A day in the life of a Trainee Solicitor at Pannone LLP

Lucy Dawson
Pannone LLP

8.15am - I like to arrive in the office early for an hour of peace before the phone starts to ring! The first thing I do is make a cup of tea, and read my emails. I am on the firm's social committee, and this morning I have a few emails about a social event I am helping to organise at Chester Races this summer.

I am in my final seat and due to qualify into the commercial team within the corporate department of the firm. I look at my to-do list and start to prioritise my jobs for the day.

9.30am - I meet with my supervisor, who updates me on the various matters I am assisting him with, and we discuss what needs to be done today.

10.15am - I email an agency agreement I have drafted to a client to review, and he calls me back almost immediately to ask me to make some amendments to it. My client met with his MD yesterday and the terms of the agreement have changed. I redraft the agreement, and email it to him with a covering note.

12.30pm - I make a telephone call to a client who is the in-house counsel for a large company, under whose supervision I spent 9 months on secondment. The secondment was a fantastic way to gain very broad commercial experience, and I spent my time working on matters as diverse as employment, commercial litigation, drafting and negotiating supply and marketing agreements, sponsorship agreements, commercial property leases, advising on regulatory matters, corporate disposals... you name it!

1.00pm - At lunchtime, I attend a seminar given by two of the partners in our commercial litigation department about cross border jurisdiction issues. As with a lot of the in-house training sessions the firm provides, the seminar is useful for the non-contentious lawyers in the firm as well as the litigators. The bonus of lunchtime seminars is the free lunch!

2.00pm - I attend a meeting with my supervisor and two clients who require an assessment of their legal position prior to a meeting they have with a major supplier tomorrow. The contract involves some £2m of business so the clients need a watertight understanding of their contract. They leave the meeting feeling satisfied with their legal position and content that they are in a good negotiating position.

4.15pm - I exchange telephone calls and emails with a solicitor at a London firm who is advising the business partner of one of our clients who is retiring from a partnership. The transaction is due to complete this week, and there are a couple of outstanding issues which we discuss in detail.

6.00pm - I leave the office to go to the leaving do of a colleague who is going on maternity leave. Lots of people from the firm are there, and it is a nice way to catch up with friends I have not seen for a while. Pannone is a friendly place, and as a trainee it is good to move seats, not only for the work experience, but because it enables you to constantly meet new people.