This article was written by Tom Booth, aged 15, who joined Farleys for work experience in August 2023.
This week I have completed 3 days of work experience at Farleys Solicitors at their Preston office, working within both insolvency and commercial law. Working alongside the team has helped me gain insight of what career path I would like to take once I have finished my GCSEs and A-levels.
Day 1
Arriving at 9am I was greeted by Mark Hague, who is a Partner in the insolvency team in Preston, and he led me up to the top floor of the building to meet the members of his team. Once settled in at my desk and logged onto my computer Mark gave me my first task, which was to examine bank statements and identify any patterns related to stolen money. Utilising my previous experience in accounting, I also created an Excel spreadsheet to showcase my findings. The good thing about working on bank statements was that I felt confident since I had already done some accounting work in the past. I dedicated my time to this task until it was time to take my lunch break. In the afternoon I was invited into Mark’s office for the afternoon to listen to various calls he had with clients discussing different matters. Although I didn’t understand some of the legal jargon, I found it very interesting learning about all the different types of cases Mark and his team deal with daily.
Day 2
I arrived on Tuesday at 9am feeling more settled in and a little less nervous than the day before. I made my way upstairs to my desk, sat down and began to carry on my task of analysing the bank statements which was given to me the day before. The members of Mark’s team were all very friendly and helpful towards me. Jonathan, one of the two insolvency paralegals, made me my first cup of coffee. Although I wasn’t keen on the taste it was nice to feel like a member of the team joining in with the round of hot drinks! I finished my task and reported back to Mark just before my lunch break, we agreed that in the afternoon I would come into his office again and listen to the calls he had with different clients. These calls were back to back until 5pm proving the career of a solicitor is very busy.
Day 3
On my final day, I was assigned the task of writing this blog discussing my work experience over the previous two days including what tasks I have carried out and what I have learnt about working within insolvency. In the afternoon Mark suggested that I moved to a desk downstairs to work and learn alongside a team of Commercial Property solicitors. I was surprised by the number of different teams that were based in the office at Preston. My impression of law just being criminal law was definitely wrong. Stephen Greenwood, the Partner in the commercial property team in Preston, suggested I research laws relating to land ownership. When reading I was surprised with the amount of information I could already understand. After this, one of the solicitor’s in the team discussed property surveying with me, which I found very interesting, we then covered some details of the cases that were ongoing to the team. I found it extremely interesting to learn how cases of the same type can yet be so different.
Over the past few days I’ve had a great time working at Farleys Solicitors. Despite the potential stress that comes with the job (which I haven’t really experienced first-hand), the workplace is peaceful, allowing the staff to concentrate on their work. Everyone was friendly and made me feel welcome and settled. Although I didn’t fully grasp the technical aspects, observing and listening to what was going on proved to be intriguing. I particularly enjoyed the tasks that required focus and collaborating with others in the same room. I genuinely felt like part of the team. Overall, this has been an amazing experience for me, and I would definitely recommend it to those interested in studying law or pursuing law-related careers.
For more information about work experience or careers at Farleys, please visit our careers page.
