Paralegal Apprentice Review

My role on a day to day basis involves assisting the fee earners in my team by submitting documents to court or sending chaser emails for them. As i have progressed within my apprenticeship i have now been given my own case load which is extremely interesting to see the lifecycle of a case from start to finish.

I have developed my existing team working skills by working in a team efficiently and offering reliable support to the fee earners. I have also learnt new client facing skills as i have never communicated with clients before prior to this apprenticeship, this will benefit my career as i can communicate with clients in a professional and friendly manner.

I thoroughly enjoy my programme as i feel as though i am a valued member of the team i work in and also DWF as a whole. The culture is something that attracted me to the firm as it is diverse and inclusive and this is something that exceeded my expectations as everyone in the firm is welcoming and accepting.

The programme is very organised/structured. The way it works is four days a week i am working at DWF in the office or remotely from home and the other day of the week is dedicated to studying with BPP university towards my law degree. The day dedicated to studying is extremely beneficial to break the working week up and to ensure that i am on top of all university work.

I receive a huge amount of support from my employer. I have an apprenticeship manager with whom i have regular check ins and i can go to her if i have any issues within my apprenticeship. In addition, i also have a supervisor who i communicate with on a daily basis within my team who always offers support and guidance when i need it.

I receive a lot of support from BPP university. They always respond quickly to emails with queries and they set up regular teams calls to provide support, especially around exam times. On the website there is a forum in which students can post queries relating to our qualification which are always responded to quickly by the tutors so it is good to know there is always support there if i need it.

The qualification I am working towards often goes hand in hand with the work I am doing within my role for example i have studied client care as a module at university which helped me develop my client facing skills and communicate more efficiently with clients in the work place.

Since i have joined due to covid-19 there have not been many extra curricular activities to get involved with however i know prior to the pandemic there were these opportunities available such as football and other sports teams. That being said, there has recently has been more stuff to get involved with such as team lunches and social events after work

Yes

DWF has given me a way to kick-start my legal career via the apprenticeship route. The culture is diverse and inclusive and everyone in the firm is friendly and welcoming. I have learnt so many new legal skills as despite being an apprentice i am trusted with different legal issues and I am treated as though i am a valued member of the firm

I would firstly say be yourself in the application process and do not worry if you have little/no previous legal knowledge. Make sure you do sufficient research into DWF's values, culture, the job role and what they are looking for in an apprentice e.g. specific skills and attributes.