Jessica Chappell | Trainee Solicitor and Fee Earner

 

What is your favourite memory from your time with us?

When we did advocacy as part of one of the modules and were able to use the ‘court room’ to make the presentations. The Mexican chicken subs in the canteen were also pretty memorable.

Share a piece of advice from a lecturer or classmate that has stayed with you?

The girls I were close with at university were some of my biggest supporters. During my final year I was pregnant and sadly lost my little girl in the last trimester and they alongside my tutors rallied around me and motivated me to carry on. I did, achieved a 2:1, had another beautiful little girl and am currently studying the SQE to qualify as a Private Client Solicitor. None of this would have been possible without the support network!

If you could bring in one new piece of legislation in your sector, what would it be and why?

A higher nil rate band so that single or childless individuals are not penalised for being unmarried or without children. Especially given that some individuals are not childless through choice. I would also provide an extension to the IHT due from 6 months to 12 months.

What advice would you give to someone starting the course you studied?

To take every opportunity where possible. Do not fixate on one area of law, often the area you least expect to enjoy ends up being your favourite. Study is massively different from practice. Whilst you build a foundation at university, law in practice is substantially different and so getting involved in local firms for work experience is invaluable, not to mention if you do well there may be job opportunities! Your mental health is paramount, burn out is real and can have devastating impacts, so keeping ontop of things and allowing time to switch off is important and also helps with retention and recall of modules studied. There is no one path suits all, do not compare yourself to your peers and move at the pace that works for you, no one is behind, we simply have different stories.

How did your course prepare you for your career?

I was able to start my job with a good base knowledge which I was able to build on in practice. The written elements also helped a lot with the attendance notes and client care letters.

Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you...

I did not enjoy wills and trusts at all at university and now I could not imagine doing anything but private client. There is so much more to an area of law than the theory!