Current seat: Asbestos-Related Disease Claims
University: University of Law
Degree: Law (Upper 2nd Class)
8.55am: I start my day by checking my emails and looking at what meetings I have in the diary for today. I also have a look at my task list to decide what needs to be prioritised today, as well as add any new tasks that have been delegated to me.
9.15am: If I do have any client meetings or conferences with counsel later on in the day, I will email the fee earner to ensure that everything is in hand ahead of the meeting. As all of our meetings have to take place virtually, I also send an email to the client to check that they have received the meeting details.
9.30am: I begin drafting a letter of instruction to an expert to review our client’s medical records and prepare a report commenting on their life expectancy as a result of their diagnosis of mesothelioma. I include a background of the case, an update on our client’s current symptoms along with the technical questions that we need the expert to answer in their report. I also prepare a list of enclosures to be included with the letter. I then send this to my supervisor to review.
11.00am: I then move onto a research task which involves researching and locating information in relation to our client’s previous employer. I search Companies House and the company information portal for any companies that match the previous employers name, address and dates of employment. I then search the company’s name on the insurance database in order to identify any insurance policies that were in place during our client's period of employment. I outline my findings in a file note and send this to my supervisor with some suggested next steps.
11.30am: I then prepare for my catch up with my supervisor. I update my task list and come up with suggested next steps for any cases that I have previously worked on to assist in progressing the claim.
11.45am: I attend a meeting with my supervisor over Microsoft Teams in order to go through my task list and discuss deadlines for any upcoming work to assist me in prioritising my workload. I also outline what I consider to be the next steps with my supervisor and we formulate a plan.
12.15pm: Following on from our meeting I add any additional tasks to my task list and prepare a file note of the discussions for each case discussed.
12.30pm: I take my lunch break and often arrange to have a Microsoft Teams call with a member of my team or a fellow trainee in order to catch up on how work is going and ensure that I still have an element of social interaction whilst we are working from home.
1.00pm: I attend the charity committee meeting in order to discuss any upcoming fundraisers and discuss any other ideas in order to raise as much money as we can for our Charity of the Year.
1.45pm: I prepare for the conference with counsel and the client by reading through the instructions to counsel and any other significant documents such as the letter of claim and the client’s witness statement.
2:00pm: I attend a virtual conference with counsel, the client and the fee earner. The conference takes place via Microsoft Teams. The barrister was taking our client through his previous employment in order to assist us in identifying when our client was exposed to asbestos. This information will then be used to add to and strengthen our client’s witness statement before it is disclosed to the Defendant inviting them to admit liability. I make a detailed note of what was discussed and prepare a succinct action plan to be sent to the fee earner together with my note following the conference.
3.45pm: I finalise my conference note and send it to the fee earner.
4.00pm: Following on from the conference I start making the necessary amendments to our client’s witness statement and send the amended statement to the fee earner for their comments and approval. I also contact a previous colleague that the client mentioned in the conference in order to arrange a time to take a witness statement from them later on in the week.
5.30pm: I make sure that all of my time for the day has been posted on the time management system and check that I have completed all of the tasks that needed to be completed that day before logging off.
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