Solicitor Apprentice Review

My day-to-day tasks involve assisting solicitors with various tasks, running my own matters which consist of drafting legal documents such as leases, licences etc, negotiating, billing the matters to the clients or third parties, and also conducting checks on various parties in transaction. I am also involved in various projects including document reviews.

I have learnt many new skills such as negotiation skills and also file management skills, which I did not have before starting the apprenticeship. The skills I have developed on are communication skills, time management skills, spelling, punctuation and grammar skills etc. My mathematics skills have also been developed due to dealing with the billing aspect.

I really enjoy my programme overall. We have the opportunity to work in various teams so we have a real feel of what area we would like to eventually qualify into. The management team and the Manchester office in general support the apprenticeship programme massively, and it is shown through the various opportunities we have throughout the apprenticeship.

My apprenticeship is very structured. The firm have developed a rotation programme which is changed and updated all the time. We begin rotations as soon as we start, and begin in roles like admin and post completion, in order to get used to the documents, the processes and the people we are working with.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. They are very considerate when it comes to our university aspect and offer study days on top of the 20% requirement around exams times. I have weekly catch ups with my manager who offers a lot of support to all of the apprentices.

I would say compared to the support we receive from our employer this is quite minimal. Often tutors are away during exam times so we are unable to contact them when we have a problem. My apprenticeship manager at BPP is good at helping when issues are raised, however we are supposed to receive termly review invites from the manager, and I haven't received one since I started my 3rd year of the apprenticeship.

I feel as though my qualification does help me to perform better in my role as we learn language and soft skills learnt are transferred to the day-to-day tasks in my role. We learn the topics that are most relevant to our role in the first 2 years of the apprenticeship, which helps to understand the law behind the tasks we carry out.

There are many extra-curricular tasks to get involved in. We have a wellbeing team who run various workshops such as yoga classes and webinars. We also have a netball team, a cricket team and a football team. We have annual summer parties and also Christmas parties which are always fun!

Yes

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is an amazing place to work, with supportive colleagues and a clear path to qualification. You will receive all of the training and experience needed to become a good solicitor and will make long lasting friendships along the way. They are very supportive of the apprenticeship and the plan will only develop more along the way.

My tips would be to research the firm before you apply to ensure this is the area of law for you. I would contact apprentices on LinkedIn for any questions. I would look to attend any open days that BCLP attend where you can get leaflets and ask any questions.