“My name is Jasmin Brown, and I am a third-year Law and Sociology LLB student at Kent Law School. I was educated in Bermuda, Curacao, and the Netherlands, but the majority of my education took place in the Netherlands. Since I am from Bermuda and therefore return there every summer, I try to get internship experience and work while I am home. Luckily, there are many opportunities in Bermuda for law students. The internships I have completed have even been in global firms such as Appleby and Walkers which makes for great exposure and experience.
The firms I have interned with keep us interns involved, giving us real work such as drafting, research, and participating in networking events. I applied because I interned at Appleby last summer as well but only for a month and I really wanted to experience a longer internship such as this eight week one. The selection process I went through was filling out an online application while including my curriculum vitae, my grades, and an essay outlining why they should choose me, my skills, experience, etc. After being successful in this step of the process, I was invited to an interview with an HR employee, an associate, and a partner where they asked me everything from the current legal issues to my strengths and weaknesses.
This summer I completed my fifth internship where they decided to have us experience and take lead on an 8-week mock trial. This mock trial did not only entail the actual trial (opening statements, examination in chief, reply, cross-examination, and closing statements) but also the background documentation that is normally necessary during a trial such as service letters, filing letters, writ of summons, particulars of claim, reply to defence, list of documents, affidavit verifying list of documents, hearing bundle, authorities bundle, and skeleton arguments. This also included organising, interviewing the client, and taking notes during client meetings, billing our time for the clients’ costs etc.
I did not do this alone as there were six interns in total and there is only a plaintiff and a defendant’s side. Therefore, there were two teams of three. The teams were both appointed one legal trainee that acted as the partner of our fictional firm for guidance. During the trial, I was appointed to deliver the opening statement which included answering initial questions from the judge, cross examine the defendant, and cross examine one key witness.
Unfortunately my team lost the personal injury case (Plaintiff’s side), but we won the overall performance of 8 weeks of trial work including the drafting of the documents, team work, correspondence with the client and our partner, and last but not least we received amazing appraisal from our mentors, all lawyers from the firm that came to spectate and the judge! This being said, my name will be engraved on the plaque seen in the photo alongside my teammates’ and presented in the firm’s office.
At Kent I participated in the Mock Trial Advocacy module last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is why I was so excited to partake in this Mock Trial opportunity. Even though Mock Trial Advocacy was such a fun and educational experience, it was great that this Mock Trial at my internship included drafting, filing, and serving the necessary documents with the court. The Bar Training/Practice Course that I plan to complete will involve learning about these documents and how to draft them so now I feel like I might be more prepared than expected.
Regardless of if you are planning to become a solicitor or a barrister, gaining experience is key I have found. If you already have experience or certain knowledge on your curriculum vitae, it could set you apart from other applicants. I know for solicitors, the industry especially in London is incredibly competitive and daunting, but even the smaller firms will help towards your academic, personal, and professional development.”