I’m originally from Leicester and I moved to London in 2017 to start my Law degree at King’s College London.
I graduated from university in 2020 and was initially unsure about the career I wanted to pursue. Later that year, I began a teacher training course in Citizenship at the UCL Institute of Education, graduating in the summer of 2021 with QTS.
I got my first graduate job as a teacher at a Sixth Form in West London delivering the A Level and BTEC Law curriculum. After a year there, I decided that, while I loved teaching, I wanted to try law in practice. In 2022, I accepted an offer of a training contract at Kennedys in its London office.
What is your current role and how long have you been at Kennedys for?
I am currently an SQE Trainee in the Serious and Catastrophic Injury team in London. I started in September 2022 and have been working in the same team since I joined.
The team I work in deal with a wide variety of defendant personal injury matters, including employers and public liability claims. We act primarily for insurer clients in investigating liability, assisting in pre-litigation matters, and conducting litigation once legal proceedings have been served.
As I’m on the SQE pathway, I am also studying for the SQE exams while I work. I get one study day every week and work the remaining four days. I am due to sit SQE1 in July this year (which has come around scarily quickly!) and, all being well, will sit SQE2 in October, with a view to qualifying as a Solicitor in early 2025.
What inspired you to apply to Kennedys?
I really liked the idea of the SQE Training Contracts that Kennedys offers. I was acutely aware when applying to training contracts at other firms that offered the traditional rotational contracts (where you change seats every six months) that I may have to do seats in areas that I did not enjoy or was not interested in.
I knew that I was looking for more experience in litigation, in particular in the personal injury space, and so this pathway ticked the box perfectly. Kennedys also has a stellar reputation in this field, has a strong client base with interesting work, and is located in the heart of the City.
Practically, the SQE pathway at Kennedys also appealed to me as it was a more cost-effective and accessible route into law. At the time of applying, I was working in a full-time profession on full time pay and taking a year out, even with a maintenance grant, to do the LPC would not have been a financially viable option. This way, I get qualified, receive on the job experience, and get paid to do it.
What has been the single most important thing you learnt so far in your job?
You learn so many things in a training contract, it is near impossible to name just one.
One of the most important things is not to always chase perfection as a trainee. While you should always strive to complete work to a high standard and to the best of your ability, you won’t be a perfect and fully formed lawyer from the get-go. It is perfectly fine to make mistakes as long as you are proactive about taking feedback on board and learn from it.
As part of development as a trainee, it is also important to build connections with those around you, including your trainee cohort, direct supervisors and anyone else that works in the firm. A lot of skills and knowledge can be learnt by osmosis and tapping into the knowledge and experience of others. This collegiate way of working is one thing I think Kennedys is very good at and is something that really attracted me to the firm.
Finally, I would say that balance is important and this all comes down to managing your time. Long hours sometimes come with the job, however it is important to take time for yourself and take a break from work.
What would a ‘normal’ day look like for someone in your role?
I would say generally that no two days are the same but typically a day would usually start by checking your inbox and setting yourself up with tasks for the day. This could be assisting on research, drafting instructions to Counsel, interviewing witnesses and drafting witness statements or reporting back to the client.
The work here is varied and there is an implicit level of trust in the relationship between trainees and their fee earners which means that you can often take on significant responsibility from the get-go.
What do you find most interesting with the sector/industry you’re in?
I love working in my current team at Kennedys primarily because I enjoy litigation. It can often be a time-pressured environment and requires you to employ a variety of skills such as negotiation, advocacy and legal drafting, and you really develop a commercial way of thinking in order to secure the best outcome for your clients.
Working in the personal injury space also has the added dimension of dealing with the broad spectrum of legal scenarios which can arise from human behaviour. No two cases, Claimants, or Defendants are alike.
What is the company culture like?
I would say that the best word that describes Kennedys would be “collegiate”. There is a strong knowledge-sharing culture at the firm which encourages lawyers to ask questions of each other and to seek out opportunities to develop knowledge and skills further. A key driver for this is the approachability of those who work at all levels of the firm.
How important is diversity to you and what is Kennedys doing in this space at the moment?
This is something that is, and has always been, important to me as an openly gay man. Kennedys has a variety of affinity networks who work to maintain a diverse and inclusive environment within the firm. I am part of the Kennedys Rainbow Network and it is a great way to meet and connect with people across the firm, not just in the UK but globally as well.
Finally, any tips for anyone who’d like to apply to Kennedys?
Know your stuff. Make sure you know what Kennedys is about: what kind of work we do, who our clients are, our main competitors, what our ethos and values are, and – most importantly – why this means that you would be the best fit for the firm and vice versa.
I would also say, for those taking a non-conventional route into law, don’t be put off by the fact you may not have much legal work experience. I came from teaching into my training contract having never undertaken any work experience in a law firm. The key thing to think about is the skills that you have acquired through your experiences, legal or otherwise, and how these have prepared you to take on the roles and responsibilities of a trainee solicitor.