Trainee blog - Hannah Kemp

Hannah Kemp is one of our trainee bloggers at Brodies LLP.  Hannah obtained her LLB from the University of Edinburgh, having studied at Lund University in Sweden for her third year. Hannah returned home to complete her Diploma at the University of Glasgow and is now in her final seat and due to qualify as a solicitor in July 2017.

Choose your seats wisely

I am now three months into my final seat at Brodies - and qualification is fast approaching! As I reflect on my traineeship, I realise how many different skills I have acquired from the variety of seats I have chosen. It all began in litigation, continued in the corporate team, and now I am rounding it off in commercial property.

If you have the option of choosing your seats, consider the skills required in each practice area....and choose carefully. Read blogs and articles like this one and ask around to get an idea of what different seats involve. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and ask for the seat that will develop your weaker skills!

My time in litigation gave me significant exposure to clients and the opportunity to develop my communication skills. I attended client meetings and met with counsel, spoke with insurer clients and was in constant communication with other solicitors and experts. During the traineeship you will be expected to adapt and use different forms of communication to fit the recipient, for example, breaking down complex legal issues and explaining them simply and clearly to clients with no legal or commercial experience.

Legal research is another common task allocated to trainees to litigation, and typically involves analysing cases and selecting arguments to strengthen the client's position. Most trainees will be competent in navigating their way through Westlaw from years spent in the university library. Exploring case law and contributing to legal analysis not only helps you to recognise trends in recent decision-making, it ensures an understanding of the central argument.

As my colleague Letitia discusses in last month's trainee blog below, a litigation seat affords trainees the opportunity to appear in court. I was on the court rota in week three of my traineeship, which made my feel slightly (very) nervous! After eight months of court appearances in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, however, my confidence and my ability to prepare for last-minute appearances vastly improved.  If you wish to improve your public speaking, litigation is an excellent seat choice to help develop your skills.

It goes without saying that corporate and litigation are completely different practice areas. My time in corporate developed my knowledge and understanding of commercial law, current trends and legislative and regulatory developments. It is essential to understand the markets in which the client's business operates, as this allows you to tailor your legal advice to their specific needs.

You quickly realise why certain business structures are preferable for reasons such as tax optimisation and maintaining operative control. For corporate restructuring projects, I learnt first hand how to create each type of corporate entity, and gained an understanding of why we were receiving instructions based on regulatory developments.

I chose commercial property as my final seat at Brodies as I had had no previous exposure to the real estate sector during my traineeship. The commercial awareness I gained in my corporate seat has greatly assisted with the work I carry out for commercial landlords. It's all about transferable skills!

My commercial property seat has also given me the opportunity to develop my drafting skills. I now draft new leases and licences for retail and commercial properties on a daily basis. As a consequence, my attention to detail and ability to multi-task has improved enormously! In corporate, I assisted the team on a handful of high-value deals, whereas in real estate I'm dealing with the management of landlords' portfolios, entailing a greater volume of regular drafting. I'm learning to adapt my way of working to fit with the needs of the teams.

No matter which seats you choose (or are given), you will be learning and developing your skills. Starting in litigation pushed me out of my comfort zone from day one. Completing two transactional seats then gave me a whole new set of skills, and my varied and rounded traineeship has set my up for my step into an NQ role.