Legal Work Placement Review

It was a virtual placement. Each day we had a welcome talk from the department we were with that day where they explained what they did and gave us the daily task that we needed to complete that day. We also had several talks each day about different areas of the firm such as welfare, diversity etc. We also had a “coffee catch up” each day with the sub department of the main department we were with that day where we got to learn a bit more about what they did.

I don’t think I learnt many skills during the placement except maybe time management. The majority of the days were spent sitting through talks that we were being given about the firm which didn’t allow for the growth of any skills. The daily tasks that we were set did involve high levels of time management however as we were not given enough time in the day to complete them meaning I had to really figure out how I was going to use my time effectively.

We were given many talks about the business which ended up becoming quite repetitive and boring as they often felt like time fillers rather than things we actually needed to know about the firm before joining that you couldn’t have found out on the firm’s website. We were not given that much information about the roles available or particularly what a trainee would actually end up doing as their day to day job once they started.

The general atmosphere of the firm was good in that each person we spoke to was very welcoming, helpful and seemed to want to be there which was nice to see. However I got the impression that the firm completely over works their trainees and takes advantage of them and that the culture of the firm is actually quite stressful. For example one of the partners noted that a bad trainee is one who leaves work on time and doesn’t stay around to ask for more work which in my opinion is ridiculous that they would be noted as being bad for not going out of their way to get more work (if you want someone to do more work then ask them to do it, don’t expect them to go round and try and get it themselves).

I did and I didn’t enjoy the insight. I found learning about what each department did very interesting and the opportunity to complete tasks that were similar to that which a trainee solicitor would do was a good opportunity. However, the many talks about the business ended up dragging on, and we were not given nearly enough time to complete the daily tasks which made the whole experience really quite stressful. All the people involved were lovely though.

Yes

I would say only apply to Irwin Mitchell (and all other law firms for that matter) if your absolutely certain that you want to be a solicitor above all else because only if it is your absolute dream to be a solicitor will you be okay with how much work they will give you and how much they expect of you. But if that is what you want then Irwin Mitchell has a lot of expertise in most personal legal service areas so if they’re the areas that you’re interested in then go for it.