My name is Tom and I have just finished my A-levels -one being in Law. I wanted to learn more about what a legal career involves.
I found out about Kidwells through my college and was eager to start my week of work experience with them.
During my time here at Kidwells I learned about several topics of law such as HR and Employment Law, Family Law, Contract Law, Immigration Law and Contested Probate Law. As someone who has had a keen interest in a career in Law over the past years, this week has been an eye opener with the amount and standard of work expected from the legal profession.
Introduction
My first day was an introductory day with Kate Wargen, the practice director. She went over the structure of the business and how it was different to a traditional solicitor’s firm. Kate also explained the individual roles of the employees. The receptionist, Di Rogers, gave me a tour of the offices to meet the employees who were all friendly and welcoming.
The rest of the day I prepared documents for scanning. The company is aiming to be almost paperless by the end of the year.
During my time that day I was to learn about the importance of client confidentiality. Di explained about the process she has to go through when being contacted by a client to ensure that the Data Protection laws are being adhered to.
HR and Employment Law
On my second day at Kidwells, the main topic was HR and Employment Law. I was given a case that Kate was involved with, between a charity and the employees. It gave me an appreciation for the nature of cases; on how they can be long, complex and tedious. I had to do further research on the Laws of Employment and find relevant case law to reach a decision.
This was followed by a discrimination and dismissal case that had been created by Kidwells. I was given questions to answer, but was also tasked with making possible questions that the parties may ask each other, and also counter questions and possible answers. This was a positive experience, as it provided me with an opportunity into how Solicitors form their argument. I also had to think of all possible counter arguments that the Parties could use.
Day three and four
The third day started with a Lease Contract made by Lisa Shocker. This provided me with an understanding on the provisions that a contract must follow. The importance of carefully reading a contract to ensure it follows said provisions was highlighted. This was followed with a case about a dispute over a father’s will. It showed just how costly these cases can be for parties involved. In this case there had been multiple court orders.
I was then introduced to Family Law via a complex case that was still ongoing.
The fourth day started off with further research into Kidwells, specifically the standards it had to follow, set out by Lexcel. Following this I had an immigration case to look into.
Immigration Law
My last day at Kidwells started with the continuation of the immigration case from the previous day. I had to research relevant immigration Laws on the case. It highlighted the overlap between different areas of Law. As in this case Immigration Law and Human Rights Law.
Overall, my time at Kidwells has been invaluable. Before I came on my work experience I had no real picture of what the work of a legal profession was. I had done an A-level in Law which only provides the theory of Law and I did not learn about the practical side of a Solicitor or Barrister.
All the staff were welcoming and would answer or clarify any problems I had. I would highly recommend work experience at Kidwells if anyone has a serious interest to learn more about a possible future career in Law.
Tom Doyle
If you would like to know more about joining us on work experience please get in touch.
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