Secondment as a Solicitor apprentice

In our fifth episode, join our two solicitor apprentices, Kalay Mayan and Helin Kaya, as they discuss what secondments are with Helin sharing first-hand insights from her own experience.

This episode covers:

• What a secondment is
• What secondment is like as a solicitor apprentice

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Note: All information was correct at the time of recording.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello and welcome back to Ask an Apprentice. I am Kalay Mayan, a third year solicitor apprentice in the competition team at Bristos. As a solicitor apprentice at Bristol's, there may be an opportunity to undertake a client secondment for up to six months. This episode will explain what secondments are, the purpose of them, and what you can expect as an apprentice. Today I am joined by my fellow apprentice, Helen Kaya, who recently completed a six-month-long circumvent. Helen, could you give us a little bit of background into your journey, please?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yes, of course. So I started this license apprenticeship program in 2023 at Bristows, and since then I have rotated through a range of departments from IP litigation and commercial disputes to corporate. But more relevant to today's episode, I recently had the opportunity to spend six months on a client secondment as part of my seat rotations. Client secondments can be incredibly beneficial for apprentices for a number of reasons, which we'll be exploring in more detail throughout this episode.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Thanks, Helen. So let's start right at the beginning. For anyone who might not be familiar with the concept of secondments, could you tell us what secondments actually are and why apprentices or other legal professionals go on secondments as part of their training?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yes, so to put it simply, a secondment is a temporary arrangement where, for example, an apprentice will work for another organization for a period of time, typically lasting from three to twelve months. As training lawyers, this is an incredibly beneficial experience to take on different responsibilities and step outside of your usual role.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Great. So you mentioned in your introduction that you completed a client's economment. Could you explain what a client's accompaniment means specifically?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yes, so this just means that I worked at the offices of one of Bristol's clients and joined their in-house legal team. A client's economment provides benefits on multiple levels. The business gains an additional resource within its legal team. The firm strengthens its relationship with the client, and you benefit personally through valuable professional development. It gives first hand insight into how the businesses you provide legal advice to operate, the challenges they face, and the commercial context behind the matters you support. You quickly realize that your work as an apprentice in a law firm is really only one piece to a much bigger puzzle. Clients are often juggling multiple priorities, and the law is just one of the many factors that fits into the puzzle. Therefore, gaining visibility into their day-to-day operations, workflows, pressures, and the factors behind their decisions will help you and your team at your law firm to deliver more relevant, tailored, and genuinely valuable advice.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

So now that we have established what a second is and the benefits it can provide, could you share a bit of your own experience? Specifically, what was the second experience like for you? And did it match what you had expected, especially early in your career as an apprentice?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Starting a second at a different stage in my career, one that wasn't the typical trainee or qualified solicitor, I wondered how my experience would compare to trainees and associates I had spoken to before starting. However, reflecting on my experience, I found that coming in as an apprentice has actually been quite the advantage. It gave me the freedom to ask questions, approach things with a fresh perspective, and most importantly, to shape my experience by taking initiative and putting myself forward for tasks I thought I could provide assistance on. The legal team that you'll be joining might not know exactly what you can do, so putting yourself forward for work and communicating with your team can really help to shape your experience. And being proactive will be far more important than where you are in your career or your job title. So I think the experience I hope to have is the experience I ended up getting. And joining a friendly and supportive team, not just the legal team, but the wider business made the experience incredibly smooth.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I definitely agree with needing to be proactive. It may be an organization's first time with an apprentice in their team. And so being proactive and going for tasks that you think you can assist with can definitely help with shaping your own development. It would also be interesting to hear the specific responsibilities and work you had, the opportunity to get involved with during your time on Secondment.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yes, so during my time on Secondment, I had the chance to get involved in a really broad range of work. A large part of my role focused on contract management and drafting, as well as liaising with teams across the business to support their legal needs, whether that was assisting with preparing new agreements, renewing existing ones, or carrying out legal risk assessments on marketing copy in line with the relevant authorities' requirements. I also had the opportunity to lead several long-term projects, which involved communicating directly with external stakeholders and also carrying out legal research to help answer more complex questions. So overall, there was a real variety in my work, also including some exposure to litigation, which made the experience engaging. Going on Secondment gives really hands-on responsibility and involvement that really helps with the development and confidence of apprentices early in their careers.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Branching off from this, it would also be interesting to know the specific skills you developed during your time on secondment and to know how they have benefited you after your secondment now being back at Vistos.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

One of the biggest learning points, which I also slightly touched on at the start, came from legal research I was doing. At that point in my career, my legal research was only often very focused purely on the law itself. But early in my secondment, I realized that in-house teams need advice that is not only accurate but also practical. So I had to learn how to balance the legal position with what was realistic and workable for the teams I was supporting. Another key skill I developed was both written and verbal communication. I would often have to communicate with people across the business or outside of the business to individuals who didn't have a legal background, or other times I was communicating to the legal team and team meetings and delivering presentations. This really pushed me to adapt my communication style depending on who I was speaking to.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Now onto how seconds fit with the general structure of an apprenticeship programme. We know that solicitor apprentices spend one day a week at university, whether that is to attend lectures, complete assignments, or study for an exam. Did being on Secondman make any difference to how you balanced your studies? For example, did it affect how you managed to take your study day once a week?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

No, not at all. I didn't feel it made much difference to the structure of my apprenticeship program at all. One of the constants of the Solicitor Apprenticeship Program is that your study day is protected. That one day a week, as you said, is dedicated to university work. My team on Secondment was incredibly supportive of that. So I still had my study day each week, and I could also take study leave in the lead up to an exam as normal. So in that sense, the balance between work and university stayed very much the same.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

That's good to hear. Study days are very important to stay on track with university, and it's great that your study day was communicated to your team on secondment. Now, on to my final question. How was the culture and social life on your secondment?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

During my secondment, there were lots of social events happening, and I was always included and encouraged to join in. My secondment happened to fall over the Christmas period as well, so I was able to go along to firm-wide Christmas parties and team lunches. This was a great way to get to know people outside of their day-to-day work. There was also plenty of events aimed specifically at juniors in the company, which made it really easy to feel part of the wider culture. So overall, I definitely felt very involved.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

That's great. Being included in the social side of things can make such a difference to the overall experience, especially during this economy where the environment can feel very new and different. Well, that brings us to the end of this episode. Thank you so much, Helen, for sharing your experience. It was incredibly insightful, and I am sure that our listeners will find it very helpful.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Thank you, Kalai. And if any listeners to this podcast is interested in an apprenticeship and wants to find out more, then follow our Instagram page at Bristos Apprenticeships to find out more and to ask any questions you may have. Thanks for listening.