The Road to Qualification: My Training Journey at Thomas Flavell & Sons

I am currently a trainee solicitor at Thomas Flavell & Sons having started my training contract in December 2023. I am due to qualify as a solicitor in the Private Client team in June 2025. My route to qualification as a solicitor has followed the ‘traditional’ path:

1. Degree
2. Legal Practice Course
3. An 18-month period of recognised training
4. Professional Skills Course
5. Qualification as a Solicitor.

Typically, a training contract requires trainees to work for two years across contentious and non-contentious areas of law within a firm. Having worked as a paralegal prior to starting my training, this experience was taken into account which reduced my period of recognised training from two years to 18 months.

During the 18-month training period, I am required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to keep a record of my training. I keep a training log which records the tasks I complete, how I am meeting the SRA competencies and what I have learnt from completing the tasks. I have training log reviews with my training principal Jamie Connolly every three months. At each review, Jamie will assess the progress I am making and what further work is required to satisfy the SRA requirements.

The PSC is a course that trainees must complete during their period of recognised training. The PSC seeks to build upon the foundations laid by the Legal Practice Course (LPC). The PSC is made up of compulsory core modules (Advocacy & Communication Skills, Client Care & Professional Standards, and Financial and Business Skills) and 24 hours’ worth of electives. The only area on the PSC that is assessed & examined is the Financial and Business Skills module.

Throughout my training I have shadowed my colleagues Vijay Singh, Kate Deathridge, Philip Baldwin and Charlotte Jenkins in Private Client and Nicola Starbuck in Family. This has been an invaluable experience for me as I have been able to observe experienced legal professionals and learn from them. I was once told by a colleague “absorb everything like a sponge, you will learn so much”; they couldn’t have been more accurate. I have found it extremely useful to witness different working styles as I have taken bits of what I liked from each person and put this into practice myself to develop my own working style when managing my own files and seeing clients.

During my training I have been given a great deal of responsibility which has allowed me to grow in confidence and develop my client care and legal knowledge/skills. I am actively managing my own caseload and attending to my own clients. By having a supportive and encouraging network of professionals around me, I am always able to seek their guidance and advice when I have queries.

No two days are the same when it comes to my training as each case I work on is different. The various tasks I have carried out during my training include taking client instructions; drafting Wills, Codicils, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Probate applications (testate and intestate estates); administering an estate from start to finish which involves writing to asset providers to obtain date of death balances, closing accounts, settling liabilities, preparing estate accounts and distributing to beneficiaries; legal research and attending court.

I have enjoyed learning the importance of and value in building positive working relationships with clients as they are trusting you to support and guide them during difficult times in their lives. The role of trainee does also come with challenges, but it is crucial to not let such challenges get you down because ultimately you are still learning and your colleagues are there to steer you in the right direction. 

As I near the end of my period of recognised training, I look forward to completing the PSC, being able to apply for admission to the roll of solicitors and qualifying as a solicitor into our award-winning Private Client team.