Having now completed my first two years as a Solicitor Apprentice in the Commercial Property department which I thoroughly enjoyed; I am now grateful to have joined the Family Team for my second seat here at Sintons.
When I became aware that my second seat would be in the Family Team, I was excited to take on a new challenge. My initial thoughts were that Commercial Property and Family could not be further apart from one another in terms of law and approach and I was looking forward to seeing how the two differ and to further widen my skill set.
Having now completed my second week in Family I am already realising that the two practices are not so different after all. Family incorporates a wide range of areas including but not limited to land law which covers issues relating to cohabitees, issues surrounding children for example the arrangements between parents and grandparent’s rights, finances, pensions companies, protecting those assets by way of a Nuptial Agreement and of course divorce and dissolution.
The main difference is the litigious side of Family law and it is fascinating to learn how to engage with the Court and what documents are required to be filed and when.
The knowledge that I have acquired during my time in Commercial Property and from having studied land law, civil litigation procedure and equity and trusts at University recently has helped me to obtain a better grasp on the intricate details of the law which are required when guiding a client through their family issue.
Not only do I take this legal knowledge with me into my new seat I also bring a developed set of interpersonal skills and most importantly increased confidence.
Currently, my day typically consists of issuing divorce proceedings, attending (remotely of course via video and telephone) a wide range of Court hearings and client appointments, corresponding with clients on a regular basis and preparing the necessary applications and supporting evidence for financial disclosure.
Thus far every day has been different not least because each family is unique with various needs and will usually involve dealing with a wide range of matters.
I had previously thought that litigation would be argumentative and cutthroat, but I have come to realise that more often than not, the Sintons Family Team approach matters in a collaborative way (regardless of whether there is litigation underway) in order to obtain a quick and fair solution as well as being cost effective.
The skills that I am currently developing is having the ability to support clients, manage their expectations whilst trying to achieve their desired outcome. It appears to me that a large part of the job is to understand the importance of empathy whilst taking a logical and objective approach as to the advice and likely outcome.
I am also honing my organisation skills given that often matters need to be attended to urgently and Court deadlines met.
It has been a great pleasure so far to be supervised by Louise Masters, a very experienced Senior Associate with a wide range of skills and to work alongside the rest of the team as they help me to grow into a better, well rounded solicitor.
If you feel you could benefit from our family team services or would like to know more about the solicitor apprenticeship please contact us on 0191 226 7878 or visit the Sintons website.
