It’s always rewarding to hear from alumni who can share an insight into their current role and career trajectory. In mid-October, we opened our “All you need is Law” series of online presentations with a brilliant input from Alison Howells who completed her traineeship with Lisa Rae and Co. Court Solicitors, Edinburgh, where she currently works as a family court solicitor. (Alison qualified just over a year ago).
Read on for a summary of Alison’s key messages…
Alison’s route to qualification
Alison graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an LLB and Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. She was always fairly confident that she wanted to practise family law because being a young carer for her brother who had special needs, they had support from family and private client solicitors throughout that process.
Although Alison didn’t have a traineeship lined up throughout her undergraduate degree or after her Diploma, she emphasised that there are plenty of opportunities out there following graduation. She noted most legal aid firms aren’t in a position to advertise two years in advance, so these opportunities are not advertised in the same way as those at bigger firms. However, this did not stop her career progression from moving fairly quickly:
- After the Diploma, she secured an administrative role with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. This was mostly administrative tasks, but it did give her an insight into criminal work and the opportunity to network with some of the legal profession.
- She was offered a paralegal post with another firm shortly after in the immigration department and spent around two months there.
- Alison was then offered a traineeship with Lisa Rae and Co, a family and child law legal aid firm. She saw that as the right opportunity for her and currently works there as a family court solicitor.
A broad range of experiences helped Alison identify where she wanted to go
- Whilst at university, although Alison was fairly certain that she wanted to do family law, she was also keen to explore other areas of law. She worked part-time throughout her undergraduate degree and Diploma in retail to help finance her studies. The transferable skills gained through interacting with customers has really helped her to engage with her clients.
- Alison attended Salzburg Private Law Summer School which the Law School offered to second and third year students. This encompassed some family law so that helped with understanding different jurisdictions approach to family law matters.
- She also did a summer internship with Digby Brown, a personal injury law firm, and undertook a few Forage virtual internships which were free and helped her gain an understanding of the commercial areas of law. These experiences helped her identify that these areas of law didn’t appeal to her in the same way family work did.
- Alison highlighted her volunteering experience at Family Journeys, a contact centre that helps families rebuild their relationships with children, was helpful to demonstrate to employers that she had a strong interest in family law.
- The Edinburgh Award (School of Law: Student Leaders version) also encouraged her to think and reflect on her experience and the skills learned which in turn helped with job applications.
Suggestions on building experience in court and family work
Alison noted that the best way to gain experience in court work, is to attend your local Sheriff Court. The criminal courts, on most occasions, are open to the public, and so is the family procedural court. She encouraged making speculative applications to firms who appear regularly on the court rolls and asking them if they are willing to provide work experience. You can have a look at the firms that are on the court rolls on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals website.
She also noted that administrative posts in smaller firms can be a good way to network with solicitors and could potentially be a route into longer term opportunities.
No two days are the same in Alison’s area of work!
Alison engages in a number of different areas of family and child law:
- Permanence and adoption – these are court proceedings designed to secure long term care arrangements for children out with their parents’ care.
- Section 11 orders – this involves representing parents and carers looking for legal orders regarding children’s care arrangements including contact and residence.
- Protective orders – Alison has an interest in domestic abuse and is signposted on the Scottish Women Rights website as a domestic abuse trained solicitor. She supports individuals to secure orders that protect them from abuse.
- Divorce and separation – this includes drafting post-separation agreements and raising divorce proceedings.
- Children’s hearings – these hearings are made up of trained panel members (lay people) that make decisions about children who are in need of support from the local authority. Alison often attends children’s hearings with parents and sometimes young people. She represents their views and puts forward their position to panel members.
Daily tasks are a mix of family work
Most of her work is court advocacy – Alison is in court every other day and attends different kinds of court hearings. These tend to be child welfare hearings which are slightly shorter hearings that are used to monitor care arrangements and resolve any issues arising from these. As part of the court process, Alison is required to draft a lot of court documents.
Alison also advises clients by explaining the legal framework in an understandable way. Her client basis is mostly legal aid clients, which often include clients from quite difficult circumstances. An important part of her role is managing their expectations for the court process and advising them of the likely outcome of the court process.
Alison’s work requires her to liaise with a wide variety of other professionals including solicitors, social workers, and child psychologists.
Most rewarding aspect of Alison’s role
- Helping people through what can be a very difficult time in their life.
- Securing a positive outcome for a client at a hearing.
- Providing clients with child-centred, realistic advice which means that even in cases where the client doesn’t get the outcome that they necessarily want, they have felt well supported throughout the process.
Advice for maintaining a work-life balance
It took the best part of Alison’s traineeship to find a good work-life balance. She noted that a lot of the pressure to work late comes internally, and that having a supportive employer and work environment has helped her to achieve a good work-life balance. It’s also important to create and diarise opportunities for yourself outside of work e.g. catching up with friends.
She advised that, there are occasions where you have to be prepared to work late, but that these are few and far between. She noted that a work-life balance is essential for ensuring that the work you produce is of a high quality.
Parting advice
Alison ended the session by noting the importance of using the opportunities available to you e.g. work experience and university societies to help you identify where your areas of interest lie and to use these to direct your career path accordingly.
Many thanks Alison.
Alison mentioned the importance of speculative applications – have a look at our advice on creating your own opportunity.
