A day in the life of a Commercial Property trainee – Trainee Blog

I am currently splitting my time between working in the office and at home on a 50/50 basis. This began mostly because of COVID-19 but I find it is best suited to me. I balance seeing my colleagues in the office as well as enjoying the easier commute to my kitchen table. On this particular day I am in the office.

I normally arrive and log on between 8:30 and 8:45am to check my emails and prepare my to do list, whilst sipping my first coffee of the day.

My first task is drafting a Lease and Licence for Alterations; this takes most of my morning and is particularly interesting as it is a lease of a mixed residential and commercial property. I am coming towards the end of this seat now and it is usual for my supervisor to send me the heads of terms to consider and prepare a first draft from before he reviews. It is positive that he often only makes a few minor amendments to my first draft.

Late morning, I have a weekly meeting with my other supervising partner; we discuss my workload and review the work I have undertaken on other matters. I am lucky to have been given the responsibility of running a few of my own files with the oversight and supervision of the partner. To my delight they are content with my amendments to a Licence for Alterations and we agree a plan for seeking clarification on a few points from the client and then going back to the other side with the draft. Following the meeting, I follow-up on the action points and email the client.

After lunch I make a call to a client who has agreed to grant a right of way over industrial land to the owner of an adjoining property. We discuss the extent of the boundaries and other rights to ensure there is no encroachment as a result of the grant. Following the call, I make some amendments to the Deed of Easement and send the draft to my supervisor for approval.

Next, I receive a requisition from the Land Registry on a file; I check with my supervisor that my proposed response is correct and respond to the requisition with the evidence required.

I am assisting my supervisor on a complicated intragroup transfer of property, and have been tasked with reviewing the lender’s requirements, preparing the lender documentation and preparing a short report on any potential issues.

Straight after, I am recording an Ask Machins podcast with a colleague in my cohort covering our training contract experience and how we are feeling as we approach our final seat. It is interesting to reflect on what we have learnt and to compare and contrast our experiences – make sure to give it a listen if you are looking for some advice as a prospective trainee!

Finally, I tick off a few administrative tasks including some file management and follow up emails to the other side on a few outstanding matters before reviewing my worklist and logging off for the day at around 5:45pm.