Nichola Constantinides is a trainee solicitor in our Milton Keynes office. Here she explains what it's like to change seats.
I started my training contract in the Insolvency and Corporate Recovery team in the Northampton office. I began my seat open-minded but with limited knowledge of insolvency law as it was not a subject I had explored in great depth during my studies.
In the Northampton office, the team is involved in a variety of work including bankruptcy petitions, winding up petitions (placing companies into compulsory liquidation) and taking action against directors of insolvent companies. The practice of insolvency touches upon other areas of law including aspects of property and company law, and the kind of work I completed during my seat included:
My knowledge and understanding developed throughout my seat, as did the responsibility I was given which was rewarding. For example, with the support of my supervisors and the team, I had greater responsibility on smaller matters and I successfully attended and completed a court hearing on my own.
During my first seat, Covid restrictions were still in place and opportunities to attend in-person events were extremely limited. Nevertheless I was exposed to and got involved in business development and marketing which offered useful perspective on aspects of a solicitor’s role beyond legal work alone.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first seat – both the team and the challenge and complexities of the work.
I have now started my Commercial Property seat in the Milton Keynes office. This seat is transactional rather than contentious and the team primarily focuses on landlord and tenant work so matters usually take weeks and months rather than years, as is often the case in Insolvency. Nonetheless, the skills I developed in my first seat such as organisation, accurate drafting and time management have proven useful and transferrable to my second seat where tasks include drafting leases and lease reports.
All Covid restrictions have now lifted which provides the opportunity to attend in-person events and to develop my networking skills, including with other young professionals in and around the Milton Keynes area. I am looking forward to further developing my skill set and knowledge during this seat.
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