The first 100 days of a new Trainee Regional Partner

At the end of January 2020 Eve Piffaretti, Head of the Cardiff Office, sent an email to the Partners advertising role of Trainee Regional Partner (TRP) for Wales.

We have TRPs in each of our four regions and their role includes supporting the Training Principal in terms of the SRA requirements, assisting with graduate recruitment, assisting with seat reviews and ensuring that supervision of trainees is appropriate but also to provide support and guidance to the trainees.  We all have different specialisms, mine being employment law. I have been with the firm for 22 years.

When I saw the email I immediately contacted Eve to tell her I was interested and was fortunate enough to be appointed. I had always taken an active role in the recruitment and development of our trainees from early on in my career, it is such an important part of the growth and development of a law firm.  Trainees are the future partners of the firm after all and it is always great to see trainees develop, grow, progress and succeed with us.

As an employment lawyer, and through my experiences in my career I have come across some good, some great and some not so great supervisors. I took the best bits from my positive experiences but the negative experiences also shaped me as a lawyer.  I pride myself on being a very open, approachable and friendly person.  I want our trainees to be the very best they can be and develop into not just great technical lawyers but importantly straightforward, commercially astute, well rounded and committed team players.

Let’s not forget the social side of things as our Cardiff office is a very sociable office. Having fun and socialising with colleagues is so important and our trainees are often leading the charge in that regard.  Sporting events, choirs, quizzes, monthly office drinks, baking competitions and our events with our nominated charities of the year are an important part of the life and culture of our firm.

So I took up post on the first of March with energy, enthusiasm and was ready to hit the ground running, oblivious (as we all were) to what was about to hit us – coronavirus. Barely managing to warm my seat as TRP we were hit with the new world of social distancing, hand sanitiser and people stockpiling toilet roll!  Then came lockdown, working from home, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Fortunately we had issued all staff with laptops last year so were able to mobilise quickly and make sure that everyone was safely working from home and only coming into the office if absolutely necessary. Now more than ever communication is crucial and we have all had to adapt very quickly to the new way of working.

Ensuring that adequate levels of suitable work are being issued to our trainees and then providing support and supervision remotely was a new concept to us all but one we have all adapted to. Whilst it is far from an ideal situation for our trainees, or in fact any of our staff, holding seat reviews on a Microsoft Teams meeting rather than face to face, holding social events on Zoom and sending weekly emails with the trainees to check in on them, rather than a quick catch up over a coffee, has become the norm.

There has understandably been concern about the longer term impact of coronavirus on trainee recruitment in the sector, LPC examinations, possible extension of training contracts and impact on qualification. It is important to ensure that we are in regular communication with our existing trainees and the recruits scheduled to start with the firm in September 2020 and 2021 to ensure that they are being properly supported both from a professional and pastoral perspective.

When it is safe to do so and Boris gives the green light, I am looking forward to a return to office work and whatever the “new norm” will be.  In the meantime the way in which our trainees have adapted to the new way of working is a credit to them.  I have been really impressed with the maturity, professionalism and strength of character demonstrated by all of our trainees as we go through unchartered territory (aka the “coronacoaster”) together.