Day 1
I was placed in the Property Law Department. Morning was very
quiet as the Partner who I was paired with was in and out of
meetings. I did some proof reading for a Senior Solicitor and was
given a tour around the building by a trainee there. He also showed
me the project he was working on.
Day 2
I was given a bundle of the new Competition EU Law paper and its
effects on Land Law agreements by a Junior Solicitor who asked me
to summarise and type it up into a readable document. I attended a
Brief meeting where the Senior solicitor and the Junior solicitor
updated the Partner about the big cases they were working on.
I was given research tasks to conduct. The first being to
research who the Land once belonging to The Docklands Development
Corporation now belongs to and to find the statutory instruments or
sections which evidences the transfer of that land to the new
existing authority. I had to use all the skills from PLR to carry
this research out, which proved to be very handy. I used Westlaw,
Lawtel and Lexus. I was able to find the answer and this proved
useful for the Mills & Reeves client who were seeking planning
permission for building development.
Day 3
I worked on the second research task I was given which was to
define Barring the Entail principle, find out what it is, the
history, how it can be conducted today. This was historical Land
Law principle. I then emailed this to the solicitors on the team
for them to understand the principle for relevant cases the
principle may apply to. I also conducted a bit of research on Fire
Regulations as the Property team need it as they work on deals
which involve historical buildings in Cambridge that are in close
proximity to each other. I then checked a few lease rent
calculations.
The Partner in the team I was in gave me a task to conduct and
told me to give him the answer by the end of the week.
Day 4
I worked on the task given to me on Wednesday which I wanted to
do well on so that I could prove that I am capable of doing the
work that was assigned to me by the Partner. It was a complaint
regarding trees being chopped down and burnt in bonfires. I was
given the whole file which included various documentation including
the title deed. I found a covenant which related to this and an old
planning permission which made reference to trees being preserved
whilst development on the land is carried out. I researched the
relevant local authority website and found that there are Tree
Preservation Orders that exist in that area as well as conservation
areas. I conducted a TPO search on the address of our client and
found there were none in that area and the land was not within the
conservation area. Having done the research on my own initiative I
checked the answer that I came up with the trainee there.
In addition, I helped the Senior Solicitor search for some
architect drawings in archive boxes for a case that had been
reopened since 2006. I managed to find them which was good. I also
helped proof read a lease agreement. I read some of the pages on
the Law Gazette as well.
Day 5
I conducted a bit of research on the English Monarch for the
Junior Solicitor who was dealing with a title deed which included a
covenant which referred to '…the king living today and his
descendants..' which was dated 1920 May. So I had to find who the
King was in 1920 and if he has any living descendants…incidentally
it was King George V 
I had an early finish on Friday and was spoken to by the Partner
before I left. I was taken to the meeting room with him and the
trainee in that department as the task I was given was to be handed
over to him. I gave my feedback for the task and the Partner was
quite impressed. He said that there was very little more for the
trainee to add. I was impressed myself considering I have not yet
started Property Law.
So yeah, overall a very good and interesting experience for me.
Would recommend it to any other student, especially if like me you
have not had experience working in a law firm. It puts things into
perspective.