Molly Bloom – Trainee Blog

March 2023

March has been my first month in my new seat - Company / Commercial and Employment. Everyone has been really welcoming and helpful. In terms of Corporate work, I have had experience drafting Board Minutes, Written Resolutions, Lost Share Certificate Indemnities and Stock Transfer Forms.

In the Employment department I have undertaken various research tasks based on areas such as the requirements of a redundancy pool, the impact of tax on settlement payments, how job roles can be implied into contracts of employment and the potentially fair reasons for dismissal under the category of Some Other Substantial Reason.

I have also had some work to do for the Charities department including drafting AP01 forms to appoint directors and TM01 forms for the termination of appointment of directors.

I am enjoying the varied work and looking forward to learning more across the different departments.

February 2023

February is my last month in the Property department and I cannot believe how quickly my time in my first seat of my training contract has gone. I have had a lot more varied experience in my final month of the Property seat and after having drafting various documents for a transfer and seeing the matter progress, it was exciting to have completed the transaction and deal with the post completion steps.

I have also attended a client meeting and been lucky to have the experience of sitting in 2 conference calls with Counsel to take notes in order to establish the next steps for the client to take. It was really interesting to see the detailed discussion on the intricacies of the law.

Further research tasks have centered around Stamp Duty Land Tax and whether any relief is available for these payments, researching the assignment provisions of an abstraction licence and the importance of determining which party is the “competent landlord” for the purposes of serving a s26 notice under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Drafting tasks have included a deed of release of restrictive covenants, a report on title to address any important aspects of the property which is being transferred and land registry forms for various applications.

I have really enjoyed my time in the Property department and am grateful for the wide ranging experience I have gained. I’m looking forward to starting my new seat next week in the company & commercial department.

January 2023

January has been another very busy month in the Property department and I have been involved with various transactions at different stages. I have been given the opportunity to draft different documents including transfers of part, overage agreements, a licence to assign and SDLT returns which are payable on completion of certain transactions. I have also drafted documents for land registry applications, including noting easements on a title and removing unilateral notices from the title.

I have undertaken different research on matters such as a Land Registry restriction in relation to the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, the removal of deeds of easements from title registers and the Review of Old Mines and Minerals Provisions and in what circumstances compensation may be payable under these provisions.

The Rollits Annual General Meeting was held at the MKM this month. This was a really good experience to work with other people in the firm who I have not had the chance to work with yet. It was good to be involved with everyone working towards promoting the positive culture at Rollits.

November 2022

November has been a busy month for me in the Property department. I have had various drafting and research exercises across the full department. Drafting exercises have included underleases, replies to requisition, TR1s, UT1 for the upgrade of title, statements of truth, client letters and a licence to assign. The research tasks have revolved around aspects such as SDLT payable on second properties, SDLT payable on the purchase of leasehold properties and the registration of car parking rights. I have also submitted local searches.

I have been lucky to see the progression of a purchase of a development site. With this I have been reviewing documents such as collateral warranties, drafting rent authority letters and learning about the structure of concurrent leases.

October 2022

I have been faced with a wider range of tasks in October in the Property Department. Much of my work has included drafting exercises, including a Licence to Assign, a Licence for Alterations, a contract for sale of a property subject to a lease and a tenancy and drafting lease reports. I have also drafted a TP1 form and had to consider the different covenants required. I have received useful feedback on these drafting exercises which I will be able to use in the upcoming months in the Property Department.

I have also spent some time drafting SDLT returns and calculating the SDLT due on different transactions. I spent some time researching this topic and watching a webinar on the different reliefs which could potentially be available in certain situations, as this is useful knowledge to have when dealing with property transactions.

Rollits had a ‘Wear It Pink’ day in October in support of the Breast Cancer Now Charity. A raffle was held and together we raised £240.

September 2022

I am coming to the end of my first month in the Property department and have already been given various tasks to complete. I have been assisting with a First Registration of land applications. This was a compulsory first registration since the ownership of the land was being transferred. The process of registering the land required me to draft different forms, including a First Registration, draft a document list, conduct a search of the index map and land charges searches. It was useful to see the process of a First Registration of land in practice after briefly studying it at University.

I have also carried out various research tasks regarding areas such as SDLT, the availability of Multiple Dwelling Relief and the required address for service of a notice to exclude the security of tenure provisions of LTA 1954. I have received useful feedback from these exercises to help me to improve my researching and drafting skills further in the future.

I have also attended a lunch and learn session on capital allowances and I am looking forward to the Employee Forum event at the end of the month, involving pizza at the office and a crazy golf competition to spend time with colleagues outside of the work environment.