My route to the end of the first seat of my Training Contract

Writing today in the last week of my first seat of my Training Contract, in Wills, Trusts and Probate, I am reflecting on my somewhat atypical journey to where I am today in the knowledge that there may well be others out there applying for Training Contracts that find themselves on a similar path.

Pre Ellis Jones

I completed school with fairly decent A Level results, but it wasn’t until University that I began to excel academically. I achieved a First Class with Honours Law (LLB) degree at Swansea University, but left without progressing on to the LPC or a role lined up with a law firm. Over the next two years I gained management experience at a company that I had worked for throughout university, which developed my commercial understanding and business acumen. I then joined a Top 10 accountancy firm and began the ACA whilst working in Audit, achieving the Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business. It was during this year that I determined that I had been delaying the inevitable, that a career in accounting was not satisfying my ideals nor serving my skills and traits. As well as developing the knowledge I had picked up at Swansea, I am very much people-orientated and a career in Law would allow me to use my knowledge to assist people at what is often an important or difficult juncture in their lives.

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to gain work experience with Ellis Jones in the summer of 2021, initially with a week in the Family department and a week in Banking & Finance. I was fortunate again, in that the Banking & Finance team allowed me to stay on until beginning my studies. This short period vindicated my decision to change path and begin a career in law, and moreover, that I wanted this career to be with Ellis Jones. I applied for my training contract (advice on how to write a successful training contract application here) and was delighted to be successful.

I returned to study, completing my Legal Practice Course and Masters in Law at the University of Law, achieving Distinction.

Life at Ellis Jones

I began my first seat in our Wills Trust and Probate team. This was a seat that I wanted to do, but not necessarily the one that I thought I may qualify in to. The most valuable piece of advice I would offer to anyone about to undertake their Training Contract would be to keep an open mind as to what you will qualify into. I hadn’t studied Private Client as an elective or beyond what were core modules on my undergraduate/postgraduate and LPC courses, but the work has been so rewarding and complimentary to my skills that it has shot to the forefront in seats that I’m considering qualifying into.

My work has been incredibly varied, and by the end of my seat I have:

• Drafted complex Wills including various types of Will Trusts;
• Led meetings advising on Wills, Powers of Attorney and different types of trust;
• Assisted in the Administration of Estates from the death until the closing stages;
• Drafted accounts for Estates and Trusts;
• Advised on tax considerations and corrected the conclusions of HMRC;
• Been a main point of contact for clients on their journey with our team;

and a whole lot more.

I have had the perfect balance of responsibility for my work and supervision where required, which is attributable to the firm’s values. Across the economy, businesses will sometimes ‘buzzword’ their values without them resonating through the business. What sets Ellis Jones apart from the firms I have knowledge of is that the values of Ellis Jones are felt and experienced by clients (as demonstrated by the reviews received) but equally the team, and the values are at the heart of everything from business and operational decisions to interaction between team members and departments.

If you’re considering applying for a Training Contract with Ellis Jones, I’d be more than happy to discuss my experience and have a conversation about the application process and work at the firm – a link to my LinkedIn page is here.

If you think that you would match our values and that our values are a perfect fit for you, please send a covering letter detailing one example, along with your CV, to recruitment@ellisjones.co.uk