A day in the life of a Family Law trainee – Trainee Blog

7:30am: I’m usually in the office two or three days a week, and although I’m at home today I tend to get started at a reasonable time to stay in a good routine. After a shower, breakfast and a quick flick through the news I’m ready to log on.

8:45am: I fire up my laptop and check my emails to see if there is anything urgent that has come in overnight. I review my to-do list and add anything that needs to be done.

9:00am: I start drafting a position statement for my supervisor ahead of a hearing in the next few days. This involves an element of research into the law in this area, specifically when a court may order a stay on a Decree Nisi becoming Absolute (a conditional divorce order becoming final). I also locate an old file where a similar statement was prepared and use this as a precedent, before finalising the draft and sending it on to my supervisor for checking.

10:00am: We have our daily team catch-up via Zoom. Everyone in the family department logs on whenever they can, to discuss workloads, issues with cases and anything else. It’s a great way to keep in touch with colleagues and ask for advice on any issues, particularly given that we are in the office on a less regular basis due to COVID.

10:20am: I receive an email from a client asking for some advice so I give him a call to discuss. He’s completing a Form E (a standard financial statement used in divorce and financial proceedings) and would like me to help run through a few things with him. I chat to him about the form for 20 minutes or so and explain the next steps in the court process, and he says he’ll send an updated version over to me when he can.

11:00am: Time for my weekly zoom meeting with my supervisor and his secretary. We use this time to talk about workloads and how everything is progressing, as well as any upcoming hearings and where we are ahead of those. I’ve completed a few bits of work in the last couple of days so we talk through a few new tasks and the background information for each case.  

11:30am: My supervisor has asked me to sit in on a directions hearing with him on another case. This is held via Microsoft Teams so I put a shirt, jacket and tie on (keeping my tracksuit bottoms off-camera under the desk, obviously). I’ve worked a fair bit on this file over the last few months so I’m familiar with the client and their case.  I take a note of the parties’ submissions and the judge’s comments, together with any orders he makes. After the hearing I type these up into a formal note and send this to my supervisor.     

12:30pm: I have a few amendments to make to a bundle for the hearing next week. With most hearings taking place remotely at the moment, I’m saved from photocopying and battling with a lever arch file and it’s just a few minutes amending the index and rearranging a PDF instead. I then file this with the court and send it to our client and the other side.

1:00pm: Time for lunch! I normally try to get out at lunchtime and need a few things from the supermarket, so I head out and treat myself to a sausage bap on the way home.

2:00pm: One of the other solicitors in the department has an initial meeting with a new client and has asked me to sit in. The client’s husband has issued divorce proceedings and she wants some initial advice about the process and how it will affect her finances and children. The meeting lasts about an hour and a half and I take a note of the assets and relevant issues throughout, before preparing a note summarising the issues and advice which will be sent to the client afterwards.

4:00pm: I have a meeting booked in to record a podcast for our Ask Machins series, chatting with a couple of the other trainees and discuss our experiences in our first seats. After a few of the inevitable technical difficulties this runs a little late, but we stay on the call to have a catch-up afterwards. It’s a bit harder to keep in touch due to remote working so again it’s nice to see some friendly faces.

4:45pm: One of my supervisor’s cases has settled outside of court so he’s asked me to draft a consent order reflecting the terms of the agreement. I have drafted a similar order previously so I use this as the basis, and log on to a legal resource for some extra precedent clauses. I also draft a letter to the client explaining the effect of each clause, and ask them to give me a call if anything is unclear. Once both the order and letter are finalised I send these over to my supervisor for checking.

6:00pm: Time for one last check of my emails. I set myself a couple of calendar reminders for tomorrow and update my to-do list before logging off for the day.