Craig Diamond
"The biggest difference between studying and training is recognising the commercial reality of decision making."
"My first week was very intensive, with induction training and getting used to the office and systems. I started in residential property, which allowed me lots of client contact as it's a busy seat. At OC you get stuck in quickly. I spoke to a client on my first day, and quickly got busy with drafting documents, contacting the land registry and completing property transfers.
As part of my first seat I went on secondment to a property developer client for a month to help with their year end, pushing through the legal side of their sales. I worked as part of the sales team, chasing lawyers for them to get the deals through. It was good to see things from the clients' perspective. The biggest difference between studying and training is recognising the commercial reality of decision making and the various factors that contribute to the commercial decisions of businesses.
The thing I enjoy most about working at OC is the feeling that I'm building on the skills I've already learnt. For my second seat I've chosen to do tax and I really enjoy it. It's a good seat because it's quite technical, with lots of looking up the law and applying it. It might not be obvious, but tax is very fast paced - it changes a lot and you have to keep up to date."
Trainee Solicitor, Bristol