Trainee ‘TED talk’—first week as a trainee in trust, will and estate disputes (TED)

When I received the email allocating our first seats, I was immediately excited at the thought of working in the trusts, wills and estates disputes team in Putney (or ‘TED’ as it’s known in the firm). I chose the private client module as one of my electives during the Legal Practitioners Course (LPC), so I was relieved to have some background knowledge of this area of law. 

Our first day began with a coffee introduction with the new trainees. It was a great way to ease into the morning and meet my fellow trainee cohort. I arrived at Putney station early, so I trotted off to a nearby bakery (there are many around the Putney office which is a bonus), and had a pastry and a coffee to calm my nerves. 

After meeting everyone, we had several introductory talks with graduate recruitment partner Rebecca Fisher and the head of people Anna Richardson about the training contract, the structure of our seats, and a general welcome to the firm. We then met the existing trainees before grabbing lunch at Pizza Express. The weather was incredibly hot so I regretted pre-ordering a pepperoni pizza with extra chilli! However, the food was delicious and it was insightful to chat with the second-year trainees, some of whom I had met at the seat allocation talk last November. 

Everyone was incredibly welcoming and it was reassuring to hear first-hand what to expect during our first few weeks at the firm. The afternoon was spent meeting our departments and touring the Putney office. We then had drinks in the ‘no 1. coffee lounge’ and were able to chat further with the rest of our cohort and the other trainees. I left the office somewhat exhausted from meeting everyone, but it was a wonderful first day. 

The rest of the week was spent getting stuck in with our departments and completing online training. The TED team were incredibly busy at the time so I was given tasks to do as soon as I finished the training. This was rather exciting, albeit slightly daunting, but by the end of the week I had already completed numerous tasks on three different client matters. 

We visited the new Kingston office and the Bedford Row office. Whilst there, we heard talks from all the departments located in these offices and had drinks afterwards with some of the partners. It was fantastic to gain more of an insight into the distinct character within each office at Russell-Cooke. I had never visited either office before and I particularly liked the terrace in the Kingston office which overlooks the river.

Overall, it was a busy yet exciting first week of the training contract. As was to be expected, there was lots of information to take in, but every individual we met at Russell-Cooke was incredibly warm and welcoming. Whilst the first week went incredibly quickly, it was a great insight into what the next two years have in store.

Applications for the 2026 Russell-Cooke graduate training contract open on 16 November 2023 and close on 16 February 2024.