My week at Olliers as an intern – Joseph Davies

Olliers’ Intern Joseph Davies reflects on his week with Olliers as part of their Summer 2024 intern scheme

Despite the obvious shortage of solicitors working in the criminal sector today, especially those able or inclined to work as duty solicitors considering the substantial cuts to legal aid, there remains a surprising lack of opportunity for an aspiring solicitor to really gain some experience or a meaning foothold to begin their career in criminal law.

Having recently completing the LPC I knew that I wanted to focus on criminal law. However, due to my lack of experience at the time of working in an office or firm environment I was pushed into area of law that admittedly I had little interest in pursuing such as immigration law and Court of Protection work.

I was therefore extremely grateful that I was chosen to participate in a weeklong internship at Olliers. For anyone under the impression, perhaps from past experience, that this is the sort of ‘internship’ where your tasks are mainly relegated photocopying, filing and being stuck on brew duty, let me assure you that this is not the case and the experience and learning opportunities that Olliers provides to their interns is second to none.

Magistrates’ Court

I was expecting that on my first day I would be slowly eased into what I was to experience during my week. However, it came as a shock that within 20 minutes of arriving at the office, I was to be shadowing another solicitor, David Philpott, at the Magistrates’ Court.

Whilst there it became apparent to me that once Court opens, how quickly everything can start to flow. I was moved from court room to court room, observing a variety of different cases and even getting the opportunity to ask some questions to the duty solicitor.

My experience at the Magistrates’ Court was very informative regarding the issues a solicitor may face, and you can even get a good bit of cardio in if you avoid using the lift.

Crown Court

On my second day I was to shadow another solicitor, Hannah Poole, in the Crown Court who was representing someone charged with importing a large amount of cannabis from the US into the UK.

What I was to attend was the defendant’s sentencing hearing in which he would be, as per its name, handed his sentence. Once we arrived at the Crown Court, we met with the barrister who would be advocating on behalf of the defendant. Once introductions were made and we had a brief discussion concerning what may sentence may be imposed we made our way down to the cells of the Crown Court.

For those who have not been into the cells of a Crown Court there is quite an oppressive atmosphere, security doesn’t take any chances and the spaces you are put in are quite cramp and would never be described as comfortable.

This was to be only a brief discussion with the defendant prior to the hearing concerning any mitigating circumstances that we may use to reduce his overall sentence. Through the questions asked by both the barrister and solicitor we were able to determine that the defendant have no prior convictions and had used his time in prison wisely, taking various courses and learning opportunities. These factors went a long way in reducing his sentence during his hearing.

My main take away from this experience at the Crown Court is that I got to see for the first time how the receptive roles of both the solicitor and barrister culminate together.

DBS Representations

On my third day I was shown the ropes regarding the DBS and how representations are made. I was given a case in which a client had been presented with a ‘Minded to Bar’ letter, concerning the possibility that they may be included in the Children’s Barred List. I was then given the responsibility of practicing drafting the client’s representation letter back to the DBS.

I found this task a thoroughly fascinating experience as it is not a subject that is commonly taught at either degree or the LPC level. Drafting representations requires you to be extremely detail oriented as well as testing a person’s ability to make a truly persuasive argument.

I would like to thank George Odysseos, for his patience and expertise in explaining to me the best way of approaching the case I was given. I believe that this experience is testament to the level of real responsibility that you are trusted with during an Olliers internship.

Police Station Representation

On my penultimate day I was to shadow another solicitor, Martha Odysseos, at the police station regarding a man who had been arrested on suspicion of section 18 assault (GBH). On this day Olliers were acting as duty solicitors and I was given the opportunity to participate in the initial disclosure of evidence, client interview and the subsequent police interview.

Legal aid cases, which is what this particular case was, are extremely important with regards to the upkeep of the justice system. With many firms and solicitors opting out of participating in the legal aid system, it is very reassuring for me to see that Olliers treats its legal aid cases with the same level of care and professionalism as they do their private client cases.

I think the experience at the police station is a true demonstration as to how Olliers’ internship programme is a real look behind the curtain when it comes to demystifying how the police may gather and use evidence in an interview. Police interviews are not open to the public and therefore many people have never been inside an interview room or have witnessed what goes on in a police station. I would say that this experience was the most informative for me as I would not have been given the opportunity elsewhere.

Discussion with Matthew Claughton

On my final day Matthew Claughton, the firm’s Managing Director, took me aside for a discussion. During this chat it became clear to me that Olliers is dedicated to teaching and inspiring the next generation of solicitors. As I have already said, there are very little opportunities for an aspiring solicitor to even test the waters regarding criminal law. It is therefore truly astounding that Olliers provides an internship programme which includes this level of detail and real opportunity.

I would like to thank everyone involved in my weeklong internship for answering my barrage of questions. I would say to anyone who has an interest in criminal law to apply for this internship programme as the opportunities on offer are second to none. In contrast to my experience with internships Olliers does not treat you like a traditional intern, they don’t pull any punches or mollycoddle, you are treated as a peer but if you are eager to gain real experience I can’t think of a better opportunity.