My Last Week in Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury

It's that time again, for me to say goodbye to my current seat. In the end I stayed in the Clin Neg/PI department for 7 months, and needless to say I saw a lot.

I was given a wide variety of work to do and each case that I worked on was completely different. I almost feel a little naïve in that I did not realise what some people really do go through, and I feel very lucky to have the life that I have.

I was also happy that I had the opportunity to attend a trial. Trials can be rare as parties are more willing to settle outside of Court, so it was great that I was able to witness some cross examination taking place.

Now the real countdown begins as I take my final seat on Monday, being Commercial Property. It's as if I've done a full circle, I started at my firm as a Commercial Property Paralegal and now I will be back there as a Trainee Solicitor.

I am hoping that I will enjoy my time in Commercial Property and that these next five months don't go too fast!

Lawyer by Day, Bodybuilder by Night!

As I've previously mentioned, I had a fitness competition coming up. Most people know that I am a very keen weightlifter but only a select few knew that I had signed myself up to a bikini fitness competition. A bit different for a lawyer, but I love being different and trying new things!

For those that don't know, a bikini fitness competition basically means that you have to stand on stage in a bikini and do set poses for judges to examine and judge your body. It sounds ridiculous, but it was so much fun!

As part of my preparation for this I had to cut down my body fat to as little as possible and tone myself up by weightlifting. In order to show off a toned physique, I had approximately four layers of fake tan applied to my body and make up painted on to my face. Yes, I am still orange!

This event gives a person like me the chance to release their attitude and show everyone their sassiness on stage. It is so much more fun than I can describe! And as part of your routine, you need to show elegance and poise, something that I actually struggle with. I'm more of a converse and baggy top kind of woman.

This was my first competition so as I expected, I was not placed in the top three. My feedback was to act more confident and tense my muscles more, I was happy with that.

The event was over so quickly and it now seems like such a blur, but the 16 weeks of diet and training was all worth it. I am already looking for my next competition!

So that's just an insight into what I do outside of work. As I have been on a diet for the past four months, I have spent this week eating. I am currently baking different gluten free cakes, cookies and pastry items. I have a massive sweet tooth so I am making the most of it!

I was back to work on Wednesday this week and as I currently have a patchy tan, a few questions have been asked. I find myself asserting that four layers of tan is not my usual choice!

I also had my end of seat appraisal which went well. I move into my final seat at the end of June, so I'm looking forward to the change.

My Last Six Months

I can't believe the position that I'm currently in, it's six months until I qualify.

My current thought is: "what on earth do I do with myself?", it's gone so quick that I still remember my first days as a Trainee like it was yesterday!

Now that I've come to a stage like this I feel like I have to think about my career seriously, on things such as what area do I actually want to qualify in? It's crazy to think that I have to start doing this.

Being a Trainee for the last year and a half has definitely helped me distinguish between the areas that I do and do not like. I think that this is the best part of the process, it enables you to know for sure if you're missing out on anything, or not.

They do say time goes very quickly and now I know what they mean. We are in the sixth month of the year already, soon it will be Christmas again! Not that I'm complaining, chocolate!

Within these next sixth months I have so much to look forward to. My fitness competition is in 10 days, I am heading to Anacapri, Italy in September, and the day that I qualify I am travelling to Gothenburg, Sweden. I qualify in November and on a Thursday so it was a convenient time to take a long weekend to celebrate and see the Christmas markets. I'm not running from responsibility!

As I say every now and again, I'm embracing the madness, the worry and the unknown. But that's all part of being a Trainee. Everything works out in the end, I'm just excited to see where the second half of this year will take me.

This week I have been drafting documentation for personal injury claims. Documents such as schedules of special damages, witness statements and consent orders. This gives me the opportunity to get to know the file and understand the claim that is being filed at Court.

I have not been told what my next seat will be yet, but I'm sure I will find out imminently, so I'm looking forward to that and will be sure to let you know as soon as possible.