NQ blog - October 2016: The value of persistence, whatever career stage you're at

Persistence pays off. Not that old adage, I hear you say. But it's true. Persistence really does pay off. This counts not only for solicitors in representing clients but also for trainee solicitors, students and probably most people in general. Whether you're at the stage of hitting the books or preparing to enter the courtroom for the first time, you need to persist in what you're doing if you intend to succeed.

I had my own success this week, today in particular, wherein my persistence really paid off. I had three cases in which I had been in contact with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service over a period of a few weeks regarding forthcoming procedural diets at court. For various reasons, I invited the procurator fiscal depute to discontinue the cases.

There were a few occasions where we missed each other's calls simply because of how busy we all are. As a result, it transpired that the cases were due to call at court and I had not yet received an answer from the Crown. Fortunately, I was able to go down to court early enough that I could speak to the fiscals before each of the cases called. I persisted in trying to persuade the procurators fiscal to drop the cases...and it worked!

The three cases I had which were set down for the day didn't call in court, which means the Crown were discontinuing proceedings - a great result for my clients and also for me in so far as it was satisfying to know my persistence finally paid off. So my advice to take away from this is to stay focused on your goals and keep pushing forward and working hard to achieve the results you want in whatever stage of your career you're at.