Here at Regan Peggs Solicitors we are fortunate to be regularly joined by interns from Birmingham City University. This instalment of the Intern’s Diary is written by the firm’s latest intern, Maria Nogueira.
Read previous instalments of the Intern’s Diary here.
Week of 9 July 2018
My first job this week was to complete a task I had started last week – drafting a Letter before Claim (a formal letter that is required to be issued before court proceedings are initiated). I had been keen to get this right so had spent some time researching the necessary points to include. Regan had been pleased with my efforts and had made a number of suggestions to improve the letter, so I spent the morning making some minor changes and preparing the letter for delivery. It was an interesting demonstration of the attention to detail that is required in dealing with every part of a case.
I spent the rest of the day continuing another task I had started last week – organising a client’s medical records into a single document. When I had finished, I then had to contact the client and arrange an appointment for them to come in and discuss their case.
On Wednesday, Regan was at court for the appeal of a client who, as a taxi driver, is accused of refusing to take a passenger with an assistance dog. Having unsuccessfully tried to represent himself in the Magistrates’ Court trial, he has instructed us to help him with his appeal. This is unfortunately a common outcome for clients who attempt to represent themselves, and the resulting appeal process can end up being both costly and time-consuming.
I spent the morning contacting some clients with updates about their cases, including the results of various court hearings. I then did some more work on a case concerning a Fitness to Practice Investigation in which our client, a medical student, is facing disciplinary proceedings at university. I had to carefully read through several statements and contact possible witnesses who can help ensure that our client’s side of things is put fairly.
In the afternoon I worked on an appeal to the Crown Court, relating to a case in which we are contesting the six penalty points our client received after she was convicted in her absence of a serious motoring offence.
On Friday, Regan was at Warwick Crown Court representing an elderly man who is accused of offences in his care home, and I stayed in the office to work on a Defence Cost Order (DCO). A DCO allows defendants who are successful at trial to recover all or part of their legal costs, so this task involved examining the case file and making a note of the time we spent on it, both in court and on correspondence to the client.
In the afternoon, I prepared another Letter before Claim. I was able to do this one much quicker and with much more confidence than last week!
It has been another challenging yet interesting week, and I am pleased with how much hands-on experience I have already gained during my placement – all of which is helping me to increase my legal knowledge and improve my skills.
Read more instalments from the Intern’s Diary
Regan is an accredited mediator and arbitrator. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a panel mediator for ADR ODR International. Regan has experience in mediating commercial, family and local political disputes, and representing his clients in those sessions.
Regan is a former Chair of the Board of Directors at the Birmingham Law Society and a former chair of its Criminal Law Committee. He has been a lecturer for law students at the Open University. He is the only defence solicitor in the UK to be regularly invited to address international military students at the Royal College of Defence Studies.
- UK Motoring Offence Stats: A Closer Look at the Numbers - October 26, 2023
- Are Sat Navs Excuses for Motoring Offences? - October 4, 2023
- Is divorce always 50/50? - August 2, 2023
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.