| Your
training contract is divided into 6 seats of 4 months duration.
Your first 4 seats should be spent within separate groups,
one to be selected from each of the following categories:
Commercial
Property
- Commercial
Property
- Property
Support
Corporate/Commercial
- Banking
& Insolvency
- Commerce/Competition
- Corporate
- Pensions
Private/Institutional
Contentious
- Banking Disputes
- Commercial
Disputes Management
- Employment
- Intellectual
Property
"Four
month seats ensure plenty of variety, plenty of choice
and plenty of exposure across the firm. They are a
great way of getting as much of a variety of work
as possible, and if you decide the work isn't for
you then you don't waste time in that particular seat,
on the other hand if you do enjoy it you can repeat
that seat and gain more experience in that particular
department. I think it is an excellent idea as people
have pre-formed ideas of the type of work which they
will enjoy, when in practice the work may be quite
different from studying the subject at law college.
The MJ rotation system gives people a chance to see
that and perhaps qualify into an area they would not
have originally chosen."
Helen Tringham, Trainee Solicitor
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"The great thing about training at MJ is the fact that there are 6 different seats, each of 4 months in duration instead of the standard 4 seats of 6 months in duration. For those who are unsure about what areas may be of interest, this is of great benefit. Even for those who are set on a particular area of practice, seats can be doubled up so you could spend 8 months, either sequentially or otherwise, working in your preferred area.
Personally I have found this type of rotation very beneficial. It is great just to get a flavour of the diverse areas of practice on offer. While you may feel sometimes that just when you are getting the hang of a seat you find yourself having to move on, the key thing to remember is that this is a 'training period' and there will be plenty of time down the line to decide on areas in which to concentrate and specialise. If anything, this system may open your eyes up to an area of practice you had never previously considered.
So far, I have done seats in Banking, Commercial Property and Banking Litigation all of which have helped me to develop professionally and personally. Banking is always a busy seat and while you may only play a smaller part in handling files than in other seats, the size of the deals makes this understandable and even the smallest involvement can be very exciting. A seat in Property is the polar opposite as you will be expected to run many smaller files simultaneously which can range from lease and licence negotations to plot sales and occasionally large scale development projects. Banking Litigation is very similar to Property in terms of file handling and the work is an exciting mixture of mortgage repossessions, bank charges claims and occasionally the odd bit of corporate fraud."
Peter
Mayhew, Trainee Solicitor |
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