I am coming to the end of my journey to qualification, with four months remaining of my Dispute Resolution (‘DR’) double seat in Personal and Business Dispute Resolution. If someone had told me two years ago that I would be aiming to qualify as a Dispute Resolution Solicitor, I would have chuckled and asked ‘Really?’.
With that, these are some of the key points I have taken from working in DR:
1. Your calendar is your best friend
Whether working on your own files, or assisting lead fee earners, you will have numerous deadlines to juggle, both near and far. Your Outlook calendar is your best friend. I recommend diarising everything.
I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that this memory outsourcing has even crept into my personal life, and my friends often joke about my ‘old man calendar’.
2. Effective communication and drafting
You will get a lot of drafting practice in DR. Be it pleadings, correspondence with opponents, or, writing letters of advice to your clients. They all require different styles, and it is important to observe how your colleagues operate in each role, and take aspects you like into your style (‘your style’ being an important aspect here).
But, client care is important (as it is in all areas). In DR, clients are going through an incredibly stressful and expensive process, and your ability to effectively communicate key and complex information is vital.
3. Take the chance to research now
I build time into each week to read case law relevant to my work. Most likely, you will have less time upon qualification, so take advantage of your training contract and research any questions you have, and work on becoming familiar with the Civil Procedure Rules. Incidentally, a Family Solicitor told me this when I was a Paralegal, and it has stayed with me ever since. She was incredibly wise.
4. Alternative Dispute Resolution (‘ADR’) is important.
The courts are insistent on people trying to resolve their disputes out of court, and I have heard many a judge comment along the lines of ‘this is a prime case for settling without my intervention…’. Their disapproval can be jarring.
The lesson: become familiar with the rules around ADR. It is not just mediation. The first step, pre-action, is to learn how to draft an effective letter before action. I heard a judge explain this to a litigant in person, who had not followed the required steps. He stressed that these steps must be followed, and, equally, the more you can put into a letter before action, the more persuasive it will be.
Overall, I’m shocked how much I am enjoying DR. You learn something new every day, and it has been a fast-track course on a lot of key skills you’d expect a lawyer to possess. Although this may have been echoed in my other areas (I’ve been fortunate in my training contract!), I cannot recommend DR enough. You will be a better lawyer for at least trying it.
Tom is set to qualify as a solicitor in September 2025 and will be joining our Personal Dispute Resolution and Business Dispute Resolution team upon qualification.
If you’re interested in joining Rothera Bray, we’d love you hear from you – check out our careers page.
