Commercial
Hands-on experience Samantha enjoyed her training contract and found the experience at a smaller firm “really hands-on. During my seat in the insurance litigation team, for example, I had my own caseload of 30 to 40 files that ran from beginning to end – this gave me insight into the realities of the job.” Partially due to her experience as a trainee, Samantha established an expertise in insurance because her first firm did “lots of work with insurers”. So, when she made the transition to qualify at Gowling she did so into the “professional indemnity team” where she conducted “professional negligence work, but often for the insurers, as well as looking at policy coverage issues” which she’s since continued to build on. To dispute or not dispute As Samantha qualified and her work evolved, Gowling itself grew “and became more international. I’m doing much larger, more complicated disputes for a broader range of clients, including international clients, which is both interesting and higher value”. Now Samantha’s role involves helping clients, where possible, “to avoid a dispute, but in the event that a dispute arises, we help them to resolve it as quickly and cost effectively as possible”. Meanwhile, her day-to-day work “can be anything from receiving a large contract from a commercial colleague and looking through the dispute resolution clause or liability provisions to see whether it works from a litigation perspective in the event that the parties end up in a dispute; to a client asking us to review a contract to identify who’s in the right and what arguments should be deployed; or a client instructing us to sue another party – in which case, we’ll take it right from day one to trial if necessary”.
Commercial lawyers help businesses trade and work on a wide range of commercial agreements dealing with the manufacture, sale, supply and distribution of goods and services, as well as identifying and establishing the best routes to market, which could be via an agency, distribution or franchise model. Recently, there’s been increased focus on e-commerce, online sales and software agreements. The work involves advising clients on the best trade arrangements, drafting, negotiating and signing off contracts, assisting with the day-to-day running of commercial business and advising on new products. Commercial law is often a key component in other projects and touches many areas of law, making it a highly varied legal arena. Before starting her training contract, Samantha Holland wasn’t set on becoming a litigator which she put down partly to a lack of confidence. However, her training contract at Cartwrights confirmed otherwise: “Litigation made sense. I like the fact that there’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer.” Now a commercial litigation partner at Gowling WLG, Samantha looks back on her route into the profession, which began when she was 17. A year ahead in her studies, she went to the University of Bristol to study law before completing her Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College of Law, Chester. Without a training contract following her LPC, she “ended up working on a public enquiry with the North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal as an assistant to the solicitor of the tribunal”. She secured a training contract in 1998, three years after finishing her LPC, at medium- sized firm Cartwrights in Bristol. Samantha then explored alternative opportunities before qualifying as a solicitor with Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co, now Gowling.
Understanding the commercial issues surrounding the client is critical. “Clients don’t
For more firms that work in this practice area, please use the ‘Training contract regional indexes’.
124
THE LAWCAREERS.NET HANDBOOK
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online