NQ blog - August 2015: Being a trusted legal adviser means more than knowing the law

I’m now reaching the stage of one-year PQE, but I have no idea where the time has gone! I have thoroughly enjoyed the past year and what strikes me most, and something which I touched on in an earlier post, is the importance of the role of a solicitor in helping to improve a client’s circumstances.

I have had the opportunity to work on several civil cases during my NQ role, from contact actions to divorce actions. What I have found is that in a lot of these cases the client can be feeling vulnerable; hence why they have made the decision to speak to a lawyer. They seek you out as a trusted legal adviser during one of the most stressful/hectic/important/sad times of their life and entrust their situation to you in the hope of a favourable outcome.

Of course, it’s par for the course that we will empathise with the client’s predicament but we also require to remain at arm’s length in order to fulfil our duty of giving the client objective and impartial advice. I’m sure that other NQs will agree with me that as we progress towards handling files from start to finish, it can be both personally and professionally rewarding in having to deal with all of the various issues which arise along the way to securing a settlement or resolution for the client.

I remember vividly a case in which I became involved regarding the client’s child. I was responsible for drafting and lodging the writ, arranging and attending a hearing in chambers, instructing the sheriff officers and, thereafter, attending at a child welfare hearing in court some months later. I was able to achieve a successful resolution for the client and it was extremely gratifying to hear the client speak of her relief and joy at being reunited with her child. It made a stressful case very worthwhile.