Why our Lawyers wanted to work in Law Q&A

February 28, 2019

We participated in a special 100th anniversary Solicitors Chat today on Twitter answering questions about how our Lawyers entered the legal profession and what being a Lawyer means to them.

Read their responses below:

1. What made you decide to become a solicitor?

We asked our Child Care Solicitor, Jess O’Shea, what made her want to become a Solicitor. Jess said “From a young age I always knew I wanted to become a Solicitor. The Law and the legal profession have always interested me. Upon working within the childcare department I knew I wanted to work closely with people who may be struggling within the community, but who needed support and legal advice during one of the most harrowing times of their lives. Everyone deserves fair representation.”

2. What route did you follow into the profession?

We asked our Trainee Legal Executive, Lucy Watson, what route she followed into Law. Lucy said “After completing my Law degree I obtained a role as an employment paralegal. I completed my LPC part time whilst working as a paralegal and then decided to follow the CILEx route due to my length of experience in employment law.”

3. What has been the highlight of your legal career so far?

We asked our Education Solicitor, Robert Love, what the highlight of his career has been so far (he has been a Solicitor for 33 years and counting!). Robert said “I was involved in R v The Secretary of State for Education and Science, ex parte E [1992] 1 FLR 377 CA acting for the applicant. This case established that a Statement of Special Educational Needs (now an EHC Plan) should be very specific both in terms of identification of the child’s special educational needs and level of educational provision required to address each and every need.

The Judge referred to Part 2 of the Statement of SEN (now Section B of an EHC plan) which should be the equivalent of a doctor’s diagnosis and Part 3 (now Section F of an EHC Plan) should be the prescription to the diagnosis. This is still current law.”

4. What do you think makes a solicitor’s advice so valuable?

We asked our Chartered Legal Executive, Janine Guthrie, what she thought makes a Lawyers advice so valuable. Janine said “We are thoroughly trained and rigorously tested in our knowledge of the Law, so you will be receiving the most up to date expert advice. We are all regulated by an independent body (SRA or in my case, CiLEX) to ensure that we all act in an ethical and professional manner. But above all, we have dealt with the same or a very similar issue to the one that you have, so will have experience in how to handle the situation.”

5. What does being a solicitor mean to you?

We asked our Commercial Property Solicitor, Laurence Lucas, what being a Solicitor meant to him. Laurence said “The role of the solicitor is one which provides the opportunity to develop close working relationships with other professionals and clients alike. This goes a long way to ensuring that clients end up with the best achievable result which in itself is extremely satisfying.

Every day produces fresh challenges and the opportunity to find solutions to problems which arise in the real commercial world. Being a commercial property solicitor might be stressful at times but, at the same time, it is an occupation which can be extremely rewarding. The intellectual challenge of commercial property work and the inherent variation within it are such that time in the office rarely feels like work – a true vocation.”