Five things I have learned from becoming a new parent and a trainee solicitor at the same time

Having come to law as a second career, my daily life looks a little different from most trainees. I am currently a second-seat trainee in the private client team in our Bedford Row office and I am also the parent of a very energetic six-month-old.

Here are five things I have learned from becoming a new parent and a trainee solicitor at the same time:

When I took my son back from the hospital, I was gripped with the reality of parenthood: there is no manual, you must learn by doing. Within my first few hours, days and weeks of parenthood I did many things I had never done before: changed nappies, fed my son and (attempted) to put him to bed.

Luckily, as a trainee lawyer there are manuals (legal databases and best practice guides) and, of course, I have top quality supervision from my colleagues at Russell-Cooke, but the best way to learn is simply by doing.

Don’t know how to draft a deed of appointment for a new trustee? No problem: find a precedent, get drafting, and then go through your version with your supervisor. 

As a trainee I ask many, many questions every single day. There is an open-door policy at the firm meaning you have access to every level of solicitor and therefore have a wealth of knowledge to hand. And the cliché rings true here: there are no silly questions!

As a parent, I have equally as many questions and rely on family, friends and various parenting WhatsApp groups to answer them. Although in this case there have definitely been some silly late-night questions such as “Help! My son sneezed – what do I do?!”

It takes a village to raise a child and I have never been more grateful for my village than during these past few months of early parenthood – especially those who have cooked for us!

As a trainee, you also need a network around you to guide and support you through your training contract. Russell-Cooke provides support with regular team meetings, socials and events. There is also a range of clubs and networks within the firm that host regular events, including a Working Parents and Carers Network.

No two training weeks are the same. In my first seat within the dispute resolution group I could be gathering evidence for a commercial dispute one week and going to court for a judicial review case the next.

Similarly, no two weeks as a parent have been the same as my son learns new things every day – the latest being his love of smiling at strangers on the tube and rolling over constantly. Next up: crawling…

People seem very surprised at my answer when they ask me how I have been finding being a new mum. I always give the same reply: great fun! Despite the frequent sleepless nights and constantly tripping over toys on my living room floor, it is such fun to watch my son grow.

In the legal world, some of the horror stories you hear about trainees in London firms being stuck in the office until 2am printing thousands of pages for bundles give the impression that a training contract is supposed to be all doom and gloom. But my experience at Russell-Cooke has been the complete opposite. I have found that from day one I have been involved in work that is interesting, challenging and, yes, fun!

Given the wide range of practice areas at the firm, trainees get a chance to experience many different types of work and figure out what we enjoy the most. Let’s see what the next two seats hold.

Maeve Storey is currently a second-seat trainee in the private client team.