Workplace Illness Paralegal Review

Day to Day i will log on and begin my day by checking emails and then i will do any tasks set by my supervisors this can include, requesting records in accordance with GDPR and any admin tasks, any calls to clients or external parties relevant to the cases, this can be experts, doctors, the Courts or Counsel. I have also made calls to arrange times for parties to speak to colleagues. I will also every day have a call with my line manager to go through anything i am not sure about and he will then check up on me with how i am doing and how i am managing my workload. However every day is different some days i will be doing mainly admin tasks like collating documents together or uploading documents, but then other days i can be tasked with speaking to clients, sending out requests and doing more chargable work- i have a time target of 60 chargable hours a week and throughout my apprenticeship this will increase to help me get to a competant paralegal standard. Every day i will work closely with the solicitors in our team to help them to progress cases and to support the work that they are doing. Also as my time target is low i have the opportunity every day to learn about details for example researching common symptoms or even expanding my knowledge on the law around us, i do this by reading the law newspaper they send every day to us to help me to understand the law further.

I have learn a variety of new skills, these range from just learning how to use adobe quickly and efficiently and how to complete law documents. The most recent legal thing i have learnt is how to 'pick up' new enquiries, this means that when we have a potential new claim come in, i will call the client in a 24 hour turn around and discuss with them their claim and i will then evaluate if that claim is one we would like to investigate and take on. I have also had the opportunity to develop my confidence, i have done this numerous ways but the way i have gained the most confidence is through ringing clients for different things, for example arranging times for them to talk to other members of the team but also finding infomation about themselves in order for me to progress their claim and complete any work i need too.

I enjoy my programme thoroughly, i have developed as a person and as a legal member of the team. I have been able to develop so many new skills like communication, confidence and knowledge. I have been able to experience how the legal world works. i enjoy completing all of my tasks as i know that every task i complete helps towards the end goal of providing help and a positive outcome for our clients.I take pleasure in knowing that through my work i have provided comfort not only to our clients but also their families. Not to mention the feeling of a case winning and the happiness and relief you get for a client. Although i work in a legal team there is also a great compassion for the clients which helps me to focus on providing the best outcome for them, i love that through doing my job i am helping bringing a client to justice

My programme is structured in 2 part mainly, so i will work Monday- Thursday with Irwin Mitchell and do any task and then i will spend about an hour a day roughly learning about the law to further my knowledge and then on a friday i will complete my 'study day' in which i will complete the tasks set by my training provider which link into the role of my work - like my theory work and monday-thursday is my practical work. I also undertake webinars and study sessions through my training provider- they also provide coaching visits with myself and sometimes my line manager to see how i am progressing.

My employee supports me in many ways; i have my line manager who will send me work and will send me work to complete, but also other members of our team will send work to me to complete for them- while doing the work i am tasked with i can call any member of my team on Teams to ask for help and to check any details with them, i also have the chance to ask them to go through anything i am unsure of when we go into the office. I also will have a 121 with my line manager every month to check my progress and to set targets for the next month- this provides me with things to particularly focus on to allow me to get to a better stage in my apprenticeship. My employer also has an early careers team who provide sessions for all of the apprentices to get together and discuss our job and what is going well. if something was to go wrong i can go to my line manager, early careers or even my training provider so they can provide me with the information and help i may need

My training provider helps me to get to qualification stage by providing me tasks to complete weekly, which relate to my theory learning of the law- They also provide 121 sessions with my coach to discuss my progress, things i am doing well and things i can improve on. Every 3 months i have a visit from my coach and my line manager is included so that he can have an update on how my learning is going.

My training provider, through the tasks they set helps me to understand the work i am undertaking in my practical work by providing the theory and lesson behind it. they provide tasks which are relevant to my job role and law and they also provide sessions to specifically explain how it is relevant to me

we do not have any extra-curricular activities but they will often hold fundraising events for the charities we work with on our cases, we also have team meet ups outside of work and we annually go to training events as a national team which helps to develop our learning as a national team

Yes

its a good supportive company to work for, very friendly people, it is rated the 25th best law firm to work for, they often have openings for progression of your career and they provide numberous ways to support you. they are also very caring of your life and maintaining a work life balance

- be confident, showing willing to learn, take every piece of advice given, dont be afraid as most things can be fixed and to just be yourself- being able to work in a team is also critical and being supportive of colleagues. strivee to do your best in everything and be brave