Trainee Solicitor Insights with Mimi Oluwande at Wedlake Bell

✨Introducing our new Trainee Solicitor Insights Series!✨

In this article, Chirag Morar talks to Mimi Oluwande, a trainee solicitor at Wedlake Bell about her experience as a trainee and any advice she would give to aspiring solicitors.

PS - The application advice at the end is very valuable, so be sure to keep reading!

Can you tell us a bit about your background and your journey into law? 👩‍⚖️

I attended a state school and then went on to study Law with German Law at the University of Sheffield. Whilst studying I decided to pursue the solicitor route, but I left university without having secured a training contract.

After graduating in summer 2019, I began working as a legal assistant/receptionist at a law firm specialising in private client work and I continued to apply for training contracts. During the Covid pandemic, I decided to start studying the LPC as I noticed a lot of paralegal roles were asking for candidates to have completed it and some of them were even offering a route to qualification. Whilst I was completing my exams in summer 2021 however, I received my training contract offer from Wedlake Bell.  

As a trainee, I have completed seats in Banking and Finance, Intellectual Property and Commercial, and Insolvency and Restructuring.  I’m now in my final seat, which is Private Client.

Can you walk us through some typical tasks or projects you're handling in your current seat? 📝

My current seat (Private Client) is very different from the other seats I have sat in. The work primarily revolves around Wills, Estates and Trusts.

A common trainee task in Private Client is assisting with drafting Wills and Letters of Wishes for our clients. A Letter of Wishes often accompanies a Will and explains how the testator would like their assets to be distributed and why. It is not legally binding, but the executors will usually follow it and it can be persuasive.

The drafting process typically starts with the fee earner and me attending a meeting with the client to understand how they would like their estate to pass on their death. I will take a detailed note during the meeting. Once we have established their instructions, I will produce a first draft of the Will and Letter of Wishes and then send this to the supervising fee earner for review. This draft is then sent to the client and once it has been agreed we will then arrange for the client to sign their documents. There are strict rules for signing Wills, so this is an important part of the process.  

Another significant part of my work involves the administration of estates when a client or a client's loved one has passed away. This can be a long process and includes notifying banks and other service providers of the death, applying for the Grant of Probate, calculating any inheritance tax due, arranging the sale of a property and other tasks.

I also work with trusts. This includes drafting declarations to set them up and other documents in the form of deeds which govern the appointment and retirement of trustees as well as distributions out of the trust.

What's been the most exciting or interesting piece of work you've been involved in so far? 😆

During my time sitting in the Intellectual Property and Commercial team, I had the opportunity to work on a significant project for a local authority. My task was to help draft a ROPA, which stands for Record of Processing Activity.

All organisations that act as a controller or processor of personal data are legally required to record their data processing activities and one way of doing that is by having and maintaining a ROPA. The ROPA outlines the categories of personal information held by the organisation, why the data is being held, how it is being protected and stored and other useful information relating to the data.

This was a particularly challenging task. It involved conducting meetings with department heads and speaking to different people within the organisation to gather information. Although I was supervised throughout the process, I was trusted with substantial responsibilities and tight deadlines. This was a rewarding experience for me and beneficial to the local authority as well.

How do you maintain a work-life balance as a trainee solicitor? 🏠

At Wedlake Bell, work-life balance is one of our core values and although I have had the odd late night it is typical for the office to be quiet by 7pm. The firm as a whole promotes a healthy work-life balance, and we are actively encouraged to go home once we have finished our work for the day. There is no culture of staying in the office for the sake of it.

What advice would you give to students applying for training contracts or vacation schemes in the upcoming cycle? ✍️

Be yourself instead of the person you think they want. Let's say you are successful by pretending to be someone you’re not. You might end up at a firm that does not suit you, and you likely won’t enjoy working there. There is a firm for everyone, you just have to find it.

Think carefully about the type of firm that suits you. For example, consider whether you would prefer a firm with a small intake or a large intake and think about which practice areas interest you most. Taking these aspects into consideration will help you to apply for firms you are genuinely interested in and this will show through in your applications.

Don’t be disheartened by rejections. I know it can feel crushing at times - I’ve been there. Rejection is a normal part of the process. What matters is how you respond to it and how you improve. Personally, I went through three application cycles of rejections, and I worked on improving my applications each year until I was successful.

Any specific application tips? 🖥

Remember to research the firm and tailor your applications accordingly. Blanket applications are very obvious to graduate recruitment. You’d be surprised that some people don’t even change the name of the law firm! If there is something specific about the firm that appeals to you, mention it. For example, in my application to Wedlake Bell, I talked about how working in a smaller intake suited me better, and how I liked the idea of training at a full-service law firm to keep my options open.

Don’t copy-paste from ChatGPT for your applications. It’s very obvious and tends to produce inaccurate content. Your own words are much better and make your applications more authentic.

What skills do you think are most crucial for success as a trainee solicitor? 😁

Enthusiasm: As a trainee solicitor, not every task you will face is exciting however, it is important to maintain your enthusiasm regardless of what you have been asked to do. I try to approach each task with a positive mindset and keep in mind the broader perspective of how it contributes to my learning.

Adaptability: The typical training contract involves moving to a new seat every 6 months and despite working in the same office it can sometimes feel like starting a brand new job. I have sat in four extremely different seats and each time I had to learn new skills and adapt old ones to suit a new type of work and client. I've used this to get to know what my strengths are and the type of work that suits me best.  

Resilience: Being a trainee solicitor is not easy and the start of a new seat can be particularly challenging as you often feel like you have gone back to knowing very little and it is likely you will make mistakes. You need to be confident enough not to dwell on what has gone wrong and instead see it as an opportunity to learn.