My training at Spire began with 6 months in our family law department split between our matrimonial and childcare teams. Court experience of advocacy is a quick teacher and I soon felt like I was playing a valuable role supporting and advocating for clients who would otherwise be without representation. One of the highlights of training with a firm like Spire is the exposure to real work and real clients early on. Practicing as a solicitor is not a job anyone can learn from a book and I have developed a wide array of soft, client-care skills simply from being involved in clients’ lives from day one. Unlike most Norwich-based firms, Spire have several branch offices which you will have a chance of trying out during your Training Contract. I have worked from Wymondham, Dereham and Attleborough during the last 18 months and benefitted hugely from the experience of working with different colleagues and clients around the county. Over the 2 years I will have worked in 4 diverse areas and had a chance to fully experience commercial, personal, transactional and contentious law. This has stretched me and it is not an easy job but there is a moment in each seat where everything seems to click and that moment is worth the effort. Anyone interested in getting stuck into files and not sitting and watching from the side lines should apply for work experience or a training contract with Spire.

I started working for Spire in 2012 (when it was Overburys) as a paralegal in the very busy family department assisting a partner of the firm in Child Care law and Domestic Violence. He had (and still continues to have) a large case load and I quite literally hit the ground running. From an early stage I had client contact, responsibility and had to think on my feet daily. The early responsibility was supported by not only the department but the firm as a whole. The trainees (who had completed their seat in this area) were also supportive and happy to pass on their wisdom. I quickly craved for a training contract and I was impressed at their retention rate as well as the programme in place for the trainees. Even more exciting was the news that we were merging and expanding to become Spire Solicitors LLP. I wanted a training contract even more. I was offered a training contract and the firm were happy to speak to me about what areas I was interested in and which of our 7 offices I would be interested to work in. With each change of department became new challenges and the opportunity to work with experienced solicitors and staff who were more than happy to impart their wisdom. The level of responsibility remained and I covered areas such as Social Housing, Litigation, Wills, Probate, Trusts, and Residential and Commercial Conveyancing on top of the Child care and Domestic Violence experience I had already obtained. I was attending court, meeting with clients and drafting documents together with the opportunity to research and learn more about the areas through training within Norfolk and the UK. Although there are numerous advantages about training with Spire Solicitors LLP (including the opportunity to be involved with the social committee) I think that one of the benefits is the opportunity to train in a large range of areas of law with experienced solicitors in the picturesque scenery of Norfolk.