Training Contracts at Duncan Gibbins
At Duncan Gibbins Solicitors we place a strong focus on the development and progression of our trainees, upholding the belief that every trainee is a valuable asset to our team.
As part of our commitment to training our staff, we will dedicate all the time required to ensure that our trainees are working to the best of their ability, achieving their goals always.
Trainee Recruitment Programme
If you are successful in being given a position at Duncan Gibbins Solicitors, you will begin as a paralegal where you will gain a real insight into working life as a solicitor in a specialist and dedicated Personal Injury firm.
The paralegal stage allows us to ensure that you have the skills needed to be a Personal Injury Solicitor and also provides you with the opportunity to see whether a career in Personal Injury is right for you, especially before the training contract starts.
From the outset, we stress the importance of being certain that Personal Injury is what you want to do as, if for example, you intended to transfer to a commercial firm in the future, this would be incredibly hard as your experience would be wholly Personal Injury driven.
Despite this, we thrive on the fact that we are able to offer many prospects for our trainees to influence the growth and direction of the firm, something which is unlikely to be offered in large Commercial firms – a quality which is largely envied by practices in Commercial and Corporate sectors.
As a paralegal you will be offered a position with a view to a training contract within one of our many departments:
The First Response Team
As part of The First Response Team, you will undertake a full range of work involved with the initiation of Personal Injury claims. You will have the opportunity to carry out work in a variety of fields involving Road Traffic Accidents, Public, Employers and Occupiers Liability, Defective Products, Clinical Negligence and Catastrophic Injury claims. Your role will involve taking instructions from clients, carrying out full investigations, before vetting potential claims with one of our senior solicitors. If the claim is accepted, you will instigate the set up of the file on our case management system ready to pass over to one of our solicitors. This role requires you to use your initiative, to think on your feet, employing effective time management and work priotisation skills to provide the best client care possible.
“This is where all initial calls are taken and where anything that needs to be chased up on a case is done. I observed the day-to-day business, including what happens when a case first comes in, and I also learnt about the case management system-Proclaim.”
Kirsty North
Costs Department
As a paralegal, you may also have the opportunity spend some time in our Costs Department. Working on the Duncan Gibbins costs diary requires paralegals to monitor and seek to recover the firm’s outstanding costs. This includes chasing third party insurers and defendant solicitors for payments to reflect completion of work on files and reasonable disbursements incurred whilst taking on claims. A major part of this role is the recovery of full costs, this means there is very little room for negotiation. If costs cannot be agreed we are required to take further action in order to recover our costs in full by issuing court proceedings, obtaining court orders and enforcement procedures.
“After this I was in the costs department, now to be in this department you have to have a very ‘there’s no messing with me’ tone to your voice”
Stephanie Sales
Secondment to Tri Star Costs
Your time as a paralegal may mean that your will be seconded to Tri Star Costs where your role will be majorly to support the file handlers. Your duties will vary from booking in files, sending bills to clients for approval, to serving bills on Defendants. You will also have the chance to improve your negotiation skills when taking offers over the telephone, devising a breakdown of the figure and negotiating on the file in full. Once the file is settled, you will carry out “costs agreed” enabling you see a whole range of files through to conclusion. Having the chance to be part of the Costs Department not only stands you in good stead for familiarising yourself with file cost processes, it creates prospects for enhancing your negotiation skills, dispute resolution and commercial awareness and who knows, you may even end up deciding you want to practice in this area.
Debt Recovery Secondment to Lindsays Solicitors
You may also be seconded to our sister firm, Lindsays Solicitors where you will be involved with the recovery of commercial debts, using money claims, insolvency proceedings, bankruptcy and winding up. Your role will encompass taking instructions from both small business clients and major blue chip companies, risk assessing the debt and the debtor to ensure that it is recoverable and initiating the correct demand process. You will support the Debt Recovery department by keeping our case management system updated, drafting court documents and instructing counsel where necessary. This role requires you to be accurate, logical and be able to deal with difficult situations and callers with a firm but compassionate manner.
Media and Marketing
Whilst working as a paralegal you may also be required to contribute to the firm’s wider business needs. This may involve being part of our Media and Marketing Division where you would be required to write articles and blogs for the website, create staff and client videos and look for creative ways to enhance the firm’s regional presence. Although we only have one paralegal in the Media and Marketing department at a time, all of our paralegals are encouraged to contribute to Duncan Gibbins Academy, Legacy and People. As part of Duncan Gibbins Legacy which incorporates our Corporate Social Responsibilities, many of our paralegals have helped to establish links with local organisations and charities, especially those associated with the type of work we do, for example, Changing Faces and The Brain Injury Group. The Duncan Gibbins Academy which focuses on providing support and guidance for students wishing to pursue a career either with Duncan Gibbins or elsewhere is also something you will be play a major role in faciliating whilst paralegaling in this area. There are lots of ways we want our paralegals to get involved, fresh out of university or postgraduate study, who better to offer a real sense of understanding and awareness for our next generation of solicitors.
All the videos, news articles, blogs and photos are produced by the staff here. It’s great to see the effort and thought put into each individual piece of work.
Preeti Balli
Training Contracts
Provided both you and the Management Team are happy with your development, there are no further internal interview processes for our paralegals.
After approximately 12-18 months you will then become a Legal Assistant where you will begin your training contract with us.
We find that this process works particularly well for both trainees and Management as it enables us to see if you’re suitable for the job, if you are deserving of a training contract and ultimately if you can fit in with the ethos of our firm.
We have an intake of 10 trainees each year and our recruitment is spread over the year as opposed to other law firms who only recruit in the summer.
Therefore, we advise those interested in working for us to keep updated with our Legal Vacancies page and also to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin as any legal positions we have will be listed here.
Alternatively please submit your CV and covering letter to academy@duncangibbins.com.
Doing your LPC part time and working for us…
Although we will consider individuals who have already completed their LPC, we are now placing a strong emphasis on students who have finished their Law Degree and are looking to do their LPC part time whilst working for us.
Many LPC providers offer part time one day a week, evening, or weekend LPC programmes across 16 or 24 months.
One of our main reasons for this is that unlike other firms we will begin your training contract as soon as there is availability to do so.
Therefore, you could be in a position where you begin your training contract whilst still on your LPC.
Further it is to our discretion and in accordance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Guidelines that unlike other law firms, we will recognise any legal experience gained outside of your training contract as “time to count” to reduce the overall duration of your training contract.
All of these measures will, in effect, shorten the length of time it will take for you to qualify as a solicitor.
Work Experience
If you are interested in applying for a trainee position at our firm, we strongly recommend that you apply for a work experience placement with us as this will undoubtedly set you ahead of others.
Work experience can essentially help you to “get your foot in the door” which has multiple benefits:
- Helps us to get to know you.
- Lets us to see how you work in and around the office.
- Shows us how well you fit in with our team.
Whilst we pride ourselves on being a specialist Personal Injury practice, a key element we look for is the ability to display an eagerness and commitment to work within Personal Injury.
Our firm has to be right for you and you have to be right for our firm.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to gain work experience as this will prove to be an invaluable tool putting you in a position to make informed decisions about the type of firm and areas of law you want to work in, ultimately helping you to shape your career.
To apply for work experience please email your covering letter and CV to academy@duncangibbins.com.
What type of work will I do on my Training Contract?
It is at the core of our trainee recruitment programme to encourage all of our trainees to work to their full potential allocating an extensive range of responsibilities and disciplines from the outset.
However, we understand that our aims for upward progression cannot be achieved by throwing 200 files at you on your first day!
We hold the view that your training contract should involve gradual progression and we will endeavour to provide you with thorough training so you know exactly what you are doing at all times.
We believe this to be a much more effective way of producing work of high standards to cohere with our “Premium Services” reputation.
As a trainee you will spend time in a minimum of three seats subject to business needs.
As our firm is solely dedicated to Personal Injury, your training contract will be heavily focused on this area.
The work you will undertake will be in line with the SRA Guidelines and will consist of:
Civil Litigation
Personal Injury
Wills and Probate
Debt Recovery
From the word go we will be with you every step of the way.
All of your work will be closely monitored concentrating on your career progression and as part of our open door policy, you will be encouraged to seek advice from our Training Principal Matthew Dean on any issues you may have.
All of our trainees are expected to keep a “Training Record” of all the work they carry out, to log anything new they have learnt, any new skills they have acquired and any responsibilities they have been set.
It is part of our working practice to review Training Records every six months where a mini appraisal is carried out with Matthew to discuss development and progression strategies.
We are also keen to provide our trainees with experience in specific areas of Personal Injury where they have developed a particular flare and feel well suited to working in, hence, we will help to steer you in your chosen direction upon qualification.
Our Retention Rates
At Duncan Gibbins we are extremely proud to hold the title of having a 100% retention rate.
The fact that every single trainee to have ever completed their training contract with us has subsequently qualified as a solicitor with us speaks volumes!
Unlike other firms, who indicate poor retention rates of 30% and 40%, we adopt the outlook that from the initial stage, we are investing in you, training you to be integrated into our team, to become one day, an accomplished solicitor working to optimise our practice.
Our strong focus on career progression has meant that many of our trainees have gone on to become part of the Management Team, something which we will do our utmost to work towards.
It’s not all work?
Whilst we strive to ensure that deadlines are always met, we do not believe that working very long hours will achieve the best end result.
In our efforts to drive forward Duncan Gibbins Social, we know that work is not the be all and end all.
It is a fundamental aspect of our business practice for our trainees to have personality, uniqueneness and talent and through encouraging a positive working-life balance, we recognise that our staff will continue to be stimulated and motivated at work.
We offer an array of social events from legal professional evenings and Christmas parties to charity fundraising days and a monthly office night out.
At Duncan Gibbins Solicitors we appreciate that enthusiasm to learn and to grow is priceless and a genuine ambition to succeed is a key quality for a trainee solicitor to have…
