Chloe Payne, currently working as a legal secretary with Wake Smith’s family law team, tells us how you can’t beat being in a real legal working environment, to put you ahead of your fellow graduates in a competitive jobs market.
First class honours law graduate Chloe (23) said: “I am working at Wake Smith supporting Vicky Walker as a legal secretary. I want to go into family law and this six-month opportunity gives me the crucial insight into this type of law, to see what exactly goes on in the department, and be involved in how the department runs and the type of work they undertake.
“I want to be a paralegal in family law, then obtain a training contract but need to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC) first. This is the final vocational stage before commencing a training period to become a solicitor.
“The course is designed to provide a bridge between academic study and training in a law firm. It is a one-year, full-time course, but the tuition fees are expensive, so I’m saving hard.
“Gaining this experience at Wake Smith will hopefully set me apart from my competitors. I’m really enjoying seeing how the theory from university comes into practice in a working day. I’ve been dealing with the practical side of the job completing forms and dealing with court procedures and watching interviews. I’ve been office based so far but will be spending time on home visits and at hearings soon.
“I like the idea of helping people, who are very often under considerable emotional upheaval, and the team has taught me many skills so far. It’s fantastic to see how they speak with clients and make all the hard work seem effortless.
“It’s really interesting work and I love the relationship building the team does with the clients. They really get to know their clients and understand them. I will take all this experience with me into my future career.
Chloe is originally from Sheffield but travelled to Scandinavia as part of her law degree at the University of Leeds.
She added: “I graduated from the University of Leeds in July 2016 and for the third year of my degree I spent 12 months in Sweden at the University of Uppsala. I studied over there, completing the law modules, and finished a basic Swedish course, then came back to sit my final exams in the fourth year. It’s a difficult language and I picked up the basics but fortunately everyone over there speaks English.”
