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If you are at a larger firm, it is likely that there will be dozens of internal support teams at your disposal. If you have some downtime at the start of a training contract, it could be worthwhile collating the contact details of these teams so that you can easily get in touch with them at a later stage (when you may not have quite so much free time). 

When dealing with internal support teams, it is essential that you give a deadline from the outset so that the relevant team will: (a) know if the work is urgent; and (b) know to inform you as soon as possible if the deadline is likely to be missed. This also enables you to plan your own time more effectively. Some of the most common internal support teams are explained below.

Below we have summarised the internal support teams and other roles that exist at many large commercial law firms. 

Paralegals

Paralegals are more commonly available in dispute resolution teams. You can typically delegate tasks such as creating court bundles, checking cross-references, proofreading, creating spines and covers for bundles, redacting documents etc. Be sure to check with your supervisor before instructing paralegals however, as there may not be budget or time to engage paralegals, or there may already be paralegals specifically staffed on your matter. 

Business development

Most large firms have dedicated business development teams that are responsible for carrying out activities that are designed to strengthen relationships with clients or potential clients in order to win new instructions from existing clients and attract new clients to the firm. These teams will often work with practice areas to create resources designed to promote the firm to those practice areas’ current and prospective clients, and trainees may have the opportunity to get involved. Whilst smaller firms might not have dedicated business development teams, senior lawyers at such firms will likely take responsibility for business development in their respective areas and work with juniors to produce pitches and client-facing materials.

Knowledge management/professional support lawyers (PSLs)

Most large firms also have what are generally referred to as “knowledge” teams, or “professional support lawyers”, responsible for collating and contributing to the firm’s database of internal knowledge and experience. This can include creating and updating standard forms and precedents, creating training materials, writing about important legal updates, and so on. These teams or individuals can be a great port of call if you need to find a good template to use as a starting point for a particular piece of work, want to discuss a particularly tricky point of law, need support with a training session you are putting together, or want to write an article on behalf of the firm.

Knowledge Management: firms tend to build up comprehensive pools of internal “knowledge”. This can include: template (or “standard form”) documents to use as the basis for drafting future documents; summaries and explanations of key cases, legislative provisions, legal guidance and changes in the law; and information on external advisers (including barristers and other professional services firms that the firm has engaged in the past).

Standard forms: these are template documents that are designed to provide a good starting point when drafting a new document. Firms tend to have comprehensive databases of “standard forms” for different types of documents (e.g. Sale and Purchase Agreements, Facility Agreements, Board Minutes etc.). 

Precedents: these are documents that were used for previous transactions/cases. These can provide a useful reference of the approach the firm has previously taken in respect of certain challenges/negotiations. However, because precedents are deal specific, they are likely to have been negotiated and may therefore be less useful as a starting point than standard forms. 

Design/Creative/Pitch/Marketing team

If you are helping to put together pitches, training slides or publications etc., you may end up working with a designated creative/design team to ensure the work is presented professionally and in line with the firm’s branding guidelines. This team can be particularly useful in the context of business development initiatives and/or when working on internal or external communications/publications.

Information technology

This is an essential team that you will inevitably speak to hundreds of times throughout a training contract when anything goes wrong with your computer/mobile/remote access etc. Note down the phone number as soon as you start a training contract; make sure you find out whether you need to call a different number if you need to contact IT from outside the office (e.g. if your phone breaks when you are at home/if you are unable to access the firm’s IT system remotely).

Document production/reprographics

Large firms tend to have an in-house team which deals with specialised printing tasks (e.g. printing onto oversized paper), binding documents (including printing hardcopy transaction bibles/court bundles), printing CD labels/spines, burning data onto CDs/creating USB drives of data (e.g. transaction bibles), printing high-quality colour marketing documents, mass printing/scanning etc. When instructing this team, be sure to be very specific with your instructions! For instance, specify:

Word processing/document specialists

Firms typically have teams, either internally or outsourced, who will help with simple word processing tasks. Tasks that are frequently delegated to this team include: typing up hand mark-ups, formatting documents, converting PDFs to Word and vice versa, redacting documents, changing documents to “house style” etc.

Using this team can save you a lot of time (and reduce client costs), but when setting a deadline, be sure to build in enough time to check the work once it comes back. If work has been delegated to you and you delegate it on, the quality of the finished product is still your responsibility and therefore your reputation remains on the line!

Booking desk/post room

Larger firms will also usually have a team responsible for couriering/receiving client documents, CDs or USB drives. Make sure you are clear about when certain documents need to arrive at a recipient’s place of business so that the sender knows how the documents should be sent (e.g. using the next day service, first class, air mail etc.).

Also check with your supervisor whether documents should be delivered “by hand” (e.g. very sensitive documents going to local addresses) or by courier/black cab. Stating a deadline of “asap” is not clear enough, as this could result in the booking desk hiring a private courier to immediately deliver the documents, at a cost of hundreds of pounds to the client!

Secretaries

Some firms allocate secretaries (or “personal assistants”/”PAs”) to trainees, others don’t. Where firms do, these secretaries will usually work for a number of fee earners, including a mix of partners and associates, meaning trainees are usually lower in the priority list. For this reason, if you have a secretary, don’t assume they will be able to help you with tasks at the drop of a hat (especially longer tasks). Also remember that your secretary may have been around a lot longer than you, in which case they will likely have a better understanding of how the firm works (including specific supervisors and clients). Having them on side can therefore be a huge plus: my secretary was invaluable when I started, as I had no idea how anything worked!

The types of tasks typically delegated to secretaries include: printing onto letter headed paper, printing covers and spines for bundles/bibles, arranging for documents to be couriered, typing up mark-ups, granting you access to the firm’s internal workspaces for client matters, processing business expenses, processing annual leave requests, booking meeting/signing rooms, and so on. Although great secretaries may be able to help with more substantive work, for example research.

Claiming expenses 

On the subject of expenses, check your firm’s policy on dinner expenses and taxis to and from the office. Many firms let you claim back the cost of dinner if you are working late, food throughout the day if you are working on weekends, and taxis home (if working late)/taxis to and from work (if working on weekends). 

Some firms may insist that you book taxi’s through their internal booking teams, whereas others may be ok with you hailing your own taxis and claiming back the cost. Note that firms’ policies may require you to submit receipts within a certain time period (usually 30-60 days) and you may need to submit receipts containing specific information, for instance VAT.

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