Getting qualified – from TC to NQ

Being a trainee was great! You're the new kid, just starting out. You're allowed to find your feet, have a little extra time and are given a bit of slack.  You might even be afforded the benefit of the doubt, occasionally.   

On the whole, we are expected to work hard, be diligent, manage our work load and try not to insult clients, colleagues or Judges.  You should try and show a bit of initiative here and there - and even "commercial awareness" (knowing that things cost money and that client's also have things to do, other than speaking to their lawyers). 

B P Collins' trainees get nights out too - we actually have a trainee budget that can be splurged on beer, burgers and the like.  It's all good team bonding stuff.  

Alright, it's not that easy.  It's hard work and there's a steep learning curve. You can't just put your feet up and expect everything to be great. 

Trainees are expected to know the law and how to apply it.  At B P Collins I've had the benefit of great client contact from the outset and been given responsibility for important matters.  Clients rely on you to know what's going on – you're often their first port of call.  Even if your answer is "I should ask my supervisor about that one", it definitely keeps you on your toes and you feel like you actually matter.  Those burgers and beers are well-earned.

Towards the end of your two years you might even start feeling comfortable. You might even be "ready" for qualification.

But then you qualify.

The invites to those trainee events dry up, the social budget goes and you're actually expected to make your own friends.

It's time to demonstrate that you know exactly what costs how much, why, and whether that satisfies your detailed "cost-benefit analysis" that you've carried out and put onto the file (with an appropriately coloured tab flagging it, of course). 

Alright, it's not that bad.  The way our training seat rotations work (four seats of five months, and then a final four month seat in your qualifying practice group) means that I've had the benefit of spending a good amount of time in the litigation practice before I qualify there.  It has allowed me to settle in, build my case load, get to know the ongoing cases and work with my new supervising partner.  I've even learnt a few things and managed to broaden my experience.

The firm has also got an active social life; last week we gave a local professionals group a "jolly good thrashing" at cricket, and the football fixtures start in September. Then there's the firm drinks, the annual Easter egg hunt, and the B P Collins quiz for those who are less sportily-inclined.

Most importantly, I'm a Solicitor of England and Wales now; an officer of the Senior Courts (thank you very much).  But best of all, now I get to boss those pesky trainees around (milk, one sugar – thanks).

Posted by Simon Hall, trainee in the Litigation and Dispute resolution practice group.



Simon started his training contract in January 2012 and his experience includes working on shareholder and director disputes, contractual disputes, personal insolvency and consumer claims. 

How jurisdiction can affect a divorce

Since moving to the B P Collins LLP family practice group over three months ago, I have become very familiar with the procedure for divorce in the courts of England and Wales. 

Divorcing a spouse involves at least two simultaneous aspects: the financial settlement and the actual dissolution of the marriage, which is the divorce itself.  It is generally agreed amongst responsible practitioners that the dissolution of the marriage should be an uncontroversial process.  One spouse making unnecessarily critical allegations about the other in a divorce petition is not only unnecessary for a divorce to be processed, but could also be counterproductive when negotiating over finances, which is usually the pressing issue of the case.

It is often my job as a trainee to draft the initial divorce petition as, in the vast majority of cases, this is both straightforward and uncontested. However, while divorce proceedings are considered simple once they have begun, it can be trickier to determine where they should be started. 

Many of the firm's family clients have international connections, this may be because their spouse has a different nationality or some or all of their assets are based abroad. This may mean that more than one country could have jurisdiction to hear the divorce. Where a divorce is heard is significant because that country will usually also be where the finances are decided. There are very different approaches to finances on divorce even in jurisdictions that are geographically close (for example, England and Scotland). Therefore where to start the divorce takes on a wider significance as it is part of securing the most advantageous financial outcome for our clients.

The courts of England and Wales will either accept or refuse jurisdiction of a divorce petition and the way they decide this depends on whether the parties are habitually resident in the European Union (EU) or a non-EU jurisdiction. 

EU law governs where cases should be heard. Divorce cases are governed by the Brussels II bis Regulation.  The Regulation is binding in all EU states except Denmark and it says that, for most of the EU, jurisdiction will lie with the state of the couple’s habitual residence or of their nationality. However, if the English court is making the decision, nationality is not a relevant factor, jurisdiction will be decided by the state the couple is habitually resident or domiciled in.

Everyone is born with a domicile of origin. This is retained unless one acquires a domicile of choice in a different country.  To do this a person must sever all personal, social and economic links with their domicile of origin and demonstrate a definite and permanent intention to regard their new country of residence as their permanent home.

For non-EU divorce cases, again, the state in which the couple is habitually resident will have jurisdiction.  However, if either the petitioner or the respondent is domiciled here, the court of England and Wales will accept jurisdiction.

In both regimes a “first past the post” system is in place, meaning that the country in which divorce proceedings are first issued will have jurisdiction of the proceedings. Sometimes this can lead to a “race” between lawyers in different countries who are rushing to lodge their papers with their court first.

This in particular can be problematic for English wives who are living abroad or are married to a person of foreign nationality because perhaps they could be subject to less favourable proceedings in other countries if their husband issues his petition in a foreign territory first.

I have learnt that this complicated area makes it all the more important for separating individuals with foreign connections to take legal advice at the earliest possible stage and for lawyers to act quickly where the circumstances dictate.  

Posted by Matthew Crockford, trainee in the family practice.

Matthew started his training contract with B P Collins LLP in January 2012. He graduated in 2010 from The University of East Anglia with a 2:1 (Hons) in Law before moving on to the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice to study the LPC, achieving a Distinction. In his spare time Matthew enjoys playing football (mostly 5-a-side) and watching Tottenham Hotspur FC whenever possible.  Interestingly he used to be in a heavy metal band, but grew out of the idea!

To buy or not to buy?

As a trainee in the Property practice group, I have been involved with many residential transactions including sales, purchases and lease extensions. All this work is making me wonder if I should be trying to buy a property rather than spending my money on rent. Although it seems like a good idea, I am faced with a problem which many of my peers are also facing: where do I find the cash for a deposit?

Recently, I was involved with a client who was looking to purchase a new property with the help of the government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme. In its current format, purchasers can buy a property with a 5-10% deposit and a 90-95% loan-to-value mortgage. Lenders will provide such a high percentage of the value because the government is providing some protection for the lender in the event that the property is repossessed and the lender cannot recover the full amount of its loan. At the moment, the scheme is only available for the purchase of new-build properties and there are some other restrictions.

One of the aims of NewBuy is to get first-time buyers on the property ladder and help others climb up it. Although many people may be able to afford mortgage repayments, they are not always in a position to put down a hefty deposit. Having spent thousands of pounds on university fees, the GDL and the LPC, it is not surprising that even though most of the trainee solicitors I know are earning a decent salary they are not in a position to buy a house.

The scheme is one of a number introduced by the government which is trying to get the residential property market moving. The government has also introduced shared ownership schemes and equity loans to help more people access the property market. From 1 January 2014 the government are introducing a new initiative called the Help To Buy mortgage guarantee scheme. This will be available for both new-builds and existing properties up to a value of £600,000.

Lenders have welcomed this addition to the Help To Buy home ownership schemes but worries have been expressed that it will artificially inflate house prices to the detriment of buyers. There are also potential losses ahead for purchasers of new-builds who are not looking to stay in their property for a long time: a premium is often paid for new properties which may not be recoverable if the property is sold in the short term.

However, the number of people using the government schemes is considerably fewer than predicted: only 1,500 new homes were sold through the NewBuy scheme in the first nine months but the government's target was 100,000. I certainly haven't come across many clients in my Property seat looking to take advantage of the schemes.

All this property work is certainly making me think more seriously about buying a house. I suppose I'd better start saving!

Posted by Harriet Betteridge, trainee in the property practice group.

Harriet started her training contract in September 2012 having previously worked in the Litigation team as a paralegal. Her previous experience includes working at a group of law centres in south London and in the Legal, Compliance and Risk team at the Charities Aid Foundation.

A day in the life of a corporate and commercial trainee

Having selected the Corporate and Commercial practice group as my final training seat it has been a rewarding experience to begin honing the skills I will now need throughout my career. My days as a trainee in CoCom vary between corporate transactional work designed to test the sharpest mind, to researching caselaw for three of the six partners within the practice group. And before you ask, CoCom is short for Corporate and Commercial in the B P Collins dictionary.

After my regular morning catch up with partner Vicky Holland, my trainee supervisor, I begin my day by checking my emails. From the emails, I identify action points and prioritise tasks in relation to the matters I am assisting with.

 My first task is to review due diligence information provided by our client on a business sale. As an integral part of the transaction, I will present my findings to and discuss my thoughts with both the partner and associate working on the transaction later today. These transactions are particularly document heavy so those three little words that you heard so often at law school, “attention to detail”, play an important role in the due diligence process.

The practice group is always actively searching for new opportunities and tomorrow, in partnership with NatWest Bank, CoCom partners Diane Yarrow and Simon Deans will host an important pharmaceutical and healthcare sector lunch with key companies in the local area. Lunches like these require a lot of planning and research. Both partners will need to be briefed on who they will be meeting, which areas of the sector each business deals with and how we could potentially assist.

Maintaining and cultivating key contacts within corporate circles is one of the most important parts of any commercial law practice and the firm prides itself on adding value to our client’s businesses at every stage of a businesses growth cycle. The industry analysis is a nice break from the lengthy documents I had been reading and the timing (before lunch) is fortuitous.

One of the many perks of training here is that we are given a good amount of responsibility and client contact. The telephone rings regularly with urgent requests from fee earners in the practice group and across the firm. These requests often mean that I get to speak directly with clients and this morning is no exception as a senior associate asks me to make an application to restore a company that has been struck off. The matter is time sensitive so I will need to draft the application and supporting witness statement for approval this afternoon. I will have to send the documents to court today. My colleague informs me that, in relation to distinct parts of the matter, I am the client’s point of contact.

I spend the rest of the afternoon discussing my progress with several fee earners who have assigned me tasks to complete throughout the day, before I begin to draft a tripartite investment agreement and ancillary documents for one of the partners.

As everyone slowly starts to slip out of the office, to complete my day I usually file appropriate forms with Companies House and update some company books. Before I can head off home, I check returned dictations for accuracy and finalise any letters before filing emails and correspondence.

Posted by Araba Amissah-Arthur, trainee in the corporate and commercial practice group

Araba joined the firm as a trainee in September 2011. She graduated from the University of Warwick with a BA (Hons) in Politics and International Studies and completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School in London. She then worked as a consultant in a national Employment Tribunal representation service for three years.

Do you really own your address book?

What happens when an employee resigns from a company to either set up on their own or to join a competitor?

Employers must be aware that knowledge and client databases built up by an employee during their employment could potentially be very damaging to their businesses future.

Employees may think they have a right to take with them any contacts built up through the course of their employment this, however, is not the case. The key point is when the relationship between the employee and client started. If it was through the course of their employment, then the employer is most likely actually the owner of the information.

In businesses where information, such as client databases, are the key to their success, employers should protect themselves by ensuring they have a very well drafted contract to prevent employees from using the potentially damaging information should they resign and move to a competitor.

Both employers and employees should carefully consider the extent of restrictions contained within their contracts and the implications of these restrictions. It is very likely that employers will have a contract drafted which prevents employees from competing should they leave the company.

The employer cannot impose unlimited restrictions on an employee as this would be thrown out if challenged through the courts. Restrictions must be considered reasonable and it is common to find a restriction within a contract preventing an employee from competing with their previous employers for three to six months after their departure. Whether the restriction will be regarded as reasonable will largely depend on the nature of the work but there are also many other factors that will need to be considered.

This blog ties in well with Simon Hall's previous post about social networking sites, especially LinkedIn. Despite being able to have a LinkedIn profile whether or not you are currently employed, if an employee has built up their contacts on LinkedIn due to a policy enforced by the employer (therefore, through the course of business), it can be argued that the employee has no right to this information upon their resignation from the company.

If an employee fails to abide by their contract and carries out an action such as contacting clients from their previous firm, there is the option to apply to the court for an injunction to prevent the employee from continuing with this act, thus enforcing the restrictive covenants within their contract.

The employment group at B P Collins can advise individuals as to the extent and implications of such restrictions within their contracts and can also assist employers in drafting a water tight contract. In the event that ex employees still attempt to use the information gathered in the course of business prior to resigning, our team can also advise in relation to injunction proceedings.

Posted by Gemma Hunter, trainee in the Employment law practice group.



Gemma started her training contract with the firm in October 2011 having studied Law and Criminolgy LLB at the University of Sheffield and the LPC at the College of Law, Bloomsbury.

Should will-writing services be regulated?

In February this year, the Legal Services Board (LSB) made a recommendation to the Lord Chancellor that will-writing should be regulated. This, the LSB claims, would reduce the “significant risks” that consumers face when using will-writing services.

However, the body has not recommended that estate administration or probate activities be regulated. There is also no intention to restrict or regulate individuals wishing to act for themselves or wishing to provide free advice to help others.

The LSB claims that it has “found comprehensive evidence that the market is working contrary to the statutory regulatory objectives outlined in the Legal Services Act 2007 and to the detriment of consumers and providers alike”.

If the Lord Chancellor accepts the recommendation, then consumers of all will-writing service providers will have a means of redress by way of access to the Legal Ombudsman. Research undertaken suggests that around two million wills are written each year, of which around 85% of wills are drafted by professionals.

There is currently no restriction on who can provide will-writing services meaning that there is an inconsistent level of protection for consumers. Some will-writers are regulated by their membership of professional bodies (for example, the SRA for solicitors); other professionals have joined voluntary regulatory schemes (the Institute of Professional Willwriters); but some will-writers are not regulated at all.  In addition, although all solicitors must be covered by professional negligence insurance, the same is not true of all other providers of will-writing services.

Research found that one in every five wills examined, failed because of being ineffective, inadequate or not achieving what the testator wanted. Problems with wills are often not discovered until the testator has died making it harder for such problems to be resolved. The LSB further claims that unregulated will-writers are selling consumers unnecessary, inappropriate or ineffective products and that their services represent poor value for money.

The body believes that by making will-writing regulated a more level playing field for traditional law firms and new providers will be created. It also believes it will support the wider objective of encouraging more people to write wills.

The Law Society reacted positively to the LSB’s recommendation but does not think it goes far enough. It is campaigning for estate administration and power of attorney services to be regulated as well as will-writing. Richard Roberts, the chair of the wills and equity committee, recently commented that he “[doesn’t] think people understand just how vulnerable the recently bereaved can be”.

Until I undertook my seat in the Private Client practice group, I did not appreciate how easy it is to prepare a will for a client which fails to deliver what the client wants. I think it is vital that all will-writers have comprehensive knowledge, training and expertise to write wills. Making will-writing a regulated activity will help to ensure that every person that makes a new will can rest assured that it will effect their clients wishes as desired.  

The Lord Chancellor has until May to decide whether to accept the LSB’s recommendations. If accepted, changes would come into force in 2015.

Here at B P Collins LLP we are committed to providing high quality legal services to our clients. If you are interested in making a will or wish to review your current will, please contact our Private Client practice group.

Posted by Harriet Betteridge, trainee in the private client practice.

Harriet started her training contract in September 2012 having previously worked in the Litigation team as a paralegal. Her previous experience includes working at a group of law centres in south London and in the Legal, Compliance and Risk team at the Charities Aid Foundation.

Costs under the Jackson Reforms

In my first seat in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group, I have been given a great deal of responsibility in my day-to-day duties from attending application hearings in the High Court to drafting witness statements and particulars of claim.

During this brief time what has become apparent is a lawyer's fixation with costs, ensuring that they are on budget. A focus that has become necessary in this age of austerity where clients are ever more concerned with receiving value for money.

The position with legal costs is set to change dramatically from 1^st April 2013 when the first of the Jackson proposals are set to be implemented in an effort to tackle common concerns about legal costs.

The headline of these reforms is the shift away from Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) or more commonly known as 'no win, no fee' agreements that have dominated certain areas of the legal marketplace in the last decade, not to mention television adverts.

The intended successor to the CFA is the Damage Based Agreement (DBA) in which solicitors and barristers claim fees from the damages that their clients recover in successful cases. The fees are therefore dependant upon the success of their client's case. The rationale behind this new arrangement, which has already been piloted in employment tribunal cases, is to incentivise law firms to undertake work where the client has no means to fund the case but the promise of potentially large rewards.

However, the chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Charles Plant has voiced concerns that there is a risk of firms becoming potentially over-exposed to DBAs and thereby financially unstable. He confirmed that it is unlikely that the Code of Conduct will need to be amended but reminded firms that the SRA has the power to go into firms and review these agreements; in particular he commented that supervisory reviews in relation to DBAs are likely. The hope is that this will prevent lawyers from pursuing unsound business models.

Lord Jackson hopes that these reforms will redress the balance in terms of legal costs, ensuring that parties are on a more equal footing. This reform can also be seen as part of an overall scheme to boost access to justice, especially in the current climate of legal aid cuts and tighter public funding.

Here at B P Collins LLP we are committed to providing high quality legal services to our clients but also offering them a range of flexible funding options tailored to their requirements.

Posted by Benjamin McQueenie, trainee in the litigation and dispute resolution practice group. 



Benjamin started his training contract in November 2012. He previously worked as a paralegal within the litigation departments of two well-known Bristol firms, as well as a seasonaire in the French Alps.