FARRER & CO LLP
searches. Supervised, of course; but these are all aspects of the job they will do once they qualify – it’s real work. We’re not big enough to recruit trainees for mundane jobs, so they play a vital role in making transactions work. In a big sale, trainees will help coordinate responses.” “It’s all about early responsibility,” Kate continues. “We let them run their own cases, make their own mistakes – hopefully not too many – but it’s the only way to learn. We have interesting and diverse work for high-profile clients. We make our trainees contact these clients directly and get involved. There’s nothing like that for learning.” And learning is just what happens in practice. Alyson describes how she was in court by the third day of her first seat, learning how to bundle. “You get stuck in really quickly,” she enthuses. “There were just two trainees in the family law team, so there was no room to coast. One day towards the end of the seat, I was in court from nine until nine, working through a settlement. I was sitting with the solicitor and the client, helping to prepare paperwork and write the settlement – I knew I was really part of the team. And the client expects this – if the solicitor is in court, then I’m the person they’re going to contact. In my residential property seat, I was managing my own case files, in charge of whole transactions from beginning to end. It was very intimidating at the beginning and very empowering towards the end.” Given this fast pace, it makes sense that the firm has layers of support in place. As well as their training
level,” Alyson explains; “someone who’s seeing the big picture, over and above the individual seat. We have coffee every couple of weeks, email check-ins, breakfast meetings – my supervisor also gets involved in mid-seat and final seat assessments. It’s great to have that; it’s almost like pastoral care.” As a result of this concerted support effort, most issues are identified and addressed at an early stage. “We don’t tend to let things stay bottled up,” Paul confirms. “It can happen, but it doesn’t last – word gets out. And the supervisors are generally very good at spotting when trouble’s brewing.” Kate agrees wholeheartedly: “I expect and know that trainees don’t hesitate to approach people in the team. Everyone knows that trainees are our investment in the future.” Given that Farrers has only a small intake – 10 a year – this is a significant investment of resources. But then again, this is a firm with the experience to know what works. Kate notes that when it comes to recruiting, it is not just about obtaining the best individuals, but how they fit together as a unit. “We believe in organic growth,” she explains. “The strategy is to take a core bunch of people who get on well and then invest in them. It helps to build a strong horizontal network, which provides glue throughout the firm. So 10 years down the line, a partner in the corporate department might know they have a good friend in the property department, because they were trainees together.” Those bonds certainly seem to be working in Alyson’s case. “My intake
principal, trainees can turn to their seat supervisors, Donna Davies and Claire Roche in the graduate recruitment team or their ‘buddy’ – a solicitor who is a couple of years qualified and can appreciate what the trainees are going through. In addition, each trainee is paired with a partner who acts as a mentor throughout the whole training contract. “It’s supervision at a higher jobs, so they play a vital role in making transactions work We’re not big enough to recruit trainees for mundane
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