This July, I was fortunate enough to partake in Local Lawyers in Government (LLG)'s work experience week. I was assigned to a local authority and spent my mornings shadowing different legal departments, and attending informative workshops organised by LLG in the afternoon. In this article, I'll take you through how I spent my week – and the many things I learned.

Monday

I kicked off the week with a welcome call from the LLG team before attending a meeting with my supervisor. There, I also met my peer for the week, who had been assigned to the same council. We were briefed on an insurance litigation issue faced by the council and sent some information to sift through – though that would have to wait, as the meeting with the insurance litigation team was scheduled for half an hour later!

After attending and observing the meeting, and getting to see both local government lawyers and external lawyers advising on a contentious issue, I read through the information our supervisor sent and organised it in chronological order to better understand the issue at hand.

Highlight of the day: Attending the insurance litigation meeting ensured our day, and week, started off with a bang! The fast-paced nature of the work, accompanied by the fact that there was so much to keep up with, made for a challenging but invigorating start. I’d never seriously considered litigious work before – part of the reason I’d initially decided on pursuing the path of a solicitor was to avoid the daunting pressure of the courts. However, the exciting pace of that morning's meeting, and the intricate details of the case itself, made me seriously reconsider my stance…

Tuesday

The second day began with an informal but informative chat with a paralegal in the property department. Given that both my peer and I were particularly interested in property, the hour was spent in fascinating discussion on topics ranging from the right to buy to the distinction between private practice and the public sector (as the paralegal we spoke with had worked in both). Next, we were assigned a research task by a senior solicitor in the property team. A highlight of that conversation was finding out that working in the property department of a council provided some pretty cool perks, including the opportunity to get to work with historical deeds and properties – which, as a lover of Victorian literature and former English undergraduate, seems very exciting indeed (if you'll forgive the pun)!

Later in the afternoon, I attended an informative workshop on childcare law which covered some of the main statutory authorities on the matter.

Highlight of the day: Spending the day with the property team was fascinating and fun – and only served to consolidate my interest in the field. It didn't hurt that they were wonderful to talk to, too!

Wednesday

The third day was perhaps the most varied. My peer and I attended several meetings on a range of topics: childcare law, legal governance and procurement among them. My preconceived interests were definitely challenged on this day. Although contract law was one of my least favourite modules on my conversion course, I thoroughly enjoyed both my interview with the contracts principal and the privilege of attending a meeting on one of the council's procurement projects.

In the afternoon, I attended a talk on education law where I learned about the different roles of an education lawyer, as well as the Department of Education's plans for the future.

Highlight of the day: It's difficult to pinpoint what I liked most about such a varied and enriching day, but if I had to pick, I'd probably choose my meeting with the head of governance. Going into the meeting, I had a very limited understanding of what governance was – and was subsequently grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone in the field, as that talk opened me up to another potential career option!

Thursday

On Thursday morning, I attended a meeting with the childcare principal on childcare proceedings. The opportunity to observe specialists in their field discuss such grave cases with a simultaneous sense of empathy and pragmatism was rewarding, and reinforced a point that others had driven home throughout the week – the personal scope of the impact work in local government can have.

Later in the afternoon, I attended talks given by trainees in local government as well as a workshop on governance. It was interesting to see my law textbooks come to life. In the governance workshop, we discussed the concept of 'fettering of discretion' – a form of judicial review (taking me back to my studies of administrative law).

Highlight of the day: As someone with a budding interest in family law, though I don't think I'd specialise in childcare specifically, it was incredibly heartening witnessing how lawyers who work in such personal fields are able to fluidly navigate the complexities and emotional difficulties that arise − both from themselves, and from their clients. An inspiring balance was struck between the empathy needed to approach the job, and the practicality necessary to complete it.

Friday

On the final day of my work experience week, I was fortunate enough to speak to a member of the local authority's development programme – a company owned by the authority, which worked on planning and development. This was at the intersection of various practice areas – primarily property, planning and (seemingly strangely) corporate. It was fascinating witnessing and experiencing the ways in which these practice areas came to life: like witnessing the two-dimensional concepts I’d learned over the course of the past year take on another dimension and become whole. My favourite part of the discussion, though there were many, was when we talked about the future of the council and the authority's plans for development. A new area of interest came to life, one I didn't know existed, let alone was interested in: planning law.

Sadly, due to external commitments, I was unable to attend the afternoon workshops of the final day – though that morning meeting ensured my week ended on a high note!

Highlight of the day: The nascence of my interest in planning and the reinforcement of my interest in property law, thanks to the delightful and invigorating conversation with the lawyer.

Final thoughts

Overall, my experience with both LLG and the authority I was assigned to was an incredibly positive and enriching one. The research tasks and discussions with real lawyers extended my understanding of the legal world (particularly in the public sector), while workshops and meetings provided a fascinating source of further information about not only their content, but also the inner workings of a local authority.

Many of the professionals I spoke to expressed having never known that legal work in a local authority was even an option at my stage – I'm glad that isn't the case for me. I'm grateful that this week provided me with the opportunity to try something that many never do. As far as my future goes, though, I'm going to continue keeping my options open. Between the private and public sector, I haven't taken any options off the table just yet...