications or experience, I am trusted to work on real life cases which I really enjoy.

This factor is one I found difficult to adjust to, there was a lot of information just thrown at us from the studying aspect of the apprenticeship. Having said this, I know fully understand and am comfortable with that aspect of my apprenticeship, it just took some time to get used to it all.

I receive huge amounts of support from my employer, mainly through my manager and the team I work with. They give me incredibly useful feedback, are always willing to help me and clear up any confusion I have without any judgement, and have never made me feel lesser than anyone else despite my lack of qualifications.

I do receive a significant amount of feedback from my coach from teh training provider which is very helpful and perhaps my most valued form of communication with her. The only downside is that this feedback can be given a long time after I submit the work to her to check.

Although I understand the importance of my qualification, I personally do not feel as though it links to my day to day role specifically or impacts it in any way. This may be due to the fact that I work in a very niche area of law. However, I do still really value it's importance.

There are many opportunities to get involved in within the firm and these roles are open to everyone, despite how long you have been at the first which I really appreciate. However, since we have been working from home these opportunities are slightly harder to access which is understandable given the situation.

Yes

I really enjoy working at Irwin Mitchell. I appreciate how welcoming and accepting everyone is, and how much effort everyone puts into being approachable, even if they are in high roles such as partners in the firm. I feel respected and appreciated in my role. My favourite aspect of Irwin Mitchell is the flexible work from home system.

Just to completely be yourself and to understand legal qualifications and work experience are not all that matters. Being a well-rounded, competent and open-minded individual who is clearly willing to work very hard are all factors that are highly appreciated when applying to work at the firm. Do not feel the need to hide your ethnic, religious or other differences!