Recruitment and Careers News

I’m Head of Department of the Private Client Team and a Partner here at Jacksons. I have a nice story when it comes to my career history; I first came to Jacksons on work experience in February 2010 having already completed my legal studies. Whilst I was here, I must have made a good impression, and I was offered a training contract to start just two months after. After I completed my training contract I qualified into Private Client and progressed into more senior positions within the department over the years. I was offered partnership last year. It’s a career history that really shows Jacksons’ commitment to developing and supporting people. People want to be able to move forward in their careers and it’s good to be in a firm that really encourages that.

It’s always been something that I’ve been interested in, which I think is quite unusual as it’s not particularly the most well-known area of law. I initially did a degree in English and then a law conversion course during which I did my electives in Private Client, so I covered a lot about Wills and Trusts. Whilst I did then spend time in other areas of law on my training contract, they just didn’t appeal to me as much as Private Client did.

There are really two things I like the most about Private Client. Firstly, it requires in depth technical knowledge. It’s heavily focused on the details which appeals to my meticulous nature, and it’s deeply rooted historically, which I always find fascinating.

The second is it’s dealing with people. It’s a very people focused side of the law. You get to meet a lot of clients and you really feel you get to know them which gives great job satisfaction. As part of the role you meet with families, build rapport, and usually not for a one-off service – you’re often building long standing relationships as their Solicitor, which I really enjoy. Private client covers a wide range of different practise areas; wills, trusts, estate, planning and probate. It’s never the same thing on your desk day in and day out and I like that.

Private Client spoke to me straight away. I was lucky enough to do a long stint in it when I was training, and I knew it was what I wanted to do. The whole ethos of it just fitted in with me personally. I always say to trainee solicitors that you’ve got to keep your mind open when you’re looking at what areas of law to do. It’s important to pick something that you’re genuinely interested in; then you’re going to be passionate about it and be dedicated to it. That’s important in any job, isn’t it? But I think it’s important in law for a long and successful career.

It’s difficult to identify a single reason. However, when I was thinking about this, I don’t know whether it’s because it isn’t as glamorous as other areas of the law or as much publicised. When you’re a law student or a trainee, when you think of being a Solicitor, you’re only really thinking of being in a court room, I think these non-contentious areas do go under the radar a little!

It’s a really rewarding area to work in. You’re dealing with people who want your help and advice, you are their trusted advisor and it’s a very positive client experience.

In terms of your legal development, there’s a lot of technical law involved and a lot of complexities to really get your teeth into. You’ve got a lot of opportunities to deal with marketing and business development, working with other professionals in other sectors, who compliment and develop your own work.

Sometimes people think it’s just drafting Wills, but it’s so much more! There are plenty of opportunities to develop your own specialism within Private Client for example, estate planning, agricultural, business, high net worth as well as opportunities to show creativity – to be able to do things a bit differently – and make your own mark on the way things are done.

In terms of the work, I would probably say estate administration. I’ve had a lot of complex estates over the years, where I’ve got to work with accountants and tax advisors in addition to the clients over a long period of time. It’s very interesting for me and always enhances my professional development; I like this collaborative approach.

I think the most challenging part is probably juggling everything! We’re quite a small department but we are wanting to grow. It’s coming up with new ideas and initiatives and balancing that with the day to day running of the department and looking after our clients. It’s good to be busy but you can come in with your to do list and then new things happen, and you’ve not ticked everything (or anything!) off that you wanted to that day!

For me personally, it’s quite simple, I like to do a good job and to do well at what I’m doing. I like to build relationships with my clients; getting positive feedback from them is really fulfilling for me as part of my job. In addition, I’m really motivated by managing my team. I’ve been in the department since I qualified, coming up 12 years now and it’s been important for me to develop myself, and others and grow the department. It’s really rewarding and motivating to bring people on this journey along with me and supporting them to build their own careers.

It’s been character building for me. I was given the opportunity to really step up to the plate in terms of working independently and be in a supervisory position quite early on in my career, I quite quickly became the most senior person in my team. Sometimes I do look back and wonder how I managed it! I think it’s full credit to the firm to allow that opportunity. Sometimes you have to be out of your comfort zone to see who you really are, I think that opportunity was formative and really kickstarted my career.

It was a big shift for me and very exciting, perhaps bigger than I had imagined because I’ve been a Head of Department for many years so considered myself to be in a leadership role. When I was offered partnership, it was a decision that I took seriously. It was not just a title to me, it’s a huge responsibility and commitment to the overall firm and its future. 

It’s hard to describe but it’s a transition from working ‘in’ the business to working ‘on’ the business. However, it’s been important for my career development to take that step. It’s a real change of mindset from just being focused on what you and your team are doing to thinking about it in the context of the overall firm.

I get to sit round the table and understand the wider workings of the firm and have a voice on business and the direction of the firm. It’s really opened my mind and I’ve grown quite a lot in the last year by taking in this bigger picture.

The achievement I’m most proud of is the professional development of the fantastic trainees, paralegals, and solicitors that I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years; to have even been just a small part of shaping their careers is my greatest achievement and such a huge part of my career satisfaction. It’s so rewarding to encourage more fee-earners in an area of law that I love – and in a sector where they are really in demand.

Without doubt, it was taking on responsibility for the department early on in my career. I managed to navigate that successfully with the support of the firm – and some exceptional secretaries and fee-earners who were always rooting for me! Looking back, it was a sink or swim moment for me in my career. I think a lot of us do suffer from imposter syndrome (and I probably still do to some extent!)  however, it’s an important lesson for other junior lawyers, to know you can do a lot more than you think you can do if you take that leap of faith!

I was made a Partner last year so that was a huge career milestone for me. However, I want to continue to grow the Private Client team at Jacksons and put us on the map as one of the best in the North-East.

That is a huge question for everyone, I think it is hard to switch off from work. Some of my most inspired thoughts come to me in the middle of the night! It’s important to allow yourself time to switch off though and with my team I like to lead by example; I don’t encourage people to feel like they must be seen to work on the evenings and weekends. 

I encourage my team to have a good work-life balance, to know that they can leave work and take a break. Although, sometimes additional work outside of standard hours is unavoidable as part and parcel of your career, it’s important that people do have their free time to recharge their batteries. At Jacksons we have a flexible working policy to help with our work-life balance. Also, we have recently introduced term time contracts to help solicitors better juggle with family life.

Personally, I find that on the days that I’m working in the office, my long drive home helps me to get things turned over in my head and switch off into off work mode for the evening. When I’m working from home, I think it’s important to have an end of the day, so I’ll usually get outside, go for a walk, to clear my head.

Working in law is a really rewarding career, both personally and professionally. It can be a lifelong career choice, with so many opportunities to continually grow within it, ultimately all within your own aspirations.

Explore all the opportunities out there because the traditional routes into the profession are changing. You can now do the Solicitor Apprenticeship route which means you are in the working law firm office environment from day one. Being straight into the ‘real world’ has so many learning advantages.

There are a lot of non-traditional routes into law, and you don’t necessarily have to have started out thinking you want to be a lawyer. I didn’t know I did when I went to university! We have a paralegal in our team who started out on a Business Apprenticeship working on our reception and is now doing her CILEX course which is an inspiring example.

I think it’s important to do work experience, to get a taste of things and demonstrate commitment to your career choice. Do any voluntary experience you can get, law firms, legal charities, etc. I spent time at the Citizens Advice Bureau. I think you must keep an open mind about your future career. Always be authentic to yourself but take on board any advice what other experienced people in the profession can give to you, as they have once walked in your shoes.