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I had always known I wanted to pursue a career in law, however, I never knew what area of law I wanted to go into. Thanks to Lanyon Bowdler and their amazing support, I got a taste of what it was like to work in four different departments and experience as much as I could about what it was like to work in a law firm.
On my first day I was really nervous walking in having not met anyone yet and no idea what to expect, yet as soon as Alex came down to greet me I immediately knew I was going to love the next week. He came over with a smile, shook my hand and told me there was nothing to be nervous about. He was right. He led me up to the Personal Injury Department and introduced me to everyone there, they were all so lovely and were constantly checking up on me to see how I was doing throughout the day and made me feel so welcome.
The staff took time getting to know me and to understand what my knowledge of the law was so far, based on what I had learnt in college, so they could determine what work they could give me that was the perfect balance of not too easy, yet also still challenging. I was also surprised to see that I got to help out with real cases and help research important and beneficial information that would actually be used, so I got a true experience of what it was like to help out and work in the department. I was invited to the team meeting and was greeted and introduced by Dawn who made me feel extremely welcome throughout the day, and later on in the week as well, always smiling and saying hello and asking how I was, despite the fact I was no longer working in the Personal Injury Department.
I was also given the opportunity to look over past cases and come to my own conclusion on what I think should happen with the outcome, and I was then handed the actual outcome as to what happened, which I found really interesting, as I got to compare the two outcomes and see how different my thought process was to a professionals, which helped me further my understanding of the legal process as a whole.
On my second day I moved to the Marketing Department and, once again, was greeted with a comforting and welcoming smile from Vicki. Once I sat down at my desk and got myself comfortable I was greeted by Amanda and the three of us went to have talk about the plans for the day ahead and what my tasks were. I started off with the challenge of organising a charity quiz evening and learning just how much research goes into planning an event, finding venues, and contacting companies for donations. I used Canva to design my own poster and social media posts to advertise the event, and followed that up by drafting a letter to send off to the local small businesses that I researched asking them for raffle prize donations. I found it very useful as I got an accurate insight on how a day looks in the department and I really enjoyed it. Amanda showed me the new website and all the work that has been put into building it over the last year, that same website that you’re reading this from now.
On my third day I was working with Jenny in Corporate & Commercial and she was really lovely and accommodating as we worked together through what limited companies were and the pros and cons of them, she was extremely helpful and kept me busy with lots of interesting tasks and research which allowed me to get a fuller understanding of what it is like to work in corporate law.
When lunchtime came around I was greeted by the lovely Shai, who is a guide dog to a member of staff, and I got some cuddles off him… though I soon figured out he was more interested in the ham sandwich in my bag than getting fuss off me. Afterwards, Jenny proceeded to help me through work and explained all about how corporate law works; we ended the day researching actual companies and seeing the difference between directors and shareholders, and how to find out who the directors and shareholders are, and whether they owe any debts or not.
My final day on work experience was spent with Saffia in residential. She showed me examples of what mortgage agreements can look like and showed me some of the oldest agreements they had, dating all the way back to 1839! I was allowed to help with filing and listened to phone calls to see what an average day would look like. I found it all really interesting, especially getting to see the evolution of how mortgage agreements and banking has changed since the 1800s.
My week with Lanyon Bowdler was an amazing and knowledge filled one. I met and worked alongside amazing people who were always happy to help with any problems I had, and they were constantly making sure I was okay and enjoying my experience.
Lanyon Bowdler were extremely helpful right from the beginning, when I first sent an email asking for work experience, to the very end.
If you are interested in a career in law and maybe aren’t sure what area you want to go into like me, or even if you know exactly what area you want to go into, I highly recommend coming here for your work experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better week with better people. Everything was perfect and for that, I cannot thank them enough.
For more information regarding work experience please see our careers page.
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