At the tender age of 14, I made the decision that I wanted to become a lawyer. A careers adviser at the time said that I couldn’t become a lawyer because it would be too difficult as I was Deaf. That was probably the best thing he could have ever said to me, as it just made me more determined to succeed.

During A Levels, I applied to the customary six universities, but the A Level European History teacher put me off applying to do a Law degree, as her son was a Cambridge University graduate and he couldn’t get a training contract. If that was true, then what chance did I have? This led me to apply to read History instead of Law.

After the first term at University of Wales Swansea during the 1998/1999 academic year, I began to have second thoughts about the History degree (although I was enjoying it), and made enquiries as to whether I could switch courses. The answer was affirmative, but there was a catch; I’d have to start the first year of the Law degree in the academic year 1999/2000, pushing me behind. The parents weren’t too thrilled with the idea, and I didn’t like the idea of having to work from January to August in the meantime. I decided to stick with my History degree, having obtained advice from the university’s Careers Centre, who informed me that I could do a conversion course after my degree, known as the Common Professional Examination or Postgraduate Diploma in Law, for a year. This course is specifically for non-law graduates.

So, having completed my History degree, I applied for a place on the CPE at the University of the West of England, Bristol, which was accepted. The CPE was the hardest thing I’ve ever done – it was non-stop studying for a full academic year, bearing in mind that it’s the equivalent of of a three-year Law degree crammed into one year. I managed to pass it, and enrolled on the Legal Practice Course or Diploma in Legal Practice at Cardiff University.

Then came the difficult part, securing a training contract. I applied for over 150 training contracts since 2001, and despite having about 11 interviews, wasn’t offered one. I started work at the Royal Association for Deaf People in June 2003, the week after I completed the LPC, as an Advice Worker, and eventually was able to arrange a secondment to South West London Law Centres to do an 18-month training contract, beginning on 28 November 2005. Wanting to specialise in Employment Law, I arranged an additional secondment to Hugh James Solicitors for the last five months of the training contract, which ended this week.

So, I’ve now reached my goal – I’m a qualified solicitor, due to be admitted to the roll on 1 June 2007.

So, what’s next? After having worked in the public sector for four years, the aim is to obtain a position as an Employment Solicitor in private practice, in the South Wales or South West area. I’d like to get a few years’ experience under my belt, and perhaps get promoted to Associate or Partner level, and then set up my own law firm with some mates.

• Attended professional conduct and suitability hearings;
• Compiled ET1s, ET3s;
• Drafted lists of documents, letters of advice, notification of disciplinary hearings and suspensions, grievances, sex, disability and race questionnaires, instructions to counsel;
• Produced training materials; and
• Drafted policies, contracts of employment, procedures, guidance notes, and articles for publication;

You may wonder what I’m doing next. Basically, I will be returning to the Royal Association for Deaf People full-time, continuing my role as a Casework Supervisor, but also developing RAD’s Legal Services, and taking on fee-earning work.

I’m looking for a Newly Qualified position as an Employment Solicitor/Lawyer in the Cardiff and Bristol area, and would be prepared to commute as far as Swansea, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Bath, as I am due to qualify on 27 May 2007.

I don’t like the way they recruit solicitors. Most law firms recruit using recruitment agencies, and there are literally hundreds of them specialising in legal recruitment. Advertisements are usually anonymous, so you don’t know which firms you’re applying to. If a law firm is advertising through multiple agencies, you don’t know whether you’re applying for the same position in the same firm.

When a seemingly new position that I’m interested in pops up in my searches, I apply, and then I hear nothing. Communication is non-existent. If I apply for a job through a recruitment agency that I haven’t had contact with before, they usually ring me up the next day enthusiastic about my potential, get a few details and send me a letter in the post asking for a copy of my passport for ID purposes. I do as requested, and then hear nothing from them.

There are a number of positions I am particularly keen on, but I don’t hear anything, and as I don’t know the name of the firm, I can’t contact them to check whether they’ve received my application. How do we really know that the recruiters are actually submitting our CVs? It scares me to think that I could be missing out on opportunities.

I really don’t know how to handle this. I guess I’ve just got to plow ahead and hope that my luck will come in one day soon.

It really struck home recently on how near I am to qualifying, as I received a letter from the Solicitors Regulation Authority at, which is independent of the Law Society, asking me to complete a CRB application form, so that I may be admitted to the roll of solicitors. It has to be completed 6-8 weeks prior to my intended admission date, which will be 28 May 2007.

Getting to this stage has taken me six years, two of those were taken up with hard studies at UWE and Cardiff, and then I became an Advice Worker at RAD, a role that continued until 28 November 2005, which was when I started my secondment/training contract at South West London Law Centres. Strictly speaking, I have two roles at RAD. As well as being a trainee solicitor, I’m also a casework supervisor, supervising the casework of six members of staff, as well as four members of staff at deafPLUS. This basically entails the provision of information about various issues, advising advisers on how to deal with difficult clients or situations, and conducting regular file reviews of cases, to assess whether the advice being provided is comprehensive and of sufficient quality.

However, as I wanted more experience in employment law, I arranged a further secondment to Hugh James Solicitors, in their Employment and HR Services department in Cardiff. I have learnt a lot in the short time I have been there, and with each day, I’m more confident about working in private practice as an Employment Solicitor.

My aim is to secure a job as an Employment Solicitor post May 2007, in a private practice firm in either Cardiff or Bristol. I have been put forward for a number of posts, and I am still waiting to hear whether I will be offered an interview. So watch this space.

All in all, it’s quite an exciting period of my life, in that I don’t know what’s going to happen to me this year. Will I continue working for RAD as a qualified solicitor? Will I be leaving RAD and become fully immersed into the private sector? Where will I be working?

I have already completed two modules:

• Client Care and Professional Standards; and
• Financial and Business Skills.

Financial and Business Skills required that I sat a one and a half hour exam consisting of multiple choice questions and two case studies, which I did on 19 June 2006. I received a letter today informing me that I passed it, so I’m pleased.

I’m starting the Advocacy & Communication Skills module next Tuesday, and I’ve got a one-day elective in Litigation Drafting Skills next Monday, in Cardiff. My final elective, How to Conduct Unfair Dismissal Proceedings, will take place on 13 November 2006, in Birmingham.

The course in London has been taking place at Regent’s College. It’s dead posh there, unlike Crosskeys College and the other colleges in South Wales I could have gone to to do my A Levels. Surrounded by Regent’s Park, it is a really pleasant place to walk to from Baker Street station, with lakes, fresh air and stillness, as opposed to the busy pace of city life.

This led me to think: with the rise in the number of Deaf professionals now entering a specialist profession, should we be worried that there are insufficient BSL/English Interpreters with the adequate knowledge and training in order to reflect the professionalism and expertise of the Deaf person they are working for?

It is a concern I have. Because I am a good lip-reader, I sometimes understand what my terps say when they’re voicing me over. A few times now I’ve had concerns about whether they are translating things accurately.

Another problem I have is the fact that because sometimes I know exactly what word I want them to use, it can be difficult to incorporate that into my BSL, so I end up mouthing or even whispering the word.

The worry I have is that BSL/English Interpreters are not reflecting the professionalism of Deaf professionals well enough, which in turn makes colleagues, interviewers etc. uncertain as to whether we are up to the job. Is this another form of discrimination? Is this another reason to support the argument that indirect discrimination should be introduced under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995?

I’m sure some of you, particularly those of you who know that I’ve been trying to secure a training contract for four years, would like to know how my training is going.

It’s now been almost two months since I started my training with South West London Law Centres, and all is going swimmingly. Most of the past two months have been focused on clearing my RAD caseload, as well as focusing on my casework supervision duties for the Advice team, and I am now starting to accept Deaf clients referred to me by RAD for the law centre. My first case will be a former RAD client of mine, who is facing possession proceedings for eviction. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into that case.

I am still covering two advice surgeries for RAD, but with the handing over of Romford on Wednesdays to Laura, I now have up to four days a week at the law centre (three days when I go to Brixton on a Tuesday). It has been a massive improvement.

The Law Society requires that all trainees keep a training record of the work completed and the skills used during the casework, and I have been doing this, and also, I am currently sorting out funding for BSL/English Interpreters on my Professional Skills Course. At the moment, BPP Law School are insisting that *I* pay for the BSL/English Interpreters, and having thrown the DDA 1995 at them, I’m waiting for a response from the Course Director. Will let you know what happens.

All in all, I’m a happy bunny!

As you know, I started my 18-month training contract on 28 November 2005 with South West London Law Centres, based at Croydon & Sutton Law Centre. I have to say that I’ve been really lucky. I’ve secured a training contract employed by RAD, which, despite its faults, is an organisation that I am proud to work for. I am on the same salary as I was as an advice worker, which is an added bonus, and Linda has agreed not to tie me to RAD after the completion of my training contract, knowing full well that once it’s done, I’ll want to move back to Wales to be with Rachel.

The staff I’m working with are all really nice. They have all comfortably adapted to life with a Deaf trainee and his BSL/English Interpreter. Nick, my supervisor, is great and knowledgeable, and I feel I can learn a lot from him, as well as Maria (immigration), Cherry (benefits) and Lisa (employment). I have my own desk with my own stationery, and an IT consultant was there to set up my laptop to access the LAN on my first day. They couldn’t have been more welcoming if they tried.

My main focus will be on RAD clients referred to me by the advice workers, but I will be working on some cases with the solicitors as and when required. So the next 18 months should prove to be an interesting experience. Things have been hampered a little because of the impending Christmas period and also because I’m still covering advice surgeries for RAD, but hopefully once a new advice worker is recruited, things should ease up a bit.

All in all, I’m one happy bunny.

What was that all about? Well, you all know that my training contract with SWLLC starts on 28 November 2005. I was offered an interview for a law firm in Cardiff, Thomas Graham, and I was one of four candidates they wished to interview. You can imagine my excitement, and all the attempts to keep my hopes and expectations down, in the event of bitter disappointment.

Over the past month or so, we have tried to arrange an interview date, but this has been beset by delays. This morning, however, I received an email to inform me that they are unable to offer me an interview and the position has been put on hold. So that’s that. My dream of securing a training contract in Wales dashed, an opportunity to move back to Wales permanently gone.

While this is a bitter pill to swallow, at least I do have a training contract. I am looking forward to it. I’m going to be working with a really good training provider, the law centre, and will be working with a bunch of good people. The best thing of all, however, is the fact that I will continue to be employed by RAD.

May 2007, here we come!

My training contract with RAD/WMLC will commence on Monday 28 November 2005.

This means that I am now able to fulfil my dream of becoming a qualified solicitor; something I’ve wanted to do since I was 15 years old.

However, it’s a little bit funny. I’m so thrilled about it all, and yet, it’s such an anti-climax. I always thought that when I get a training contract, I would be bouncing up and down for days. However, instead of being happy, I just feel so angry. Angry at the fact that it’s taken four years to get a training contract.

I’ve been hearing about other people who want to be solicitors who have not even yet finished their LLBs walking into a training contract with a City law firm at a starting salary of £35,000pa, and getting their LPC paid for by the firm, plus maintenance grants. I’ve got friends who I did the LPC with already qualified solicitors, and others who are over halfway through their training contracts. And yet, I’m only just starting mine. I finished my LPC 2.5 years ago.

Why have all these people had all the luck? I do consider myself lucky; particularly as I was lucky to find myself working for RAD and having Linda Isaac as my line manager, as it paved the way for a secondment to a law centre. I do feel vindicated because I know I earned this training contract; I’ve worked bloody hard as an advice worker for the past 2.5 years, and now I’m getting a just reward. But there’s still something inside of me that feels wronged.

This anger is something I wasn’t expecting to feel, and I don’t really understand it.

The main thing is, however, I do have a training contract. Halleujah!