Trainee Blog – Samantha Pullen

Samantha is a second year trainee at Rollits in Hull.

Samantha's current seat is in the Company & Commercial Department.

Below, she gives us her account of what it is like to be a trainee, along with her blog about life at Rollits!

December 2011 / January 2012

It has continued to be quite busy in the Corporate and Commercial department these last two months. In the few days between Christmas and New Year the office was very quiet as most people took a few days off. During this time I managed to do a lot of smaller tasks such as update my trainee diary and book the remaining modules of my Professional Skills Course.

The PSC course involves a number of compulsory modules and four days of elective modules. In March of last year I completed the compulsory modules and now just have four days of electives to complete. I have chosen a range of electives, all of which are at the College of Law in York throughout the next few months.

November 2011

The end of November marks the halfway point of our current seats. The Corporate and Commercial department has been much busier these last few weeks and I have been involved in many matters from drafting of documents such as sale and purchase agreements through to research on specific points of law and preparation of advice notes for our clients. I have also attended a few client meetings this month, it is great to initially meet the clients to take instructions or to review the terms of the agreement that has been discussed with them.

October 2011

This month I have been more involved in the different work that the corporate department deals with. In particular I have incorporated a couple of companies online and prepared their statutory books, I have also filed various documents relating to matters such as the change of directors and secretaries as well as change of registered address and accounting dates. I have also carried out a few company searches which involves obtaining information from Companies House, collating, reporting and summarising it.

September 2011

I have recently started my third seat which is in the Company & Commercial Department. I have been looking forward to starting this seat as I enjoyed studying the company law modules at university and also on the LPC. So far I have drafted and prepared various documents including stock transfer forms, board minutes, statutory books and Companies House Forms. Although I have only been in this department for a short time I am finding the work very interesting and am looking forward to the rest of my time in this seat. The beginning of September also marked the start of my second year as a trainee at Rollits and three new trainees joined the firm. This last year has flown by and it doesn't seem that long since I was nervously arriving on my first day.

August 2011

The end of this month marks not only the end of my Property seat but also the end of my first year at Rollits. It certainly doesn't seem like a year since I was looking forward to starting my training contract.

My next seat is in the Company Commercial department and at the minute I am busy preparing to move. Part of moving seats involves getting the files that I have been working on as up to date as possible and ensuring that any documents or forms required in the near future have been drafted. It also involves preparing handover memos to ensure that the fee earner whose file it is knows what work I have done and whether there are any deadlines or important points that they need to be aware of.

June / July 2011

I am now approaching the final month of my seat in the Commercial Property department. Once again this last month has flown by! I am beginning to see some matters through to their completion which I have found very rewarding. This month I have seen the completion of leases and also the completion of a purchase of agricultural property. Being involved in a matter from start to finish also goes to demonstrate how all the individual elements of a transaction fit into the entire process.

May 2011

I am now half way through my seat in the Property Department and May has been another busy month. I have been both assisting other lawyers by doing individual tasks such as the completion of SDLT returns, drafting and sending various applications to the Land Registry and proof reading leases and other documents. But I have also been more involved in the day to day running of some files such as the Voluntary First Registration of land at the Land Registry and matters to be dealt with post-completion.

I also attended the College of Law Leavers’ Fair in York earlier this month alongside Mark Dixon and Richard Stirk to represent Rollits. It was nice to meet those who have completed their LPC’s and are now looking for training contracts and be available to answer questions about what it is like working at Rollits from a trainees perspective. A few people also mentioned that they recognised me from the photo on this blog!

April 2011

I have now been in the Property Department for almost 2 months. This month I have been doing such a wide range of work. I have been asked to conduct various research tasks, from looking into the law the affects mines and minerals through to researching case law on the use of a specific clause within a lease. I have also been involved in preparing and sending many applications to the Land Registry and liaising with them with regard to those applications. It has been interesting to see how land and property law which I learnt at University and on the LPC applies in practice.

March 2011

This month I have moved to Property to commence my second seat. I was told prior to moving that it would be like starting an entirely new job and it has been.

Jonathan and I have been out of the office quite a few days this month on the Professional Skills Course. We have done the three core modules which have involved taking part in a mock trial and acting as both an advocate and also as a witness to give us a feel as to what it is like to cross examine and to be cross examined in court. It was also a good opportunity to meet other trainees in Hull and the surrounding area and to listen to their experiences in both their training contracts and firms.

February 2011

This was my final month in the Private Capital department and it has passed really quickly. I have continued to build on the skills I have learnt so far and it is rewarding to be able to progress a more complex matter and to know what the next steps are and how best to achieve them. On the LPC I didn't pick any modules applicable to private client work and the only experience I had of trusts was the compulsory trusts module at university. Based on my limited knowledge of this work prior to starting my training contract it is nice to have gained such an understanding and I have really enjoyed the work in the Private Capital department.

January 2011

We're at the end of January already and Christmas seems like months and months ago. There is less than 5 weeks to go before we move to our second seats. Although we do not know which department we will be in next I am looking forward to being involved in a whole different area of work. This past month I have continued to be involved in a variety of work in the Private Capital department. I feel as though I have learnt a lot from the different types of work that we deal with and how we can best advise our clients as to the effects that our advice may have, such as property or tax implications.

December 2010

This month I have continued to be involved in a wide range of matters, from writing and amending Wills to obtaining a Grant of Probate and assisting in the administration of an estate.

A sometimes lengthy task that I have done a few times recently is to review files. With probate files this means ensuring that we have all the information required and to consider what else we have to do and the next steps needed to progress.

Once again, this month has passed really quickly and Christmas is less than a week away!

November 2010

It’s nearly the end of November and we’re already halfway through our current seats. It seems strange to think that it has been 3 months since Jonathan and I started our training contracts and that in a further 3 months we will be starting a new seat in a different department.

In Private Capital I have continued to enjoy the work and increasing am being expected to know what to do and the next steps required to progress the matter. Thinking back to when I started this seat I have already learnt so much and have already been involved in many various matters that this department is involved in.

October 2010

I started my training contract at Rollits at the beginning of September and these past few weeks have flown by. My first seat is in Private Capital, which at the Hull office is a relatively small department. When I initially heard that my first seat would be in Private Capital I was a little apprehensive because it wasn’t really a subject that I had covered on the LPC but since starting the seat I have thoroughly enjoyed the work and have learnt a great deal relating to the work that the department is involved in. I have been involved in a wide range of work, such as attending client meetings, research on specific points of law and drafting wills and various other documents according to the client’s instructions.

From the very first day I have been made to feel like part of the team. Everyone is really friendly and approachable and if I am unsure of anything then I know I can ask. After just a few weeks here I feel as though I am settling in well and am looking forward to the rest of my training contract at Rollits.