Why Did I Become a Trainee Solicitor?

Hear from Darren, a second year Trainee Solicitor in one of our UK offices. He tells us what inspired him to choose law.

As I am now in the fourth and final seat of my training contract, I am going through our firm’s internal qualification process and I have taken some time to reflect on my journey to law, and what inspired my career choices to date.

I am currently sat in our firms Aviation Liability department, and while this is a large practice area for Clyde & Co, aviation law is only serviced by a handful of firms in the wider legal industry. Aviation has been one of the teams I have wanted to do a seat in since accepting my training contract offer, however, after recent reflection, my journey to my fourth seat seems to have started long before applying to Clyde & Co.

My mum, cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic, recently landed back from Johannesburg and on landing day she celebrated 28 years with the airline, having joined the business back in 1997. She even managed to dig out a photo of her first flight of us after maternity leave!

This really made me reflect on my journey to and interest in law, aviation and the wider transport sector. Through my mum’s position with the airline, I have been travelling long before I can remember, and I have fond memories of spending time with my mum in the gallies of the old A340-600’s and 747-400’s!

 At 13, I joined my local RAF Air Cadet squadron and stayed until I aged out at 20 (at which point you have to become a staff member), having made the penultimate rank of Cadet Flight Sergeant. My passion for the cadets was likely spurred on by aviation experience with my mum, and the cadets allowed me to deepen my interest – I was able to undertake flying lessons, gliding and a flight in a chinook helicopter from RAF Odiham as well as gaining a BTEC in Aviation Studies.

Throughout my time in the RAF Air Cadets, I continued accompanying my mum on work trips alongside finishing my A-levels and starting my law degree. It was during this time that I began pursuing my career in law. I knew that I wanted to apply to firms that had strong transport sectors, as I wanted to trial seats in these departments to see if my aviation / transport interests aligned with legal work.

Through that process, I landed my training contract with Clyde & Co, a firm founded in the maritime industry, and one with a market leading aviation practice. I have been able to undertake a seat in our EMNR (Energy, Marine and Natural Resources) practice group, as well as currently sitting in our Aviation Liability team.

While the qualification process is still ongoing, this period of reflection has really emphasised the importance to me of ensuring that my interests and passions were central to my career path and in finding a law firm that aligned with the same. This is always the core piece of advice I give to prospective Clyde & Co applications / law students – make sure you find your fit and know why you want to apply to X firm and align with their practices and values.