AREAS OF WORK
Our approach during the period of your training contract is to expose you to as many areas of Lovells' work as possible.
This will help you make informed decisions about your future specialisation and introduces you to the uniquely broad nature of the firm's practice.
The two year training contract is split into 4 six-month periods. Trainees move around the firm during this time and each six-month period is known as a 'seat'.
Lovells has a wide range of practice areas for trainees to choose from, so we place a high priority on helping our trainees to make informed decisions about the areas of work they will experience during the training contract. We ask all our trainees (including new joiners) to let us know of particular practice areas in which they are or may be interested. We then plan their seats having regard to those preferences, the Law Society's requirements and the range of places available in different practice areas and secondments.
Upon joining you will be assigned to a member of the Trainee Development team who will act as your career coach throughout your training contract, somebody who can really get to know what your interests and plans are, and give you advice and guidance about your training contract seats. We will ask you mid-way through your first seat where you would like to sit in seats two, three and four and create a bespoke seat plan for you. Of course, we will provide information to help you decide which practice areas might interest you most and point you in the direction of associates and partners who can talk to you about working in their practice.
We will ensure that our trainees spend time in at least one of their preferred practice groups and endeavour to involve them in collaborative discussions about their choices.
A TYPICAL DAY
The diary below is representative of a typical day of a Lovells trainee.
The trainee profiles in this section give you a first hand account of what you can expect on a day to day basis.
- 8.30am
- Arrived at my desk and checked voice and emails. Prioritised the day's tasks.
- 9.00am
- Begin preparing for a client meeting. As well as getting all the documentation in order, I'm expected to formulate an opinion on the issues being discussed, so I make some notes to that end.
- 10.30am
- Greeted the clients at reception and joined the rest of the team in the meeting room.
- 1.00pm
- Grabbed a sandwich in the staff restaurant with the Partner heading the project. Chatted through my involvement in the next stage. This included a follow-up phone call to the client summarising the morning's discussions.
- 1.45pm
- Attended a seminar on Ethics and Professional conduct as part of the training programme.
- 3.00pm
- Took part in a conference call with Moscow office, sharing information with them on changes to Commercial Property law in the UK.
- 3.30pm
- Undertook some computer research that I hope will form part of an upcoming pitch to a major UK building firm.
- 5.00pm
- Took my place at a Trainee Solicitor Liaison Committee meeting with the Trainee Development Team.
- 6.30pm
- Checked voice and email again and began developing a summary document regarding the morning's meeting to circulate internally.
- 7.15pm
- Left at a reasonable hour but delayed journey home by approx. two beers with some fellow trainees.