Motivations / Experience Questions Flashcards
Tell me about yourself.
Present
I have a background as a litigation paralegal at Irwin Mitchell LLP and worked in the national leading Public Law and Human Rights department. While working, I developed a passion for learning and development and successfully passed the first Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE1) in July 2024 while working full-time. I am now enrolled on the SQE2 preparation course to sit the SQE2 exam next month. I transitioned from my previous role in order to pursue new challenges and legal opportunities within the Civil Service. My experience in a fast-paced law firm and commitment to the SQE exams has built my resilience, time management skills and determination to pursue a legal career.
Past
In my previous role…
Major projects:
- [progressing claims] Progressed a range of public law actions under the supervision of solicitors, including Court of Protection health and welfare claims, Education SEND appeals and judicial review actions. This required me to use my problem solving skills under pressure due to a backdrop of competing priorities.
- [maintaining a personal caseload] I maintained a personal caseload under supervision and successfully progressed cases from start to completion by prioritising tasks, meeting case direction deadlines, and managing client expectations. In this role, I successfully worked well independently and as part of a team.
Major successes:
Developing strong written and oral client communication skills
Gaining experience in delivering costs objectives and successfully meeting billing targets by aligning my work with the wider organisation priorities.
Future
My experience as a litigation fee earner clearly demonstrates my legal professional skills and ability to independently plan and manage a caseload at pace. I am positive that these skills will be extremely transferable for the costs draftsperson role at the GLD.
Why do you want to change roles?
As a litigation paralegal, I found that I was drawn to my work in legal aid costs management even though my main focus was on casework. I have a keen eye for detail and interest in legal research which was particularly useful when managing legal aid costs through the lifetime of a case. I enjoyed using my skills and knowledge of legal procedures when working on costs management and liked the mix of working on budgets and calculations along with legal analysis.
This job represents the ideal next step for me as:
- [Supporting government litigation work]
I wish to use my litigation experience and legal background to effectively support the government’s objectives. Civil service work has always inspired me as it is an opportunity to make an impact on vast areas of public life. I have therefore always been drawn to public law matters. As a costs draftsperson for the GLD, my motivation for the role would come from saving money for the taxpayer, helping the government to govern well within the rule of law, and promoting a more efficient allocation of government resources to address society’s needs.
- [Gaining expertise in a niche and sought after area]
At this stage in my career, I am approaching qualification options and considering what areas of law to specialise into. I am attracted to building a career in costs as it provides a pathway to becoming an expert in a niche area and positively influencing litigation with this expertise. Working for the GLD means working in the biggest UK litigation practice that affects all areas of public life - it is an attractive place to start a career in legal costs, as working for the GLD will enable me to make an impact on high-profile, challenging and interesting work.
What interests you about this role?
- [Technical area of law] Costs law is a technical area of law and I feel that my natural skills would suit this practice area. In my previous role, I enjoyed researching complex areas of law, considering effective case management strategies and having a bird’s eye view of how cases are run.
- [Exposure of work at GLD] There is a huge breadth of work covered by GLD and this exposure is greatly appealing. I already have a background in public law and so would be very excited to work on the high-profile cases covered by the department. This role offers an excellent training opportunity into costs due to the unique exposure of casework and development opportunity to progress as a costs lawyer. I am a person who values efficiency and is always open to new ideas and techniques to upskill and grow.
Gaining expertise in costs would be a valuable opportunity for growth in my career and the training provided by the Civil Service would be unparalleled to other training programmes in private practice.
What do you know about our organisation?
The Government Legal Department is the largest provider of legal services across government and delivers on the Government’s priorities. Non-ministerial government department, sponsored by the Attorney General.
- Developing and drafting legislation (Advisory team)
- Providing legal advice on policies (Advisory team, litigation team)
- Securing our economic and trade relationships (Commercial team, litigation team)
- Ensuring value from commercial contracts worth billions of pounds (Commercial team)
- Providing the Civil Service’s employment law advice (Employment team)
About the Costs Litigation Team
The team sits within the Justice and Development Division of GLD’s Litigation Directorate but works across the entire Directorate and beyond.
The Directorate provides litigation services to the majority of government departments and executive agencies, as well as many non-departmental public bodies, and its work is often high profile and raises questions of constitutional importance. The Group’s work encompasses litigation in public and private law as well as supporting public inquiries and inquests.
GLD’s Cost Litigation Team is a Centre of Excellence working in the heart of government. The team undertakes legal costs litigation and also provides advice across a wide range of HM Government departments and executive agencies. The team delivers high quality, competitive legal costs services to our clients on a wide range of legal areas including Judicial review, Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence, Inquests and Inquiries, Human Rights, Employment and Land Tribunal, Commercial, and Charities matters. The work includes adverse, recovery and budgeting work. The team attends hearings at various courts including the Senior Courts Cost Office & the Supreme Court.
The team is supported by a panel of external costs service providers.
What are your greatest strengths?
Strengths
- Critical analysis: Ability to read documents at speed, identify the relevant facts and critically evaluate complex information and arguments
- Interpersonal skills: I have good client care skills (interviewing and listening skills), work well with diverse stakeholders and can understand other people’s perspectives
- Written communciation skills: Focused research, succinct drafting, delivering written legal advice
- Verbal communication skills: Ability to listen, empathise, speak clearly. In meetings I aim to be authentic while engaging others, focusing on points of agreement during negotiations while advocating for the client’s interests.
What are your main weaknesses?
- Public speaking: Communicating persuasively to colleagues and clients, lack of experience
- Leadership: Managing RTMs with the parties and asking appropriate questions
