On 4th July 2022 Tozers welcomed a work experience student for a one week in-person placement at our Exeter office. The week provided a useful insight into the workload of junior fee earners across a variety of contentious and non-contentious seats.
Breakdown of the week
The placement commenced on Monday in the Litigation & Employment Team with Jessica Whittick and Rachael Jones (both Trainee Solicitors). The team had received a new trade mark instruction and the first task involved conducting trade mark due diligence searches to check any existing marks on the IPO register and considering the trade mark use classes. The next task involved reviewing and amending a witness statement to understand the required format and the significance of the statement of truth. The day ended with a contentious will matter, discussing the process of contending a will (or responding) and the client care process.
The second day was spent in the Commercial Property Team with Oliver Kent (Trainee Solicitor). After reading an overview of the conveyancing process, the work experience student had the opportunity to draft a rent deposit deed for the grant of a lease. This was followed by a discussion about the process from agreement of heads of terms (which typically the agents handle), to instructing solicitors to draft the lease, and the process of deducing title. As the case involved the grant of an underlease, the added complexity of obtaining the superior landlord’s consent was discussed.
On Wednesday the work experience continued in the Parks Team. Georgia Pegler (Trainee Solicitor) led a review of booking terms and conditions and Park Rules which was followed by a traffic light grading system exercise. In the afternoon there was an informal discussion with the Trainees about CVs, career development and working at Tozers.
On Thursday the day was spent in the Registered Providers Team with Cory Stephenson (Trainee Solicitor). The day involved reading witness statements, the factual background of an existing housing possession file and drafting a Notice of Seeking Possession. A research task followed about how to draft a possession claim and the relevant court forms
The placement concluded on Friday with the Family Team. Bea Taylor (Solicitor) led a research task into no-fault divorce which was followed by the opportunity to draft a brief client guide on the topic. Financial disclosure, obtaining copies of a marriage certificate and Financial Consent Orders were considered before a practical exercise of providing draft advice to a client. The final task involved considering client instructions and drafting a letter to the other side to set out the client’s proposals for child contact arrangements.
What Tozers can offer students
Work experience placement at Tozers offers students the chance to:
- Add value to your CV
- Built links to junior fee earners
- Develop core legal skills and practical experience
- Explore a variety of practice areas to enhance your career development
Tozers offer two work experience placements per year. The next opportunity for a week-long work experience placement will be in October 2022 and applications for this are open now. Tozers welcome and encourage applications from students at all ages and levels. To find more information about the application, please click here.
