The Life and Times of a Lawyer-To-Be
The Society, in conjunction with The Scotsman, has invited trainees at different stages of their traineeships to share their experiences in the form of a blog.
John Geddes, is a second year trainee with Raeburn Christie Clark and Wallace. Follow the above link to access his posts on The Scotsman website.
New blogger Stuart Kelly from Harper Macleod in Glasgow began his traineeship in September 2009. Read his most recent blog here and second year trainee Louise Aitchison's blog below.
STUART KELLY'S BLOG
February 2010
Displaying something of a cynicism to the build-up to the festive period, the end of November regularly sees me bemoaning the predictability of December: no sooner has Guy Fawkes been packed away than Christmas treesADVERTISEMENTare up, and we are forced to endure the not-so-welcome tunes of Cliff et al drowning the airwaves. But as any X Factor analyst will tell you, December 2009 proved anything but predictable. Who would have thought that Jedward, having so valiantly battled Under Pressure throughout the series, would be eliminated before the final? Or that Geordie Joe, having claimed the X Factor crown, would then be surpassed in the charts by the Rage amongst us?
The unpredictability of December 2009 was similarly experienced in my traineeship. Following a few days annual leave at the start of the month (always a danger) I arrived back to the office to be greeted with the news that makes any Glaswegian fall pale: Edinburgh beckoned. Despite some reservations about the commute (specifically the tragic loss of an hour's sleep in the mornings), I embraced the opportunity of working in a new city: indeed, the potential of a snow-topped Edinburgh added a romantic mysticism to the newfound workplace.
This sentimentality lasted approximately 2 days. As the snow turned to ice, and ice led to continually frozen rail points, the commuting experience became something of an occupational hazard. There was some solace in that the Haymarket platform became a good place to bump into Diploma friends similarly facing the commute, and together we displayed professional solidarity in shielding each other from the ice winds as the station clock struck 1733, 1748, 1803, and 1818 (etc), still with no sign of our train home. This trainee bonhomie was welcome, but the collective hours spent in the cold occasionally left little conversation topics in the tank – you know you've spent too many hours waiting on the Glasgow train when trainee chat transcends from Brangelina-gate to discussing the potential implications of the Legal Services Bill.
Thankfully my Edinburgh colleagues have valiantly made my time in the East memorable for the right reasons too. Working closely with two Partners and a solicitor, my time has so far largely been spent on a major property transaction, allowing me to get a fuller sense of understanding about the processes involved, and also have communications with the client to understand their objectives. As a trainee, getting such exposure in major transactions is rare, so I've been lucky to have experienced such.
What I have also come to realise is that having a good secretary really can make a good legal team. Harper Macleod's Edinburgh Real Estate team is blessed with Ann – able, reliable and good-humoured, she has the perfect skill-set for making life so much easier for us all. But Ann has a bit of a secret: despite Father Ted having been off the screens for over a decade, Ann has been perfecting her tea making skills to aim for stardom as the new Mrs Doyle. On my first day in the Edinburgh office, literally within minutes of arrival, I was asked how I took my tea. Ever since then, on the hour every hour, Ann provides us all with our caffeine cups to the extent that I am now so hooked I am rarely able to say no – it is left to unsuspecting visiting colleagues to hear Ann practice her 'go on, go on, go on, go on' routine in the event that her perfected tea-making is at first politely declined!
Unfortunately, Ann was unable to make the Christmas Party, so I am unable to confirm whether she is as forthcoming with Smirnoff as she is with Tetley. Notwithstanding that, Harper Macleod's festive bash was a great success, with over 200 colleagues in attendance. As is decorum for such events, it would be unfair of me to divulge any details of the night within the press; given my memories are somewhat sketchy, that is something of a blessing! As a gauge of success, I am particularly proud that I do recall resisting the lure of cutting the rug with fellow legal staff to the beats of Lady Gaga; for that alone, I could reflect upon a successful evening, and look forward to the new year with some optimism!
Stuart - November 2009
Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice given to Harper Macleod’s trainees in the first week of our traineeships was that “mistakes happen”. Whilst a daunting reality-check, the guidance is nevertheless astute – if we make mistakes, and own up to them as soon as they are made, not only will any arising issues be quickly resolved, but we will both learn and benefit from the experience.
So, confession time: in my last blog, I erroneously suggested that Peter Andre used his own newspaper columns to gain sympathy for his marital woes. I was mistaken. The perceptive Heat readers amongst you (of which there are, surprisingly, many) have been in contact and have instead informed me that Andre’s columns are used to refute allegations of his having multiple girlfriends. Ever the optimist, I can only hope that a trainee lawyer’s monthly blog can be similarly used to such effect!
The reality for me, however, is somewhat bleaker, most likely due to an ill-fated costume at the firm’s Halloween Party. As a new trainee and suitably full of enthusiasm, the opportunity to meet more colleagues in a social context seemed a great idea. The only concern was identifying a decent costume. Bereft of inspiration, the idea finally came to me during my weekly night-in with Cheryl Cole – Jedward. Drafting in my Diploma mate Scott the weekend prior, we modelled ‘the hair’ at various Halloween parties in Glasgow with fellow trainees to great success. Girls seemed to love the costume, and even the synchronised dance moves.
Buoyed with confidence, I persuaded my colleague Paul to don the John wig (Edward being the more talented of the two, of course), and together we bounced along to the boardroom for the firm’s party. I was pretty anxious: what would everyone else be dressed up as? Would anyone else have stolen our idea? On glancing around the boardroom I was relieved that there were no other Jedwards showing off their moves. However, reflecting upon what was a busy boardroom gathering, the reality soon became clear – Halloween party it may have been, but no one else had dressed up. Unlike the real Jedward who had gone from zeroes to heroes in the nation’s eyes, I cringed as the first two months of my traineeship blurred before my eyes in blonde peroxide embarrassment.
It is said that the trick to enduring such experiences is how quickly you bounce back. A networking event hosted by Harper Macleod – “The Firm Handshake” – seemed a good way to try and rebuild some of the professional self-respect lost at Halloween. ‘The Handshake’ was the brainchild of trainee accountants at BDO, with the idea of bringing together trainees and young professionals in the fields of law, accountancy, finance and surveying at the early stages of their careers. Having never attended such an event before, I was slightly worried about what to expect – indeed, as some of my non-law friends kindly suggested, it’s nice that accountants have lawyers and surveyors to talk with, when collectively nobody else with social aspirations would want to be anywhere near us!
Thankfully the event proved worthwhile, and provided a good opportunity to build some contacts within other professions: my obtaining two business cards being particularly momentous. More generally, the importance of “networking” to trainees and young professionals cannot be underestimated; whether it is for gaining new clients or keeping existing, meeting new contacts or maintaining links with those already met, how well we can positively network will be integral to our working lives.
I think I can safely reflect that any of my future networking opportunities will be minus the Jedward wigs, but who knows – as we embark into the fateful season of Christmas parties, the potential for more seasonal trainee social hiccups remains. I may or may not keep you posted on them!
Stuart - October 2009
It seems that writing a column or blog can be a good way of gaining the affections of the nation. Look at Peter Andre. He tells a few sob stories of his broken heart, reveals that he’s looking for love, and repeats the same points week in week out in his own blog. Result? He’s a newfound ‘national treasure’, and all the girls love him. What a formula.
So, fine ladies of the law, here’s the script: I’m a broken hearted trainee blogger and looking for love - what are my chances?!
Of course, I jest. Yet whilst ‘The Life and Times of a Lawyer To Be’ is an altogether different animal from the columns you may read in Heat magazine (officially at least), don’t let that imply that trainees have no fun. Oh no. In my first month of working life alone I’ve compared dozens of lengthy leases, taken minutes at numerous 8am meetings, become a regular fixture at the Land Registers’ Glasgow office, and drafted briefing notes on sewage pollution. Peter Andre might be grabbing the headlines, but I tell you this girls, you’ll love my chat!
With my traineeship commencing at the start of September, ‘real life’ has certainly begun in earnest in the last month. One of my major concerns before starting, however, was that everything I learnt in five long years at university would magically dissipate into a distant part of my brain just at the point when I can finally get to grips with its practical application.
With my first ‘seat’ being in Harper Macleod’s Real Estate team, I was hopeful I could avoid such a fate by digging out my property law notes from the loft. Not so. Having somehow managed to lose any recognition of my Assured Tenancies from their Short comparators, the old adage that “no question is a stupid question” has certainly been tested to the brink! So far at least, none of my colleagues have succumbed to the temptation to break loose and say that the said phrase is a complete lie, and that I have in fact uttered a complete nonsense – so much so, their silent exercises of restraint are quickly becoming the psychological lifeblood of my traineeship!
Particular respect on this has to go to my “roommate”, Paul. He might have paid me to favourably mention him, but even so, sharing an office with a new trainee must be one of the most frustrating experiences for a qualified solicitor. He has witnessed close hand my stumbling nervously through the completion of tax forms, and my drafting of (seemingly) impossible clauses, with both characteristic good grace and respectful distance.
After a few weeks Paul and I also came to realise that we share the same birthday. Worthy of celebration, we revered this coincidence by taking a small break from analysing a Testing clause in a tricky commercial lease, and enjoyed a cup of tea and a Caramel Wafer. In the small world of our office, that was a particularly special moment.
Not just for the Caramel Wafers, my first month as a trainee has certainly not disappointed. I managed not to spill coffee down my white shirt on my first day (which was a recurring nightmare, incidentally), and despite being the only non-Partner left on a recent Friday night out, I’m still in a job. My body is even slowly beginning to comprehend the harsh reality of perennial early mornings, which is proving to my mum at least that even the impossible can happen!
More philosophically, the last month has proved so satisfying – having harboured the ambition to become ‘a lawyer’ for so long – now that I am finally on the cusp: learning my trade, and making the first tentative steps towards a career in the legal profession.
In writing this blog over the next few years, I hope to convey my experiences to my colleagues, and to my peers – the trainees of 2009. That’s the plan anyway. Whatever the coming months and years do bring – good, bad, or simply ridiculous - I’ll keep you posted.
LOUISE AITCHISON'S BLOG
This is the blog of Louise Aitchison, who commenced her traineeship in September 2008 with:
January 2010 - Sole Searching
With my third seat drawing to a close and a New Year to contemplate, it is useful to take stock of my traineeship to date and think ahead to how things will unfold over the next 8 months. My seat in Corporate Recovery Services (CRS) has been an excellent learning experience and I will share with you here my collected thoughts on what it is all about – from the point of view of a trainee.
Some might giggle at the name ‘Corporate Recovery’ with tired cynicism that it is of course the ‘Insolvency’ department. And of course there are cases where a company finds itself in such a poor state that an immediate winding up of its operations and sale of all its assets, if it has any, is the best course of action. This will stop debts from increasing and pay back as much as possible to creditors. The legal process used here is liquidation, and a trainee will be involved in company searches, assisting with the disposal of assets and ensuring that appropriate documentation and records are maintained. There are also various submissions to be made to court, and requirements to publicise the fact that a liquidation process is underway.
It was the need to submit a winding up petition to court that presented particular problems one day: I was asked at around 3.30pm to gather together the winding up petition and the associated productions and lodge them in the Sheriff Court by 4pm. I climbed into a taxi at 3.40pm to take me across the city. As the clock ticked I was mindful of the need to get through the airport style security at the court. Trying to maintain an air of professional dignity in heels too high for jogging, I set off across the concourse in front of the court towards the entrance jamming my heel between two paving slabs. What is a girl to do? Save her sole or get to court on time? I hobbled on through security and duly lodged the petition. Now, young men of Glasgow, some who might stereotypically be expected to be in the vicinity of the Sheriff Court while in session are not all to be tarred with the same brush. One such young man had carefully retrieved my shoe, returning it to me with a grin as I left the court. I arrived to the office with footwear and professional decorum intact!
In many cases, this summary cessation of the troubled company’s operations may not offer the best outcome for the company or its creditors. Administration was conceived as a process of corporate rescue. Its aim is to create a protected and orderly environment to examine the struggling entity to see what can be salvaged as a going concern. Trading can continue if there are profitable parts within the troubled whole. The administration process is there to find them, keep them thriving and maximise the value available to the creditors. If this is not possible, it may still be possible to improve the outcome for creditors by avoiding an immediate ‘fire sale’ of assets by having an administration period. For a trainee, some of the tasks are similar to liquidation. I have also had to resign and appoint directors and examine contracts that companies in administration have as the administrator will want to understand which of these contracts have value to the creditors.
So CRS really can be about corporate recovery, finding ways to allow profitable businesses to continue trading. The law has been designed to encourage this by offering protection against other legal action while an administration period is in progress. Some creditors see a swap of debt that is unlikely to be repaid for a stake in a restructured, reinvigorated enterprise, as good business: this is the upbeat and optimistic side of CRS work.
I will be moving on to my next seat soon. My colleagues here in CRS will be very busy for some time despite the signs of economic recovery and the growing confidence that we have averted the meltdown some thought was imminent this time last year. Just as our record cold spell thaws into spring, there will be more companies needing to renew their financial structure as the full extent of the ‘economic winter’ is revealed.
November 2009 - 250 Not Out
In 1759 the world was blessed with an embarrassment of riches. Robert Burns was born and Arthur Guinness took out a 9,000 year lease on a brewery in Dublin, no doubt guided by the “invisible hand” that Adam Smith wrote about in his new publication “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”. Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, David Erskine established a law firm renamed after his death by the then partners James Dundas and William Wilson.
I expect that Messrs Dundas & Wilson would be very proud to see how their firm has endured over the years, and I am delighted that the invisible hand inspired them all those years ago to tend and nurture my future employer!
The Corporate Recovery Services (CRS) team continues to be very busy. One of the interesting things about work here is that you never quite know what will come next. When I was in Property, I had to do some research on Crofting Law, and all that dust was bad for my asthma. While unexpected, it was clearly to do with Property Law. In CRS it is sometimes harder to see the connection. Like does a company need a licence to serve alcohol its boardroom? What is the difference between an option and a warrant? These kind of questions add a dash of colour to more mainstream research into eg. the effect of revised legislation on the sequestration process. Besides interesting and varied research a trainee in CRS has to do lots of company searches, often to build up a structure chart of various connected companies, some or all of which may be in need of a restructure. My experience in Property was also in evidence when I was called on to negotiate the discharge of an inhibition. Finally, on the work front, there is a bit of a crossover with Banking work in CRS, and I recently drafted an amendment to a facility letter to allow the restructuring of a loan.
So, less than a month to Christmas - I am looking forward to a short break and some time to think about where to spend my last (!) seat.
There are some work drinks soon to celebrate our 250th anniversary - no doubt Mr Guinness’ wares will be available. We can raise a glass in celebration...and for ‘auld lang syne’.
October 2009 - Continuity & Contrast
I seem to recall when I first went to University that I blinked and it was Christmas. This inexorable acceleration in the passage of time has been evident in my traineeship also. I have been so busy that I have not been able to fit in a blink, and a month in my 3rd seat has gone. From my first seat in Corporate, to my second predominantly in Property, and now to Corporate Recovery, my skills and experience have grown. I feel a certain coming together as I deal with various tasks in connection with companies, often with portfolios of property assets, facing up to refinancing and restructuring. Also familiar from my previous experience is the need to juggle a large number of tasks at the same time. In contrast with my Property juggling however, I am supporting a larger number of fee earners in Corporate Recovery and so am seeing a wider range of tasks. My challenge for the rest of this seat is to establish the exact meaning of the term ‘urgent’. Sometimes it means ‘stop what you are doing and do this now urgent’. Sometimes it means ‘this has to go out tonight urgent’. And sometimes it means the deadline is unimaginably distant, e.g. more than a working day, but it is ‘a very important task and the sooner this is done the better urgent’.
Besides administrative and checking type tasks ensuring that documentation is in place, correctly completed and indexed, I have been involved in security reviews as banks seek to ensure that their investments are properly protected. I also do various research tasks for example dealing with nuances in the differences between liquidation and administration, and jurisdictional questions including the reach of EU regulations.
Our Corporate Recovery Services team is operating at full throttle: the insipid and protracted nature of the recovery means that this is likely to be the case for some time.
All this hard work demands sustenance, and so it is that on a Friday morning I am dispatched, in rotation with my fellow trainee, on the bun run. This is where all that juggling and organisational skills practice comes into its own. Coffees for up to 16 people, and let’s recall that the optionality of modern coffee consumption has gone beyond milk: yes/no, sugars: how many? Latte Machiato Double Espresso with sprinkles and syrup. Organic beans sir? Hot milk? I draw the line at going to two different shops in order to secure special blend Java, and I have run out of column inches to cover the food order!
Working in such a large team does lead to a more active social life and we have the critical mass for more lunches and drinks after work events. Perhaps it is a sign of my absorption into the life of a corporate law firm that I include this in my social life, but I have also attended ‘drinks with clients’ affairs and a couple of seminars arranged by accountancy firms. I will provide an update on the definition and usage of ‘urgent’ in due course!
Recovery on the cards?
So to my third seat. The first year of my traineeship is complete and I look forward to the second being just as demanding and rewarding. When I signed up for Tax and Real Estate in Glasgow I was looking for a challenge in the competing demands on my time from my two teams.
Like most seats, the reality depends heavily on you as an individual, the other people you come across, and the type and volume of work on the go. Over the last 6 months, with the strong demands on Real Estate to support our Corporate Recovery colleagues, this has translated into me working closely with one person. I have worked very hard to take advantage of all the learning and experience that was up for grabs by getting fully involved in all the work I could. In our mini-partnership we worked together on many time pressured projects and it has been a privilege for me to be able to work in this way to get a bigger picture view of some matters, as well as more limited involvement in a wide range of property issues. On three occasions I have had responsibility for seeing sale transactions right through to completion. Seeing the deal done gives me a real sense of satisfaction and finality: job done!
My next seat sees me staying on in Glasgow (I never did get time to wander down Buchanan Street to assess Las Ramblas’ claim to be the Buchanan Street of Catalonia). The indications are that my next 6 months in Corporate Recovery Services (CRS) are going to be very busy. Apparently the ‘green shoots of recovery’ will need to be better established before activity levels in CRS will show any sign of reducing. I am hoping to develop a wider understanding of insolvency and restructuring work which will build on my previous corporate and property experience.
Drinks on Friday will mark the transition to a new seat, with some of last year’s trainees taking up NQ roles, and others moving on to other opportunities. We look forward to meeting the new intake of trainees to share the vast wealth of our one year of experience!
I am not sure how this happened, must have been my previous Hiking, Biking, and Hairy Haggis exploits – but I am signed up to run the Jedburgh Half Marathon in October. Bang go my Sunday long lies again, traded in once more for training runs in the Ochils.
July 2009 - Responsibility
The summer is definitely here, and with it the responsibility of selecting my third seat. Once again the time has flown by in a whirl of standard securities, title maps and Land Register searches. Each trainee writes a seat description to detail what is involved in the trainee role in each area so trainees can decide if they like the type of work before they apply. I am currently writing mine and will be reading the other trainee descriptions to decide where to go next. I am back to thinking hard about what I should do next to get the best from my traineeship.
Day to day work in the Real Estate team continues to be busy, and although there are still plenty takers for our property insolvency services, I have also been involved in finding out who owns a wall in urgent need of repair, a sortie into crofting law and community ownership, and a slowly developing dispute over a land sale. I still have up to a dozen live matters at any time and it is certainly an organisational challenge to make sure they are all progressing satisfactorily. My activities on these tasks feed into the overall project for each client and so it is essential for the success of the team that I take responsibility to get my bits done as quickly as possible. Vague answers are no good. ‘I think so’ will not do. My contribution has to be a definitive solution to whatever the problem was so that no uncertainty accumulates. I must kill off tasks never to be seen again once they go off my desk. As I found in my Corporate seat, the team are happy to delegate more responsibility once you have demonstrated mastery of the previous task. The team are a very friendly bunch – I am confident that I have settled in. It is now fair play to give me a gentle ribbing for my apparently rather direct approach to securing the co-operation of various people I have cause to speak to on the phone. ‘Firm but fair’ I always say – I simply don’t have time to call everyone back to chase again!
On the Tax side, I have had to grapple with the UK’s double taxation treaty with Japan. As you might imagine, a treaty between the world’s ‘best’ diplomats and a culture where honour, protocol and respect are highly valued leads to a lengthy and complex agreement to make sure it is just right. Our client needed to know to what extent various types of income and gains would be protected by the treaty, to help decide how to structure a business venture.
Another interesting challenge I took on since my last blog was….building a cycle path. D&W take its Corporate Social Responsibility programme seriously, and the firm provided a team of volunteers from various service areas, including some very senior people, to work on developing the facilities at the Harmeny Education Trust in Balerno. This was a joint effort with a team from one of our clients and we all had a very satisfying day making a worthwhile contribution to improving the quality of life for Harmeny’s very deserving pupils. The firm also offers a financial contribution when staff raise cash for charities, and I duly regrouped with my first seat amigas, The Corporate Girls, to run the Hairy Haggis Relay on a very hot day at the end of May.
I will very soon be half-way through my traineeship with some good experience under my belt, but lots of opportunities to be stretched and challenged ahead. It is my responsibility to make the most of these opportunities to build a firm foundation for my future career.
Value Added Trainees - May 2009
The art of effective communication is one which trainees must learn quickly. As part of our ongoing PCC training we attended a session on the importance of writing simply, clearly and effectively. I spend a lot of time communicating on the phone to clients, councils, and other agencies. Requests must be carefully worded with a suitable professional or deferential manner for maximum effect. Most of all, it is important to address your question to the correct person…….
Here is an example of how not to communicate. The names in the following transcript have been altered to protect the innocent!!!
Call Handler: Glenbogle Council, how should I direct your call?
Trainee: I’d like to talk to someone about the adoption of roads in your council area please.
10 second delay
Call Handler: Putting you through now.
Council Officer: Hello?
Trainee: Hello, this is a Trainee from Dundas & Wilson. I wonder if you can help me with some information about the adoption of roads in your area. Will it help if I give you a property reference?
Council Officer: I’m not sure we can give out that sort of information.
Trainee: Oh…I’m sure you can, I regularly make enquiries like this to local councils.
30 second delay
Council Officer: Okay, can you spell roads for me please?
Trainee: You would like me to spell roads?!?! I can give you the property address again if that would help.
Council Officer: We need the correct spelling of Rhodes to be able to identify which children in the property have been adopted.
I will suggest an effective telephone communication skills course to be added to the curriculum.
My team are very busy mostly buying and selling distressed assets, largely in support of our Corporate Recovery colleagues and my role is to make sure things are moving on in time to meet the clients’ deadlines. For me this means Land Register searches, security reviews, Stamp Duty Land Tax forms, checking sales particulars, administering payments required for any of these, and the odd VAT query. I have been fully supported in taking on new responsibility and recently prepared all the paperwork required for a sale transaction. This is a good example of the old adage about only getting out what you put in. This wisdom is similar to the basis on which Value Added Tax operates – in theory a business should only pay VAT to HMRC on the value it has added to the goods and services it has passed along the supply chain. The exceptions and exemptions are quite complicated and part of the reason why lawyers get involved in resolving VAT issues. This mixture of tax and property issues has continued to keep me busy and interested at the halfway point in my second seat.
Moving on to the major trainee social event since last time: The Monster Bike and Hike 24 hour team challenge. We all provided input - as a group we trained together for several weekends trekking up and down hills or along coastal routes in Fife, the Borders and the Pentlands. We added value raising over £4,000 for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. The output from the experience was huge. It was an invaluable opportunity to mix and bond with fellow trainees in a new environment taking on a challenge a bit different from those faced at work. We are now therefore ‘Value Added Trainees’ or VAT for short! I have promised not to divulge the VAT chat from these training sessions – I guess what goes on tour stays on tour!! We had a thoroughly enjoyable experience overcoming the Monster with a 30 mile bike ride from Fort William to Fort Augustus followed by a 43 mile hike to Inverness. Unfortunately on the day we didn’t all manage to walk together but we were together in spirit as we stumbled over the finish line. I expect it has been an experience that we will all remember as we progress in our careers and hopefully maintain our bond of camaraderie when the midnight snow at Abriachan Forest Park is a distant memory. I was very pleased to slay the Monster in 17 hours and 4 minutes being the 10th female finisher and am looking forward to taking on the Caledonian Challenge next year in a D&W team.
April 2009 - Diversity
I hoped for a seat that would force me to juggle my workload - in Tax and Real Estate I have exactly that. My new split seat in Glasgow has got off to a good start. The legendary friendliness of West Coasters is apparent around the office and it would be impossible not to feel welcome.
In Real Estate, the Associate I work with deals with property companies in administration. The make-up of my work in Real Estate is a sign of the times, but for one who previously trained as an actuary, working in an area dealing with the inevitable but unfortunate realities of life (and death) is no problem. On behalf of the administrators we identify (not as easy as you might think!) and sell the assets of distressed property companies. I have made a new friend at the Land Register where I am now a regular caller to discuss title issues. I have also found myself deep in the archives of a local authority planning department taking photographs of documents on my phone (beats tracing paper!). All this makes for a diverse and unpredictable working day. In contrast to Corporate, activity here is much more fragmented, with half a dozen live tasks at the same time, waiting for a response, or a file, or other piece of information before further progress is possible. With so many things up in the air, it is essential to be organised. I need a clear picture of what stage each task is at, so it can move forward quickly when the input arrives.
In the Tax team, much of the work is in support of the Corporate team advising on the tax aspects of transactions and restructures. So far, I have been involved in Employee Share Option Scheme work. This is the kind of area that is heaven sent to professional advisers: most of the detail is in a thousand or so page tome which would be rather dry reading for a layman and fraught with pitfalls for tax amateurs. I picked my way through making sure our firm summary was faithfully reflecting the current rules and regulations. Hard work, but I do now feel reasonably well informed about Share Option Schemes!
As expected, having responsibility to two teams is a challenge in terms of managing my priorities and people’s expectations of what will be done by when. It feels quite hectic just now, but I am growing into it. Never a dull moment, always something new coming along.
So with death and taxes dealt with, on to the social scene: Glasgow trainees meet for lunch in the ‘Soft Play Area’ where we can lounge comfortably and catch up on the latest developments. Looking around it is clear that D&W take diversity seriously in selecting trainees: mixed by law school, gender and nationality, with a good sprinkling of individuals who have come to the law with some previous experience (a doctor, an academic, an employment professional, and me). Hairy Haggis training is going well, and as one who is keen on recycling/reusing, I thought I should do the Maggie’s Monster Bike & Hike as well and get the most out of my training. All contributions welcome!
All Change
On 20 January, the inauguration of the USA’s first African American President was seen around the world as ushering in an era of change for the better. Here at D&W the trainees found out where our next seats would be, so a time of change approaches here also, albeit with slightly more limited global significance. The penultimate day of February signifies the ‘end of term’ – but not the academic affair with a long break to travel to obscure South American destinations, rather we will finish one seat on Friday and start the new one on the following Monday. No time for any sentimental good-byes, and not much packing required. Apparently there is a weekend in August where a similar thing happens with trainee doctors. They say this is a time not to go to hospital. No such worries here. The support framework continues seamlessly into the new seat with new mentors and appraisers to help us along and HR working hard behind the scenes making sure it all runs smoothly.
Meanwhile, back in Corporate, one of my most recent projects has involved taking an off-the-shelf company and transforming it through share transfers, authorisations and allotments into a fully fledged, renamed joint venture company (JV) with new shareholders and directors. This process also involved drafting various documents to regulate the affairs of the JV going forward, including a joint venture agreement, new articles of association, resolutions and board minutes. In theory, a JV can be set up by any number of organisations or individuals, but in most cases in practice joint ventures tend to be bipartite with one partner with management expertise in a certain field looking to expand its business, and the other is an investor who is providing the majority of the capital.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to life at D&W within a friendly and supportive team, doing fascinating work in a very professional environment. I will miss working in Edinburgh in the Corporate Team as I have been enriched by association with my first-seat colleagues. I hope to return to Auld Reekie, but in the meantime a new challenge beckons. There is a school of thought which says that the only good thing that comes out of Edinburgh is the Glasgow train. I will keep out of this metropolitan melee, and look forward to spending six months in a split seat covering tax and real estate based at our office in the Dear Green Place. Regular readers will recall my quest for a wide traineeship – well what could be better than a split seat, in a different office? Part of the attraction of this for me is the opportunity to really get on top of managing a diverse workload and even more competing demands on my time. The nature of professional services work is that the work gets done when the client asks for it, so it seems inevitable that there will be incongruent demands on my time with two masters to serve. Besides learning about tax and property law I hope to emerge with improved skills of time management, prioritisation, negotiation(!) and planning. Whoever espoused that rather risky theory about Edinburgh and trains was also of the opinion that Glaswegians are much more fashionable than Capital dwellers. I look forward to testing this out on shopping trips down Buchanan Street (Las Ramblas of the North?), subject to carefully managed time constraints, by the way!
So, having provided a work update I turn to developments in the never-dull social scene for D&W trainees in Edinburgh. The highlight since last time was the poker night. I think my wearing sunglasses on a sunless February day was fuel to the fire for champions of Glasgow’s superior fashion credentials, but they were essential to avoid my naturally honest face from spoiling my betting strategies. I had no luck ‘on the river’ on a few hands, and hope this is not an omen for my forthcoming move to the banks of the Clyde! Also on the social side, in a moment of weakness, I signed up to be member of a team for the Hairy Haggis Relay Race at the end of May – better get training….
JANUS
Like the two-faced Roman god straddling the years, January gives us the opportunity to reflect on 2008 and look forward to 2009. Last year at this time, I was at GGSL completing my diploma with a fairly fixed idea of how my law career would develop. In a relatively short period of time, the credit crunch has ripped through the financial world leaving a significantly different future landscape to navigate. The first 4 months of my traineeship have gone in a flash, Christmas festivities came and went, and it will soon be time to choose a new seat. So what have I learned about corporate work and corporate lawyers, and what is a typical day’s work?
Working in the Corporate Group, my colleagues specialise in corporate law but have a grasp of many other areas. This ensures our clients have confidence in our expertise, but also that we know enough to recognise when we need to call in other D&W teams from our full service range for specialist advice on e.g. tax law, employment law or pensions law. The operating model is not that of a medical GP seeking input from a consultant, more like a team of surgeons, each with expertise in fixing particular problems. This brings commercial and project management aspects to the work of the Corporate Team. I am finding that operating as a commercial lawyer requires more than expertise in the law. Commercial awareness and an understanding of our clients’ specific business needs are also vital. Sorry if this is a bit clichéd, but there is no such thing as a typical day or typical corporate lawyer. D&W has a number of corporate teams in Scotland, with specialisms in M&A, private equity and listed plc work. There are 48 lawyers in total from NQ through to Partner, some D&W born and bred, some from a wide range of other UK firms bringing together a range of experience across many industries, and specific types of client service.
A typical day? Well here is a typical trainee day working on legal due diligence:
I’ll skip quickly through getting out of bed, onto the train and into the office. I consider the pile of seven chunky reports on various companies in need of review to find what issues may be relevant to the transaction in hand. I had a quick look through a few to see the sort of thing that is covered, and draw up a template to record my findings, then a bit of planning scientifically based on the thickness of documents to decide what order to tackle them in. This reminds me a bit of studying for exams – I obviously have earned a break having made a plan, but now that I have joined the world of the economically useful, I press on fearlessly into the first 200 pages. This takes my whole morning during which I have picked up issues covering missing licences, environmental breaches, tenancies at will, unsigned contracts, non-compliant data protection policies, dodgy pension scheme data, breaches of planning permission conditions, and outstanding litigation. I am pleased to say that it is not my immediate responsibility to solve all these problems, merely report them to the Associate who will bring her experience to bear to decide what to do with this veritable pot pourri of breach and omission. Now I am entitled to a well earned break, but only to go to the drinks machine for a cup of warm brown liquid. This also provides an opportunity to catch up with some other trainees, and ask if anyone remembers what a ‘tenancy at will’ is? Next I tidy up my notes into the template before having soup and a sandwich for lunch at my desk. In the afternoon, it is more of the same from the remaining 6 documents. Missing licences, discharge breaches, missing risk assessments, supplier agreements hand-written on napkins and disputes over domain names. I think you have the gist of this now. This exercise has offered an incredible insight into the issues companies have to consider, quite apart from the commercial logic, when they buy another company. I have also learned that, in certain parts of England, drainage ditches are called ‘rhynes’! In between, I answered a few emails, fitted in a meeting to discuss a research task, returned some documents to another law firm and prepared a fee note for another project. If I go now I can still catch the 19.06!
The train offers some quality thinking time, and as my thoughts now turn to the future, I have been influenced by invaluable advice from a senior colleague to embrace the merits of a varied and balanced traineeship. This will ensure I am in a position to take advantage of the widest possible range of opportunities on qualification. I need to tell HR which team I’d like to join for my next seat, starting in March. Sixty-four trainees to fill sixty-four seats with each trainee allowed to indicate 5 preferences. They’ll need a maths boffin to figure it all out, but I can confidently tell you that there are 1.26887 x 1089 possible allocations of trainees to seats…that’s a lot of possibilities.
Some of the seats are for secondments to clients, and are usually reserved for second year trainees. I will make my choices with the following in mind: if you fancy Litigation it’s probably best to go in second year since you can apply for a restricted practicing certificate and so appear in court, and make the best of a contentious seat. Corporate Recovery is very busy just now, so good for building experience. As I said, I am aiming to do a varied selection of seats to get a balanced traineeship, and take advantage of the wide range of opportunities D&W can offer me. But what will be best: Banking, IP/IT, Real Estate (better find out what a tenancy at will is), Tax, Employment, Projects, Construction? Just as I was getting comfortable in Corporate (pot plant and slippers in situ.) I must think about moving on to something new. What does Janus see in 2009? I’ll let you know as it happens!
December 2008 - A whole new complexion
As my first seat hurtles towards its mid-point, I feel the need for a Presidential ‘First 100 Days’ report: I feared that on leaving Uni (second time around for me) that my social life might suffer. Fortunately, I have become a member of a group of trainees – The Corporate Girls – who feel the need to ensure that some of the free and easy aspects of student life are not totally lost. There are four Corporate Girls and we are all first year trainees in ….Litigation. Are you concentrating? Just checking! As the nights were ‘fair drawing in’ we lightened our spirits with an after work pyjama party. This involved drinking wine, eating pizza, and endless chat. Also on a busy social calendar were, a Trainee/Mentor night out, a somewhat early Trainee Christmas night in November, and of course weekly trips to Blue, D&W’s nearly ‘in-house’ bar. But enough of this frivolity. As welcome as this unexpected aspect of working life is, there is also work to be done.
People often curse the sedentary nature of modern office work. I am never in my chair for more than 15 minutes before I am off again on some new task. Companies House, the Courts, clients’ offices, this and that department and…..the bun run. I have been involved in a wide variety of different legal matters including a petition to the Court of Session in connection with a capital restructuring, advising directors in the new Companies Act 2006 conflict regime, and drafting shareholders’ agreements and Articles for joint venture companies. Many of my team’s clients are investment funds, and I have been engrossed in a merger of two venture capital trusts, and assisted in the organisation of a General Meeting for a listed company. Outside direct client work, I have also been involved with some business development activity, assisting on a tender document and other marketing tasks. This aspect of my workload has added interesting variety and offered a different perspective on the workings of a commercial law firm.
The bread and butter of trainee tasks in Corporate consists of: preparing company books, making up bibles of documents, Companies House forms and research tasks. I am beginning to see how this all fits together into the bigger picture of the service we are offering clients, and feel privileged to be in a team where the formidable competence of my colleagues provides an endless stream of learning and development opportunities. I reported last time on the array of support provided for trainees. This has gathered momentum with extensive opportunities to attend in-house training sessions including sessions on Private Equity deals, Completion Mechanics and Shelf Company tailoring. D&W also provide the mandatory PCC training in-house, and ensures we are well prepared to make a positive contribution to our teams. Such contributions are welcome, ideas are encouraged, and after 100 days, I am starting to feel that I am pulling my weight. The learning curve is steep, but now I am sure I am on it!
All told, there have been aspects of my first 100 days much as I would expect: getting to grips with the basic tasks, and building an understanding of what working for a law firm is all about. I have yet to experience the fabled lengthy shift at the photocopier normally associated with legal trainees. What has surprised me is the sheer variety of work that I have been involved in and the level of responsibility I feel I have for delivering on these tasks. Support from my mentor has been invaluable and has contributed significantly to my growing confidence in dealing with my workload. And of course, I can’t deny that the social life is much better than I expected. For Corporate Girls, a dilemma ahead of the D&W (Edinburgh) Christmas Party: pale and pasty or orange and obvious… a whole new complexion.
September 2008 - A blistering start
Over the next two years I look forward to sharing my experiences on my journey to becoming a qualified solicitor. On the way I hope to find out about and shed some light on some of the common perceptions of life as a trainee solicitor in a large commercial law firm. Like many new starts at D&W my relationship with the firm began with a summer placement during my LLB course. Being sufficiently impressed by what I saw, here I am two years later!
1st September was a big day, and keen not to be late, some of my fellow trainees met up early at a nearby coffee shop to offer each other moral support. After checking we had removed all the labels and stickers from our new suits we stepped forth into the sophisticated grown-up offices of D&W where our Induction awaited. Someone looking from the outside might give a different account of the week that followed, and it might be more accurate, because the next 5 days went past in a flurry of briefings, meetings, dinners, and….sore feet.
On day one we faced the dreaded ‘Ice Breaker’. I had visions of drawing a picture of my personality on a little cloud to stick on the wall before sharing a ‘team hug’ and wondering what I should say my favourite book is – Bill Bryson is so funny, but is that high-brow enough? The reality was much more fun than I expected. In three teams, the 32 trainees (yep, that’s lots of trainees) created a one minute advert for D&W: script, props and all. I briefly felt I had missed my calling as I became engrossed in the task – not a cloud in sight! After this and more thought provoking frivolity as we played ‘Who Wants to be a Managing Partner’ (I’m thinking Partner would be just fine!) the serious business of time recording, and the infrastructure to ensure this is done accurately was impressed on the group.
By midday on Wednesday, duly inducted, we were set to be unleashed on an expectant firm. Before any real work started however, the important business of lunch with our mentors had to be addressed. The army of support for D&W trainees starts with a mentor: someone to ask all those embarrassing questions you think no-one else is silly enough to need to ask. Then there is my Secretary who knows how everything works, and understands the pitfalls awaiting me as a new trainee. I renewed my acquaintance with the Librarian: she expertly oversees an invaluable resource of neatly ordered journals and textbooks - a chat with the Librarian is always enlightening and never fruitless! As I enthuse at the level of support available to new trainees, I have been distracted from….lunch. Any images of solicitors taking leisurely lunches at fine restaurants were quickly dispelled. After today, a sandwich at my desk looks like it will be my normal middle of the day sustenance.
So to work. My first of four six month seats is in Corporate. Seating planners have thoughtfully placed me next to the Head of D&W’s Corporate Group, so no pressure there! I was quickly engaged in a range of tasks preparing company books, writing letters to clients, a trip to Companies House and some research activities. I had a few run-ins with the printer, but am pleased to report that no photocopying was required! On the topic of such hardware, I look forward to the first time something goes awry. D&W have a rapid response team (aka the Print Room) – I have visions of a Mission Impossible response to a paper-jam, with men in black abseiling into the department, clearing up, and leaving before anyone has had to scowl at the printer. I will provide an update in due course.
At Friday’s team meeting, the current and prospective workload was discussed and I started to see where what I had been doing was fitting in to the overall team effort. The Partners encouraged the team to get me involved in various deals in the pipeline to make sure I build up my experience – so lots to look forward to.
Friday night saw an exhausted group of new trainees descend on the pub. A key bonding moment - the realisation that we were all (especially the male trainees!!) afflicted by the unfortunate effect of our new shoes being worn all week. A blistering start indeed!
