Trainee Solicitor to qualified Solicitor with Crombie Wilkinson

We are pleased to be able to share with you the blogs written by our staff, talking about their job role, working at our firm and career progression opportunities at Crombie Wilkinson Solicitors.

In this blog by Emma Campbell, Solicitor at Crombie Wilkinson, she talks about her time as a trainee solicitor and qualifying as a solicitor whilst working at Crombie Wilkinson and what her goals are moving forward.

She has demonstrated how our Values (#ClientCentred, #ContinuousImprovement, #Citizenship, #CommunityFocus) are embraced by us in our day to day roles and activity and why we all strive to deliver on the commitments in our #ServicePledge.

Thank you to Emma for continuing to share your career journey so far.

Trainee Solicitor to qualified Solicitor with Crombie Wilkinson

Training Contract

My Training Contract commenced in February 2021 and consisted of three seats in different areas: Family, Residential Property and Private Client. I learned about these different areas and most surprisingly to me, how they are all interconnected to each other. For example, during a Divorce you may need to sever a Joint Tenancy which the Private Client team can help with or transfer your property to a former spouse which the Residential Property team can assist with. Additionally, following a Divorce you may wish to update your Will which the Private Client team can help with. As a result of this, I was able to use the knowledge gained in my Family seat and Residential seat to assist colleagues and progress matters during my time in the Private Client department (#ContinuousImprovement).

One of the highlights of my Training Contract was the way I was treated as a key member of each team. I got to work with colleagues across the firm and I worked closely with my supervisors who supported me throughout my Training Contract (#Citizenship). This was something I really enjoyed. Working closely with my colleagues ensured that I was achieving the most out of my Training Contract and assisted me with my development from Trainee Solicitor to Solicitor.

Qualification

I qualified as a Solicitor in the Private Client team in February 2023. As my Training Contract continued, I was given more and more responsibility and so by the time it came to qualification, it became more of a seamless transition.

My time as a Trainee Solicitor in the Private Client team was very enjoyable and I quickly realized this was an area I would like to qualify in. I was able to work on a wide variety of different matters within this area to give me a true insight into what life as a Solicitor in the department would entail.

Prior to starting my Private Client seat, I was looking forward to it as this was an area that I had not worked in previously and my experience was limited to a module I had enjoyed studying as an elective on the LPC. The Private Client team worked closely with me to ensure I was able to develop my skills quickly and assist me with expanding my knowledge of the area. (#Citizenship #ContinuousImprovement).

Next steps and future goals

As a Solicitor in the Private Client team, I have now started running my own matters and also continued to assist other colleagues in the team with various different matters. I work with a great team and we all work together to ensure that we are providing a great service to our clients ((#Citizenship #Client Centered).

In the future, I will continue to develop my knowledge in this area. I have had the benefit of working closely with my colleagues on a variety of different Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Probate matters. These are areas I look forward to developing my knowledge of. In addition to this, I look forward to furthering my knowledge on the additional areas of the Private Client field and also furthering my understanding of the way we can assist charities and trusts and work with them to achieve their goals.

My colleagues at Crombie Wilkinson have been very supportive throughout the whole experience (#Citizenship). The firm also continue to encourage our professional development. We can look to achieve further qualifications and accreditations such as the SFE qualification which will be something that I will look into obtaining in the future (#ContinuousImprovement).

In readiness for preparing this blog, I reread the previous blogs I drafted throughout my Training Contract. Going into my Training Contract and throughout my training, I tried to remain open to the opportunities available to me and as a result of this, I feel that I got the most out of my Training Contract. The past two years have been a very enjoyable experience and it is hard to believe how far I have come. I was very grateful to be offered a role as Solicitor in the Private Client team upon qualification and I can really see how far I have grown and achieved with the help of those at Crombie Wilkinson. I am excited to see how I will continue to develop this as I further my career.