Peer Support
Lousha Bryl, Solicitor
On your first day in the firm you
will be allocated a "buddy" who is a second year trainee and is
intended to be a first point of contact for any informal queries
you have. This can be invaluable as it takes a lot of nerve to
ask the Senior Associate next to you how to use the
photocopier. I think it is also useful to have someone to whom
you can explain a concern or a mistake. It is reassuring to
know that they have so recently been in exactly the same
position.
In my second year of training,
I was a "buddy" to a first year in a seat that I had done. I
think this made the relationship even more useful as we had dealt
with the same clients. I could understand how new it all was -
especially if it’s a subject you haven’t studied at degree or LPC
level.
In general though, there is a close
support network in each department. I was a paralegal prior to my
training contract and so I made a lot of friends who were
qualified as solicitors in different departments during my
training and they were able to provide a lot of support
too.