Please note that some of the profiles have been taken from previous Jobsm@rt magazines and they may have progressed their training or career. The aim of the profiles is to show the different routes and qualifications that people have taken in their career.
Trainee Solicitor
Ozannes
I think works experience can show you what aspects of a job you enjoy, but equally it shows you what you don't like about a job. Whilst I was studying I did work experience in a number of local law firms so I knew which ones I would like to work in after graduating. Also, works experience looks great on your CV. The legal profession is very competitive and works experience can be a great advantage.
Advocate
Carey Olsen
I started work as a trainee solicitor in a firm of solicitors in Birmingham in September 1999. My traineeship was for a period of two years and I qualified as a solicitor of the supreme court of England and Wales in September 2001. I came back to Guernsey in October 2001 and took the Guernsey Bar examinations in December 2001(having passed my French Law exams at Caen during my year out). I was called as an Advocate of the Royal Court of Guernsey in January 2002. At that stage I was an ‘assistant’ and, as the title suggests, I assisted more senior lawyers with elements of their workload. As time has progressed I have become an ‘associate’ which brings with it responsibility for your own cases and greater autonomy.
Trainee Solicitor
Carey Olsen
I worked for a Guernsey firm of advocates for eight months prior to completing the legal practise Course in London. That’s a one-year course, which covers core subjects like conveyancing, criminal and civil litigation and business law as well as advocacy training and legal research. In your last three months you complete three elective subjects of which I did corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and commercial law. You learn how to work as a team and how to tackle problems that can and will appear whilst working in the real world of being a solicitor. It is far more practical and handouts than studying a law degree.