Joyce Kola’s Diary

My first seat was in Real Estate supervised by the amazing (and very patient!) James Corbett, a Senior Associate. When I was told I would be heading into Real Estate for my first seat, I was initially very apprehensive seeing as it was the largest department in the firm and – to be frank – those property textbooks at university were not the most interesting of reads! As a first seater and having read way too many trainee horror stories (none from WS of course!), I was also worried that most of my time would either be spent mulling over principles I did not understand with little help or hovering over the photocopier for most of the day.

However, I was very presently surprised as almost immediately I was able to work on a number of different, and incredibly interesting, property transactions with a number of different fee earners within the team. The work I got involved in comprised of both small scale and large scale property acquisitions, leases, handling completions, reviewing and reporting on title and Land Registry applications, just to name a few. Once I became more comfortable, I was also able to handle my own matters and attend client meetings (with supervision of course) which gave me a great sense of responsibility within the team who were always incredibly kind, patient and willing to help you as much as they could. There was a great energy with the department and it was incredibly easy to build personal relationships too – the Friday drinks trolley assisted greatly with that! Real Estate is an extremely fast paced department and you really hit the ground running here the minute you join the team. It was an amazing introduction to life as a trainee.

My second seat was with the Property and Licensing Team. The advantage of being a trainee in this department is that I got the opportunity to continue my property work while also working on some licencing matters. Despite having to spend the whole six months working remotely due to COVID-19, the team were excellent at scheduling regular Team meetings and calls to check in and make sure I was handling everything okay. It helped make me feel included within the team despite having never got the chance to meet!

My third seat will be with the Construction team under the supervision of Eleanor Kilminister. Construction is an area of law I have been curious about since starting at Winckworth Sherwood not least due to its balance of contentious and non-contentious work and its intricacies as a quite niche area of law. I’m looking forward to gaining a greater understanding and I’m very excited to be training with the team for the next six months.

It is no surprise to me that the majority of Trainees stay on and qualify at Winckworth Sherwood. The firm provides a wonderful working environment with a wide range of departments and incredible support for its Trainees. I have always felt valued as a member of not only each team I train in, but the firm as a whole. While I am proud to announce my photocopying skills have improved, it is only a minor achievement in comparison to all the experience, work, responsibility, knowledge and relationships I have gained. I am excited for my final year and what’s ahead.