LawCare is a charity funded by the legal profession set up to provide a listening and support service. LawCare is there to help all branches of the legal profession from student to retirement: solicitors, barristers, barrister’s clerks, judges, Chartered Legal Executives, paralegals, trade mark attorneys, patent attorneys, costs lawyers and their staff and families.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and LawCare is asking legal professionals to share moments in their legal career when someone showed them kindness. Life in the legal profession is tough. Our job is to solve problems and perfection is expected as the standard in everything we do. Kindness goes a long way in this pressured environment!
Here are some of the Julie West Solicitors team’s moments of kindness:
I did some work experience with a Fleet Street law firm in my last university summer vacation. The newly qualified young solicitor charged with my supervision generously took me under his wing and we embarked on a series of lunchtime walking tours to help me find my feet in legal London. We ate our packed lunches together sitting on a bench in Middle Temple, we explored the lovely gardens of Lincoln’s Inn, we went to the Law Society in Chancery Lane where he bought me a coffee and a KitKat and chatted about this and that, relating anecdotes about life in the law. That kind young man Henry Frydenson MBE (Frydenson & Co) opened up a whole new world to me. He inspired me to press ahead with a career in law and is now Chairman of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists.
“When we first entered lockdown, Julie West Solicitors made sure that we were all supported by a “buddy” that we could talk to about anything, not necessarily work related. Carolyn (our office manager) is my buddy, and she has been fantastic especially when I am feeling low, she has been my rock, we chat daily to boost each other and end up laughing by the end of each call. It’s great to know that even though we are not together in the office, she is always there to talk to.”
“My moment of kindness was Julian McEvoy (Julian McEvoy Family Law) seeing me panicking during one of my assignments as a trainee solicitor and dropping everything to come over and show me the Red Book (required reading for family lawyers - as a baby trainee at this point I had never heard of it!) Julian took the time to talk me through the problem I was trying to solve and show me where to find the answer. I studied the book, completed the task and helped my client. Julian taking the time to help me turned a “bad” day into a good day.”
Trainee solicitor Martin Whitehorn:
“Out of all the moments of kindness my training principal and head of my firm Julie West has shown me, I’ll pick the moment Julie confirmed she would second me to another law firm so I may complete the requisite areas of law to qualify as a solicitor. Julie continued to pay my salary during this time and I am forever grateful for her support and encouragement.
In short, I feel valued and appreciated. Julie has enhanced not only my competence as a property lawyer, but also helped me grow into a junior lawyer who actively contributes to my firm.”
“During a stressful day with a lot to do and deadlines looming, I took a phone call from a difficult client. It left me shell shocked the following morning. When I arrived at the office I was dreading what other things I could do wrong. I sat at my desk and when I turned on my computer I saw a postit note on my desk. It said "keep being amazing". It almost made me cry. The previous day it felt like nobody had noticed what had been happening to me, I was so comforted that somebody else had noticed and taken the time to do that small thing that absolutely made my day.”
Share your own moment of kindness using #momentofkindness and tagging @LawCareLtd on Twitter, or LawCare on Facebook and Linkedin.
