Insight: A commercial training contract in the Government Legal Department

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May 03, 2022

Written By Emma Finamore

When you imagine yourself on a training contract, you’re probably picturing yourself being overseen by senior solicitors and cutting your legal teeth at a law firm, working for a range of clients that could be individuals, groups, private companies or public sector organisations. But governments need lawyers too, and it’s possible to do a training contract serving the interests of the entire nation.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the government's principal legal adviser: the government is its sole client. Whether it’s creating new laws, buying goods and services or defending decisions in court, it needs legal advice on a range of complex issues. To do this, the government needs its own lawyers and legal trainees who understand its business. Government lawyers work closely with ministers, policy makers and other professionals, playing a unique role in helping the government meet its legislative agenda and run public services – which makes the training contract with GLD especially exciting, and entirely unique.

A one of a kind experience

“It wasn’t until I saw a picture on Instagram about a scheme I had been working on, which was aimed at helping people get back into work after COVID-19, that I realised how much my work has an input to not only GLD, but the general public too,” says Ella Jarrett, a current GLD commercial law trainee who has completed seats advising the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Education (DfE) and a corporate seat on secondment to a commercial law firm.

“When advising government departments you get to see and input into the decisions that are made every day to keep the government running, which is definitely a unique experience. Advising DfE whilst school children and teachers were adapting to working from home and then transitioning back to school gave a real sense of purpose behind the legal questions we were answering.”

“The work we get involved in is unique and exciting,” agrees Vicky Waugh, also on the commercial training contract, who has been involved with everything from procurement for the National Tutoring Programme to help pupils affected by the pandemic, to grant funding for school flood defences and procurement of COVID-19 medicines.

Projects serving the public

“Our work can be advising on anything from high profile projects, such as HS2, the COVID-19 catch-up tutoring programme or the new Health and Social Care Bill for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), to other integral work, such as grants for school flood defences or procurements of flu jabs,” Vicky continues. “I think it is really exciting to be able to see the impact of your work all around you, whether it’s in the news or just in your day-to-day life, and I don’t think many other training contracts can offer that.

“The variety of work surprised me and I think the public sector aspect of the work is what surprised me the most – that may seem rather obvious given it is the Government Legal Department but I hadn’t appreciated the extra considerations that we need to take into account being a public authority.

“GLD (and all of our client departments) are always very aware that we are dealing with public money and so want to make sure any decisions that are made are done with that in mind. That means the balance between risk and reward really needs to be considered carefully, we not only have stakeholders in the government departments, we are also accountable to the public too.”

Early responsibility

With trainees based out of its London and Leeds offices, GLD offers a Generalist Legal Trainee Scheme as well as its Commercial Law Trainee Scheme, with places on the latter for those looking to qualify as solicitors, as well as a number of trainee solicitor places and a small number of pupil barrister places on the former. Trainees on both schemes undertake an interesting mix of contentious and non-contentious work and are given early responsibility. Vicky, for example, has completed a seat in commercial litigation, an aspect of legal work that many people will not be aware of, following disputes from the very beginning right through to resolution, through correspondence, mediation, arbitration or in court: a real mix of work.

“I think the level of responsibility is something that stands out the most to me. As a trainee, I think you half expect to be making copies or reviewing documents for disclosure for most of your day but that wasn’t the case for me,” she reflects, on the exciting chances offered by GLD’s training contract. “I was given a lot of responsibility from very early on and had a lot of contact with the clients – I was attending client meetings and sending advice to clients within my first couple of weeks, joining meetings with external advisors and senior counsel and even running a client meeting by the end of my first seat.

“That responsibility has continued to build as I’ve gone through my training contract and I have been able to take the lead on pieces of advice, help organise and run client training sessions and I was even given my own cases to run (under supervision) during my litigation seat. I don’t think you necessarily get given that level of responsibility that early on in other training contracts.”

Support & development

That’s not to say trainees are thrown in at the deep-end though, far from it. GLD matches these opportunities with solid support, committed to being a brilliant place to work, where staff can all thrive and fulfil their potential. Curiosity and seeking out help is positively encouraged here. “GLD has created a healthy working environment to ask the ‘silly’ questions, and I think this is the best way to learn,” explains Ella, who says not being afraid to admit what she doesn’t know is one of the most important things she’s learnt from her contract so far.

“Learning from the knowledge of your peers particularly in the legal profession is so important, not only as a trainee but throughout. I think that GLD really puts your development at the heart of the training contract. Feedback and training is really valued and there are a lot of resources if you feel you need some extra knowledge on a certain area of law.”

For Vicky, GLD’s buddy system adds to this feeling of support. “Personally, my supervisors and sponsors have all been fab, so I haven’t felt isolated in any of my seats, but it is always nice to have another familiar face that you can ask those silly questions, especially when you are working from home and can’t just tap someone on the shoulder,” she says.

“We each have a buddy within our team so we can ask any seat specific questions and they are another contact in our team, which is really handy when you are settling in and trying to navigate new systems. It also helps you get to know the team quicker as they can introduce you to their branch of the team and so on, which helps you hit the ground running – six months seems like plenty of time at first but it flies by, so the quicker you can get to know your team and get to grips with everything the sooner you can get stuck in to the meatier stuff! We also have a trainee buddy, so each first year is paired with a second year, which is so helpful when you first join.”

Diversity networks

Another vital part of creating this open, supportive environment are the diversity networks GLD have worked hard to build, providing discussion forums and mutual support for people united by common interests, giving support and voice to all staff. The networks run sessions where speakers discuss their experiences in both GLD and the legal sector, and about wider societal issues, as well as inclusion workshops on how to tackle unconscious biases and better support others.

There is also a Government Legal Profession (GLP) Legal Trainee Network, which is trainee-led and provides an opportunity for the trainees recruited to the various recruiting departments – GLD, HM Revenue & Customs, the National Crime Agency and the Competition and Markets Agency – to engage with one another, as well as joined-up training opportunities.

Vicky is a member of a number of diversity networks, including Race, LGBT+ and Social Mobility, just a few of the groups established across GLD and the Civil Service, and sits on the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee on the Trainee Network. “I am a firm believer in diverse and inclusive workplaces being the most productive and enjoyable to work in, and I think the key to that is embracing each other’s differences and taking the time to learn about different communities and backgrounds – that way we can not only begin to understand new perspectives, but also how we can better support our colleagues to make our workplace somewhere everyone feels comfortable to be themselves,” she explains.

Bring your whole self to work

“GLD encourages everyone to ‘bring their whole selves to work’ and I think the education, awareness and interactions that come with the diversity networks plays a big part in that.”

Her experience on the Trainee Network’s D&I committee has also provided a platform from which to highlight issues specific to trainees, she says, which has been especially vital during the pandemic. “Personally, I think it has enhanced my training contract because I have not only learnt so much about other people’s experiences and perspectives, but I have also learnt a lot about my own behaviours and how I can make changes to become more inclusive,” Vicky explains.

“Seeing how GLD encourages the running of those sessions and how it responds to any issues we have raised through the D&I committee has also made me feel much more comfortable to share all aspects of myself at work, which means I have been able to focus all of my energy on my work rather than worrying about what I can and can’t share with my colleagues. It’s also much easier to bond with people at work and build those relationships, which in turn makes learning from them that much easier. It's also a great way to network and meet like-minded colleagues.”

Those interested in everything this innovative training contract has to offer should head here for more information on the recruitment process – which opened for applications on Wednesday 20 April, closing on Tuesday 10 May at midday.

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