There are many ways in which you can demonstrate initiative throughout a training contract. You should always be thinking things like: “What’s the next thing that needs to be done?”, “Can I get started now, or at least offer to?”, “If I don’t know what to do next, how can I find out or who can I ask?”, “Is there anything else I could be doing to make my supervisor’s life easier?”, and so on. With this in mind, I thought I would set out some tips to help you impress from day one.
Presenting research
If you have been asked to carry out research or write a note of advice, carefully consider how best to present this. Use house style if applicable, as this can ensure the document is stylistically consistent with the firm’s usual output. If you are providing a long/detailed piece of research, consider whether this should be accompanied by a short bundle of documents (e.g. a PDF containing the legal articles that you have used) to provide a helpful point of reference for the recipient, or at least a document containing hyperlinked sources.
Perhaps also provide a summary at the top of the document (or in a cover email) so that the recipient can quickly access an overview of the “answer” – or reasons why there is no definitive answer – on a quick skim. This can be especially helpful if they access your work on a small phone screen, which doesn’t lend itself well to reading long emails and attachments consisting of thousands of words. If the research is ultimately destined for a client, you could also send your supervisor a proposed email for them to forward to the client, with a succinct jargon-free summary (as well as your actual research). This will save your supervisor time, demonstrate that you have thought about the purpose of your research, and evidence that you can tailor your writing to the intended recipient. For more detailed advice, check out the Legal & Business Research chapter.
Asking questions and requesting information
Before asking your supervisor a question, always consider whether there is any way that you could find out the information yourself. Check the firm’s online resources, or perhaps ask the knowledge team or a colleague in case they can give you a steer. If you are unable to find the answer, consider explaining to your supervisor which sources you have checked and try to give a view based on what you have read (explaining that you have not found a definitive answer). Sometimes it can be better to just have a go, explain what you have based your approach on and anything you were unsure of, and then produce a second draft based on the feedback you receive. Obviously don’t spend days potentially going off on the wrong tangent, but ensure you have had a good think about the work before asking a lot of questions.
Where possible, phrase questions to your supervisor in a way that allows for “Yes/No” answers, as opposed to just saying “I don’t understand xyz, please help”. When drafting contractual terms, perhaps prepare a draft for your supervisor to comment on/amend, rather than simply asking “what should I write?”. If you need to request further information from a client but haven’t been afforded direct contact with that client, consider drafting an email to the client containing the requests for information, then sending this to your supervisor to forward on. These approaches demonstrate initiative and could save your supervisor considerable time (which they will most likely appreciate).
Preparation and keeping up to date
Do background reading before a new seat to gain an insight into the relevant industry and clients. This could help you form the basis of initial questions for your supervisor, which could enable you to demonstrate your interest in the department from day one. Once you join a team, if you are not automatically invited to join meetings or calls, perhaps ask your supervisor if you can attend and listen in. This can give you valuable oversight over your matters (which can help you to better understand those matters), a better insight into what your clients are trying to achieve, and an idea of the steps that lay ahead of you. You could then demonstrate initiative by offering to take notes and circulate a summary after.
If you are invited to attend a meeting, look up the attendees in advance (and the companies of external attendees) so that you have some background – sometimes a discussion might make far more sense if you’re aware of what a company actually does and what the individual’s role is – then perhaps volunteer to carry out any follow-on tasks.
On a separate note, always at least skim all emails that you are copied into (even if they are not addressed to you), as this will help you to keep on top of developments relating to the cases or transactions that you have been staffed on. There may also be discrete tasks for you buried somewhere in such emails, which your supervisor may assume you will have picked up on. Don’t risk missing them!
Dealing with clients
Using your initiative doesn’t mean taking unnecessary risks. If you receive a call from a client out of the blue, don’t panic or try to give off the cuff advice, unless you’re absolutely sure you know the answer. It can be far more professional, and far less risky, to say that you’ll get back to them. By listening to the client, asking questions to demonstrate your engagement, and reassuring them that you’ll get back to them as soon as possible, they will (hopefully) feel that everything is under control and harbour no resentment towards you for delaying your answer. You can then do whatever research is necessary, and ask any relevant questions to members of your team, before getting back to the client with something more concrete and accurate.
Practical tip: when working on documents or notes of advice for clients (and supervisors for that matter) I tend to note down any general points or questions I want to flag (e.g. caveats, explanations, insights into my approach, follow-up questions, recommendations, or guidance) in a draft email as I go along. This way, I’m less likely to forget something important when it comes to actually sending over the work, plus by the time I’ve completed the work, my cover email is almost ready to go.
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