What are the Common Tasks and Responsibilities of a Trainee Solicitor?

May 27, 2023

Written By Charlotte Cheshire

Whilst you have immersed yourself in the firm's culture, worked hard on your applications and researched all the firm has to offer for interviews and assessment centres, what about what happens when you finally get there? What do trainee solicitors actually do? What will your days consist of? What will you be responsible for? Part of the excitement of being a trainee is that no day looks the same, but there are some common tasks that most trainees will become accustomed to being asked to perform.

Legal research

This typically happens as a result of a client query or a unique technological issue that surfaces during a transaction. This will often require you to locate and digest legal precedents, statutes, technical notes, judgments, regulatory directives, and European Law guidelines. Your findings will have a direct impact on how the team answers the query or deals with the problem. As a result, trainees are given a great deal of responsibility here.

A top tip when approaching legal research is to ask the detail and depth required for the exercise. Some queries could be answered with a few sentences and an hour of reading, whilst others may take longer and result in a more in-depth memo that has been formulated over several days or weeks. If you feel it necessary, clarify any stylistic details or specific requirements prior to beginning the task and ensure to always cite sources, linking any websites or journals as you go.

Writing or presenting legal updates

Often, it will fall to trainees and more junior lawyers to assist in writing legal know-how pieces or presenting case updates to specific departments. This type of task is invaluable in helping to hone the legal research skills described above and ensuring that your commercial awareness is kept up-to-date. Make the most of being asked to do tasks like this.

Top tips for this type of work include: making a clear Powerpoint to help illustrate key ideas, putting only a few words on each slide and using concise bullet points.

Preparing trial bundles

Whilst perhaps not as glamorous as the court visits themselves and involving lots of standing around at printers and hole-punching, preparing trial bundles is a common and important task. As you must guarantee that all parties receive the most recent copies of the documents, you must be organised and communicate effectively. Trainees are also usually asked to take the bundles to court, both pre-trial and on the day of any hearings.

Top tips for preparing trial bundles include: triple-checking all numbering, contents pages and the documents themselves.

Taking attendance notes

Being a trainee, you rapidly pick up the habit of always carrying a notebook and pen. You will often be required to provide attendance notes of what was stated and agreed upon during key calls or meetings. These are very significant in ensuring there is always a record of case progression on file. These not only help everyone stay on the same page and understand what should be done in each situation after the event, but they also serve as proof of what was stated in the event that a disagreement should ever arise in the future.

Top tips when taking attendance notes include taking a transcript of what was said as quickly and efficiently as possible, focusing on key details. With many calls now taking place virtually, some platforms create an automatic transcript, although you’ll need to check this for any mistakes. Once you have a transcript, create a cover page detailing the date and time of the meeting, who was in attendance, a summary of the key points and a list of any agreed next steps between the parties involved. Always remember to upload this onto the file!

Proofreading

Given the volume of drafting done by more senior lawyers, it is unsurprising that you will often find documents forwarded to you with an email asking for you to check the minute details. Your reaction to this may be one of dread, but take it as an opportunity to analyse and understand important documents.

Always try to proofread with a fresh head and, if you do proofread later on in the day, consider skimming over the document again first thing the following day, depending on the deadline given to you to complete the task.

Filing documents and liaising with different organisations

Depending on the team you are in, you may have to make Companies House filings or contact independent and government organisations such as the Financial Conduct Authority or the Department of Work and Pensions. Remember that you will often speak to the same people repeatedly, so be polite and build up a rapport - you never know when someone from Companies House could help with an urgent filing!

You will be asked to assist with many other activities, such as drafting engagement letters, opening up files on your firm’s bespoke system or attending graduate events to showcase what your firm has to offer. You are required to consistently put in a lot of work, handle competing demands, be responsive and enthusiastic at all times, and become educated in a number of practice areas.

Although the learning curve is likely to be steep, particularly if you have never been a paralegal or worked in a firm, remember that there are support systems (employee wellbeing programmes, newly qualified lawyers, supervisors) in place to help you.

Becoming a Lawyer