Theresa Kerr’s Diary

I decided to apply for a training contract at Winckworth Sherwood following a year’s work experience in the in-house legal team at one of the firm’s major clients.

It was clear to me that the team at Winckworth Sherwood understood their clients incredibly well which meant that they could always be relied on to deliver commercial and common sense solutions. Importantly, I also found the Winckworth Sherwood team to be friendly and approachable. Having developed a good opinion of the firm from a client’s perspective, I decided to apply for a training contract.

My first seat was with the Property and Licensing Team. The beauty of being a trainee in this department is the opportunity to work on both licensing and property files means that your workload is incredibly varied.

Within a few weeks of starting my training contract, the Partner took me along to a contested licence application at a Town Hall in London. Shortly afterwards, I was negotiating conditions on a licence with the Police and an Environmental Health Officer who had objected to a licence application. More recently, I helped to prepare witness statements and document bundles for a hearing.

I have also worked on a number of property transactions which are a great deal more interesting in practice than the property textbooks would lead you to believe!

London Bridge is a great location to work in. My department often go out for lunch and we are spoilt for choice in terms of choosing someplace to eat. The relaxed vibe in the area, as well as having the Borough Market next door, means that it is a great place to stroll around at lunchtime. There is also plenty of opportunity to meet people from other departments as the Social Committee frequently organise drinks or trips to the theatre.