What do our existing trainees think?
Napthens is committed to recruiting a Trainee Solicitor every six months to sustain the development of our firm. Here is what our existing trainees have to say:
Stephanie Kerr
Experience as a Trainee at Napthens
I joined one of the Napthens predecessor firms, Wallwork & Company, in 2006 as a Conveyancing Executive after working at a several other law firms. I was running my own caseload and achieving positive feedback from clients, my superiors and other companies with which the firm has relationships.
Wallworks were well regarded in the local community and I knew I wanted to progress within the organisation. After completing my law degree some years earlier, I enrolled on the Legal Practice Course to take the next steps to qualifying as a solicitor.
The firm was hugely encouraging and supported me through my studies. I appreciated the investment in my career and seeing first hand how smoothly the mergers of several firms had occurred, I knew I wanted to train with Napthens.
I applied for a training contract, going through the application and interview process. I felt that it was important that the firm looked at my application objectively in light of other candidates.
I was extremely pleased to be awarded a training contract with the firm while still studying the LPC part time and they gave me the necessary support and encouragement to obtain distinctions in every LPC core and elective subject while working full time as a trainee.
Management and my close colleagues have been delighted to support my career and have given me a wealth of experience. I have been given a degree of responsibility I am comfortable with, which allows me to proactively pick up and work on files and consider the next steps autonomously, as well as being given targeted training tasks.
Given my property-based non-contentious background, I was initially reluctant to appear in court, but my principal gave me the encouragement and insight required to achieve a successful outcome in my first hearing, just a few weeks into my seat in Personal Injury. In light of my success in a contentious seat, I have been encouraged to take my next seat in Litigation and the firm has made the changes necessary to effect this.
Napthens was created by the joining of several different firms each with specialists in their field and this is clear in the manner in which the firm is run. The level of professionalism and constant striving to excel in the legal marketplace sets it apart from the crowd.
The internal procedures are well thought out and staff ideas and opinions are highly valued, whether they are small suggestions or quirky marketing ideas. Even as a trainee, I have been encouraged to take part in practice development - some of my marketing ideas have even appeared in the press.
Napthens is a large firm but still retains the personal touch with clients and there is a friendly culture across the separate offices. This is especially reassuring as moving seats and moving to offices in a different town at the same time can be daunting.
The firm as a whole has gone through some huge changes over the past few years and I’m pleased to be a part of Napthens as it builds on its successes and looks to the future.
Christine Williams
Experience as a Trainee at Napthens
Having gained several years experience in paralegal roles, I had quite a good idea of the type of firm I wanted to train with.
I wanted to ensure that I received very “hands on” training, and gained experience in all aspects of a solicitor’s role. I also knew that I wanted to be exposed to relatively large transactions in all of my seats, in order to experience and understand the issues that you are faced with in more complex work.
I became aware of Napthens while I was studying at the College of Law, having read about them in an article. I subsequently followed the firm’s progress, and came to believe that it could offer me the type of training I wanted.
I commenced my training contract with Napthens in September 2008. I had a meeting with the firm’s Training Partner and HR Manager soon after starting, in order to discuss my future seats and the training route I wanted to take. I already knew that I wanted to qualify into Corporate/Commercial. I also knew that I wanted to do a purely commercial training contract. Therefore it was agreed that following my first seat in Litigation, I would do a Commercial Property seat, and then go on to the Corporate department. Napthens try to accommodate all of its trainees in terms of the seats that they want to do, which is important, as it gives you a degree of control not only over your training, but also your future career path.
When I commenced my Litigation seat, I found the thought of contentious work quite daunting. However, I ended up enjoying my time in the department. I was given varied, challenging and sometimes complex work right from the start of my seat. I also had a full workload throughout my time there, which helped me with my time management skills, as well as allow me to gain varied experience in all aspects of litigation work from land to contract disputes, court procedure to proceedings drafting. I found that the solicitors in the department were very approachable and helpful, and my supervisor was very knowledgeable, and as a result I learned a lot.
My second seat was in Commercial Property. Although the current economic climate has impacted on the property market and in turn commercial and residential property work, I found that the seat gave me the opportunity to develop my core skills, such as liaising with clients, drafting and legal research. I believe that there is often a property aspect to most areas of law, and therefore it has been helpful to gain a general understanding and appreciation of land law issues.
I am currently in my Corporate seat and am thoroughly enjoying it. I was brought into large deals straight away, together with client meetings, which have helped me to get an understanding of the way a corporate deal works and the different types of individuals and companies involved in them. What I am particularly enjoying about this seat is that I am given work not only in relation to corporate deals, but also in respect of company secretarial matters, which is allowing me to gain an understanding at the grass roots level of corporate work.
Overall, I have been really pleased with the training I have received at Napthens. I have been given some very challenging and interesting work which has allowed me to truly learn. As a result, the world post qualification doesn’t seem so daunting.