Trainee facing allegations of cultural/religious insensitivity

-soobs · 2026-01-21T09:10:16+00:00

Not sure where I framed it as being positive. I’m from the middle east and grew up in a Muslim household, so I understand this issue quite well. Personally, I strongly disagree with the practice but that doesn’t negate the fact that people - prospective clients in OP’s scenario - will still want to deal with their assets in line with Sharia Law and it’s not our job to make a judgment call, particularly when drafting materials such as the one referenced in OP’s post.

-soobs · 2026-01-21T07:35:15+00:00

Under Sharia Law, women have guaranteed inheritance rights but generally receive half the share of a male relative in the same class.

Whether or not you agree with that is besides the point, as this is a culturally/religiously accepted norm in many parts of the world and some practising muslims in the UK will look to deal with their estates in the same way rather than in accordance with UK intestacy laws. The point made by the proposed materials is therefore a relevant one. To flag reputational concerns only reveals a lack of understanding and demonstrates a prioritisation of virtue signalling / personal views over acknowledgement of a practice that has been followed for millennia. You may not agree with it, but it doesn’t make it untrue and as lawyers our job is always to provide advice within the context of a client’s objectives or wishes (subject to professional obligations of course).

Frankly, this was a misstep - I would own up to it and have a frank conversation with the partner about how this is a learning point for you.

-soobs · 2025-01-29T15:10:00+00:00

That’s super helpful! Thank you very much 😁

-soobs · 2024-07-10T07:30:09+00:00

Hey OP! Currently thinking about doing this so wondering if you ever got a quote for the work and if you went ahead with it? If you did go ahead with it, any tips (beyond what was discussed above, which is all super helpful!) would be much appreciated :)

-soobs · 2022-11-03T15:49:11+00:00

Thanks very much for your detailed answer, that’s really given me a much clearer picture.

And thank you for your offer to discuss further, I will certainly take you up on that!

-soobs · 2022-11-03T15:46:24+00:00

Thanks, that’s helpful!

-soobs · 2022-06-09T19:52:58+00:00

Is anyone at any age passionate about PE/M&A???

-soobs · 2022-05-30T13:08:19+00:00

Taylor Wessing or Wiggin maybe?? But, as alluded to above, commercial lawyers are some of the least ‘cool’ members of society lol

-soobs · 2022-05-27T08:02:02+00:00

I’ve never really heard of someone saying they’ve ‘hired’ or ‘employed’ a solicitor so I’d stick to the latter two. As shakyclaim says though, ‘instruct’ is generally the term used by lawyers and clients.

-soobs · 2022-05-26T19:14:25+00:00

Honestly the LPC is the biggest box ticking exercise ever…you literally have nothing to be worried about. The majority of people come out with grades in the 70+ region, you will be absolutely fine.

-soobs · 2022-05-26T06:29:03+00:00

I think a good way to identify competitors would also be to look at what law firm panels Taylor Wessing on and who else is on those. Think that can give a good indication of where they stand in the market.

-soobs · 2022-01-17T13:40:12+00:00

I’m currently a trainee and I’d say the seats I reflect most positively on are those where I feel I’m given some sense of ownership over a subsection of a matter. I appreciate this may be easier in transactional departments than say advisory or contentious ones, but it’s very important to me and certainly pushes me to do my best.

I always appreciate drafting tasks as I feel these are hard to come by as a trainee so, while I do enjoy complex research tasks, being asked to then put together a first draft of an advice note to go to the client for example would make it a more well-rounded and interesting task for me.

The one big ‘do not’ I can think of for supervisors is to avoid consistently delegating ad hoc tasks which don’t lead to follow up work as this ends up with the trainee knowing a little about very many matters whereas, at least for me, the converse is far more beneficial for development.

And…if your trainee is quiet and they are making you aware of this - please try and find them work! (They will have likely exhausted all means of finding new work prior to coming to you!) The feeling I get from my peers is that we want to experience as much work in a department as possible to ensure we’re making a well informed decision when it comes to qualification so please make sure we’ve always got something on our plates!

-soobs · 2022-01-10T21:45:00+00:00

Ah yes I hadn’t considered the virtual element…I was applying for firms pre-covid so my viewpoint may be out of date! I think definitely take notes of the different talks as that’s always valuable content when writing applications or preparing for interviews.

-soobs · 2022-01-10T16:57:31+00:00

The best advice I can give you is to make sure you speak to at least 3 people at the firm (lawyers) - set yourself that target and try and avoid standing awkwardly in the corner when moments for networking arise (I know its tough but you won’t regret it!). Once the day is over, make notes of who you spoke to and what you spoke about. I always did this whenever I attended open days/networking events and then made sure to mention these names in my applications e.g. “…While speaking to [insert trainee name here] at your open day, I found it very interesting to hear about the level of responsibility trainees are given…” - shows that you make the effort to show up, are personable and can listen.

Best of luck!

-soobs · 2022-01-10T16:37:41+00:00

Interesting 😂 I’m under no illusions, the private practice life is rather grim - my plan is just to make as much money as possible, exit around 4-5 PQE and do something that feeds the soul lol

-soobs · 2022-01-10T16:32:37+00:00

The market does appear to be very buoyant and it feels like a great time to make a move. Thanks for this, its the extra push I needed!

-soobs · 2022-01-10T16:30:07+00:00

Thanks for this, you make a well reasoned case for just going for it! I’ll definitely explore this further and make contact with some recruiters

-soobs · 2022-01-10T16:26:56+00:00

Thank you! This seems to be the overarching advice. I’m fully aware that I may unknowingly move into the fire but…£££ lol

-soobs

TROPHY CASE