Case studies: Solicitor: Naomi Pryde

Naomi has an honours degree in law (LLB) from Glasgow University and a diploma in legal practice from Edinburgh University. She currently works as a solicitor at Tods Murray.

In my third year at university I did a summer placement for 12 weeks at Tods Murray. Securing a summer placement at the firm guarantees you an interview for a traineeship. I was then awarded a traineeship in 2005 (to commence in 2007 after I had completed my degree and my diploma in legal practice). In Scotland the bigger firms start recruiting for trainees two years in advance.

A law degree is obviously very relevant to the role of a solicitor. You needed a 2:1 LLB Honours degree before you would even be considered for an interview for the role of trainee solicitor at my firm. That is pretty much the same firm wide.

I do litigation (court work) so my days vary immensely. I am at court quite regularly which involves preparing for the hearing, travelling to court (wherever the hearing is in Scotland - I currently have cases in Perth, Dunfermline, Selkirk, Ayr and Edinburgh) and conducting the hearing in front of the Sheriff. If the hearing is far away I might instruct agents to appear on my behalf or I might attend myself if the subject matter is really complicated.

If I am not at court I might be preparing written pleadings (either raising an action or defending an action); considering documents (productions) and whether I can use them as evidence; meeting with clients - either new clients to ascertain whether they have cases worth pursuing or taking existing client’s statements for up and coming proofs (trials); or going on site visits.

I love the people element of my job - I have a lot of client contact which is really important to me. I enjoy solving people’s problems so my job is well suited to me and I really enjoy the fact that no day is ever the same as the last one.

Eventually, I would like to be a partner. I would also eventually like to become a solicitor advocate which is where you are a solicitor but have rights of audience (are able to speak) in the Court of Session.

There are difficult parts to the job, like telling clients what they don’t want to hear - be that how much a case will cost them to pursue or indeed that they don’t have a case in the first place. It’s always difficult telling a client that it is not always about what is fair, or right or indeed what happened, it’s about what you can or can’t prove.

My advice to students who want to be a solicitor is to start getting experience as early as you possibly can. I wrote to law firms in my second year of university (you won’t usually be considered for a summer placement until your third year unless you are doing the accelerated law degree) and offered to work for them for free in order to gain experience.

This unpaid work experience allowed me to see what areas of law I liked (and those I didn’t) and allowed me to put the firm’s name on my CV. Also, firms want the whole package - so I would say it was important to pursue your interests - be it travelling or sport or whatever. I studied abroad at law school in America in my third year which gave me something interesting to talk about in my interview for my traineeship. It’s important to have a personality as well as just good grades for law - it is a very competitive profession and you have to set yourself apart from other candidates.