A day in the life of a Paralegal Apprentice

I am a paralegal apprentice in Woollcombe Yonge’s Commercial Property and Business Services Department. The work we do in my department is extremely varied, and so the work I do supporting the fee earners in our team changes day to day.

Alongside my job at Woollcombe Yonge, I am currently studying with BPP University to achieve my Level 3 in Law and Legal Practice from CILEx.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

I assist my colleagues with a variety of commercial property matters such as leases, purchases, sales and refinances.

Each transaction is different, however there are a number of tasks that I deal with regularly.

I am often tasked with drafting documents such as leases, transfers and contracts. These documents then need to be sent to the solicitor on the other side of the transaction for approval.

I also regularly arrange payment of the Stamp Duty Land Tax due on our client’s purchases and leases, as well as submitting Land Registry applications to register the commercial property transactions.

LITIGATION AND BUSINESS MATTERS

When it comes to the litigation matters that our team deal with, every day is different. Tasks often crop up urgently for the fee earner to deal with, and I often assist in this process.

Sometimes, we instruct a barrister to provide us with advice or draft proceedings in litigation matters. When this is required, I draft Instructions to Counsel which set out the background of the case and any relevant information needed for counsel to form a judgement.

There is also a lot of correspondence in litigation matters between the solicitors on each side of the transaction. I draft letters and send them out to the other side.

ADMIN

My job also comes with a fair amount of admin! This includes:

Opening files for my colleagues

Obtaining identification and proof of source of funds from our clients

Arranging for files to be closed at the end of a transaction

Communicating with clients and other legal professionals

I love the area of law that I work in, and the firm I work for! The Commercial Property and Business Services department is an incredibly varied and interesting department, and no two days are ever the same.