A day in the life of a Trainee Solicitor

Maria Koukou, Trainee Solicitor at Olliers describes her journey into law and a ‘typical’ day as a trainee at a busy criminal defence firm 

My journey to law has not been completely straightforward. It started with me getting my bachelor’s degree in law and then a Master’s degree in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, however, I did not go into doing the Legal Practice Course (LPC) or Training Contract straight after. I had a detour into a completely different industry for almost four years. This was not intentional, but I got to experience working life and developed my communication skills which are now essential to my work as a Trainee Solicitor. 

After completing the LPC which I funded myself, I shortlisted law firms in the Manchester area that practise criminal defence, Olliers being at the top of that list. When a position in the litigation support team became available, I applied and secured an interview. I was then offered the job which I did for around eight months, before joining the DBS department as a paralegal. In that role, I had my own workload, took clients’ instructions and drafted representations as to why clients should not be placed on the DBS barred lists or why their record of arrest ought to be removed from Police National Computer (PNC) records. When dealing with a DBS appeal, I had the honour of attending the appeal hearing at the Upper Tribunal in London. 

I have now been a Trainee Solicitor for almost a year and I’ve been involved in many different practice areas that Olliers specialise in. Most of the work I’ve been involved in has been in the Crown Court both for my own cases and colleagues’ cases that I have assisted on. I have attended many different types of hearings in the two local Manchester Crown Courts (Crown Square and Minshull Street) as well as other courts in the country including Bolton, Stafford and even Isleworth. I’ve attended initial hearings when clients entered their plea, multiple week-long trials, sentence hearings and everything in between. In doing so, I have met many barristers from different chambers and have been able to watch their brilliant work as advocates. 

I have also been involved in preparing cases for trial at the Magistrates’ Court. The case will be allocated to me after a client has already appeared at the Magistrates’ Court and entered their ‘Not guilty’ plea. It’s then my job to consider all the prosecution material, take the client’s instructions and take any potential defence witness statements. The goal is to prepare the defence case so that it is ready for one of my colleagues who will be the trial advocate to take over on the day of trial. 

While preparing Magistrates’ Court or Crown Court cases, I have had the opportunity to visit clients in prison or speak to them via video link in order to go through the evidence and take their instructions. I have also instructed experts to conduct necessary assessments in relation to clients’ fitness to plead or to comment on matters pertinent to the case. For clients or defence witnesses whose first language is not English, I have also instructed interpreters to assist with translation. 

I recently became a Probationary Police Station Representative and now regularly represent clients at local Manchester police stations. The first time I ever attended a police station to shadow one of my colleagues was a daunting experience! However, the more police stations I attended, the more comfortable and confident I felt with the environment, the process and the advice I’ve given to clients. Calls to attend a police station are often unexpected as we need to wait for the police officers to inform us that they are ready for interview, therefore, my daily schedule might not go to plan if I’m called to attend a police station. Next month I will be on call for the first time which means I will be the representative attending any police stations during non-working hours. This will undoubtedly be a challenge but one that I look forward to as I understand the importance of assisting clients on that very first contact they have with the criminal justice system which, for some, could be a new and, thus, frightening experience. 

Finally, I have been shadowing colleagues on pre-charge engagement cases and taken conduct of some cases myself. As it is a newer experience for me, I always discuss these with my supervisor as I do with any cases that I have questions on. If my supervisor is not available, other colleagues are always happy to assist whether in the office or on the phone. It is great to know that as a Trainee, I’m not alone and that more experienced colleagues are there to help me along the way. 

I hope that by the end of my training contract, I will have become a well-rounded solicitor experienced in the wide range of criminal defence areas that Olliers specialise in so I can start to decide which of those areas I would like to focus on going forward. I am excited for what the future holds as a qualified solicitor and for the challenging yet educational journey leading up to it.