Work Experience

My time at Greens Solicitors has afforded me an amazing introduction to the legal world, providing me with invaluable insight into the day-to-day tasks of a solicitor. Additionally, I have been purview to other roles and their responsibilities such as social workers, guardians, barristers and all other unsung heroes within the legal system. I have been incredibly lucky to be allowed to spectate this complex system and its constituent parts, and I cannot thank all those at the firm enough for their welcoming and kind attitude towards me, particularly Donna Savery who took me under her wing.

I have had conversations with clients, court clerks, security guards, solicitors on all sides of a dispute, legal assistants, and barristers to name a few; understanding the web of roles and how they work together has only made me more passionate about the legal system.  Being able to shadow such great solicitors and the occasional barrister has been a privilege, enabling me to grasp the essence of what it is to be a lawyer and receive good advice on potential career paths. I am an undergraduate law student invested in becoming either a solicitor or barrister; criminal and family law greatly interest me and it has been an eye-opening experience to understand the fundamentals of being a lawyer. I have been taken aback by my level of naivety before this placement as I had not fully considered the work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure clients are so well cared for, in particular the emotional counselling aspect of the job.

Seeing firsthand what a great solicitor is able to do is an incredible privilege; witnessing life-changing work and being able to help in some rare instances felt truly amazing. On one occasion, technical difficulties in a very short and high-pressure court adjournment led to the solicitor I was accompanying being unable to login to LexisNexis, however we were able to use my login and we worked in a time crunch to identify the necessary ratios after sifting through some cases. When this was accepted by the judge and the client was crying with happiness next to me, the rewarding feeling was immense. Being able to help people and make a real difference is my drive to study Law; having a tangible impact on this person’s life and helping protect the vulnerable through the judgement is a feeling I will never forget. Immersing myself within cases has also enabled me to learn about the substantive law and better understand care proceedings, which will certainly help in my future studies of family and child law.

I have been lucky enough to read through fascinating cases and see the law I have been studying applied in practicality; having a real-life demonstration is incredibly interesting and witnessing court processes has given me great insight into the happenings of the law. Hearing difficult stories from clients and the hardships they have faced shows that this work makes a real difference to peoples’ lives, and being able to offer emotional support and have meaningful conversations with these clients provided me with great satisfaction.

These past few weeks have been invaluable to me as a law student and I am incredibly grateful to all those at Greens and beyond that have been incredibly welcoming and generous, particularly Donna, Khizar, Julie, Suzan, Hayley, Libby, and Matthew.

Written by Oscar Walker