Becca contributes to our growing Private Equity sector during her training contract

Understanding the commercial landscape is crucial to delivering impactful legal advice. That’s why we focus on seven core client sectors, immersing ourselves in the unique challenges and opportunities each industry presents. For trainees, this sector-driven approach begins on day one through alignment to a sector team as a ‘sector trainee’. Becca Willis, Trainee Solicitor, tells us how this role enabled her to develop her commercial awareness through contributing to business development activity and client initiatives.

Contributing to a growing sector

I was placed as a sector trainee with our Private Equity sector team. I was really excited about developing my knowledge in an area that is not only crucial to the firm’s growth but also one in which I was keen to build expertise. The Private Equity sector is rapidly expanding within the firm, and joining the team as sector trainee gave me the unique opportunity to gain a firsthand insight into how we are growing our offering in this area.

I’ve been involved in a variety of projects since joining the sector team - from working closely with our in-house tech team to explore possible solutions to a client challenge, to pulling together research which contributed towards a pitch for a prospective client, putting together a structure chart to help identify a client solution  and drafting articles on a range of matters which would be interesting to a client in the sector. Whilst juggling these responsibilities alongside my seat has been challenging, it has helped me build and develop business skills alongside my legal expertise.

My time as a trainee in the Private Equity sector team has also provided me with a deeper understanding of the firm’s sector-based approach and growth strategy. With the sector growing rapidly, good collaboration and cross-departmental engagement is critical for a transaction to progress smoothly. For instance, in mergers and acquisitions, the nature of the work requires input from various teams, from commercial and IP to employment and real estate, and being involved in these transactions has shown me how essential it is to understand not only how our internal teams at Foot Anstey work, but also the landscape in which the client is operating. This awareness enables us to be better advisors which strengthens client relationships and helps us provide a 360 offering to our clients.

Boosting confidence and skills

The standout highlight of this experience has been the level of responsibility and trust the team placed in me. The work I’ve been entrusted with has often been something new, pushing me to find solutions independently and work through challenges with guidance from a variety of colleagues. This level of responsibility has been invaluable in helping me grow my confidence and I’ve appreciated the opportunity to learn how to be a more commercially aware lawyer through hands-on experience.

Balancing the demands of the sector work alongside my main seat responsibilities sometimes felt overwhelming. However, with the continuous support of my supervisors, regularly communicating progress and deadlines with key contacts, and developing my own organisational systems, I was able to manage my workloads. This experience has certainly helped me refine my ability to manage multiple priorities and work efficiently under pressure.

A unique experience

For me, the trainee sector role is a unique selling point of the firm, offering trainees a dynamic and varied experience that sets them up for long-term success, providing a great learning opportunity in a practice area the trainee might not have otherwise experienced. The opportunity helps trainees broaden their horizons in ways that go beyond the traditional seat structure by offering the chance to work with teams within the firm but outside of the trainee's current seat.