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December 5 2022

Paralegal Spotlight: Rhea Kamath

Case Studies

Louise Anderson

For our final Paralegal Spotlight of the year, we’re absolutely delighted to shine a light on Rhea Kamath. As a future trainee, Rhea was on the lookout for some valuable experience which could help her to hit the ground running for her TC. We found her the perfect role at Manchester-based decision intelligence company, Peak AI, where she truly thrived.

Take a read to see what Rhea has to say about her experience of working through Flex, and how it’s helped her in her legal career.

Hi Rhea! Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?

I'm Rhea, I'm from Manchester, and I'm a future trainee at Clyde & Co. I did my undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of Manchester, graduating in 2020, and then did my GDL at the University of Law. Before starting in the legal sector, I worked in a range of places, all the way from the Civil Service to small start-ups. I moved to the UK from India 6 years ago, and it's been an adventure ever since!

How did you first become interested in working in law?

When I was applying for university, I never considered that law was a sector I could work in since I didn't like public speaking or arguing. It was only when I started work in the Civil Service and began talking to lawyers as part of my role that I realised that law was the ideal sector for me since it combined a fast pace with a more academic and detail-oriented outlook. I began attending legal events, doing virtual internships, and building my knowledge of the sector by working on contracts within my student society, before eventually starting to work as a paralegal.

Could you tell us a bit about your experience of working through Flex Legal?

Flex helped me at a critical point in my career. I was taking a year's break between my GDL and LPC, and knew I needed paralegal experience to back up my non-legal skills and to help me to excel in my training contract. Flex offered me an assignment to work at an organisation that matched my interests, worked with my personal commitments, and helped me explore working in-house in a field I wanted to practice. My consultant, Jennifer, helped me out the entire way, from helping me get to grips with my first day to eventually extending a 6-week contract to a 5 month long placement.

“Flex helped me at a critical point in my career.”

- Rhea Kamath, Flex Paralegal

Where are you currently working?

I recently left the role that I gained through Flex to prepare for my LPC. Before that, I worked at Peak AI, a decision intelligence organisation which utilises AI to help retail and other commercial firms improve their decision-making processes. I assisted on a huge range of things, from implementing their new legal software to ensuring GDPR compliance, and reviewing various contracts with customers and suppliers. I'm still in touch with many of the people I worked with and know that I can ask them questions anytime.

What have you found most interesting about your recent role?

The number of things that go into a business! Working in-house really gave me a birds-eye view of how a business works. The legal team was involved in every part of the organisation, which helped me to understand how I can support future clients in a way that works for them specifically. I also really enjoyed the GDPR compliance work. I only had a theoretical understanding of how GDPR worked previously, but seeing it applied in a real-world context and interacting with the ICO was very interesting.

What advice would you give to those looking to get into paralegal work?

Don't underestimate your non-law experience! Going into the legal sector without legal expertise behind you may feel quite intimidating, but your non-law experience is incredibly valuable. I brought my experience working for my Student's Union D&I team into our contracts, and my work in a student start-up helped me fit right into the start-up culture. I could pick up on all the legal skills by asking questions, researching, and taking on different types of work, which has given me a solid background in law.

“My role with Flex helped me gain in-house experience in the tech sector, where I would like to work eventually, and which I could not have achieved on my own.”

Rhea Kamath, Flex Paralegal

How has your work through Flex Legal helped to progress your legal career?

My role with Flex helped me gain in-house experience in the tech sector, where I would like to work eventually, and which I could not have achieved on my own. Working in-house has helped to add a new range of skills to my roster and a deeper understanding of what legal clients want from their external counsel, which I will utilise during my training contract. Flex has also helped connect me to my legal mentors at Peak, which have been invaluable.

What do your next steps look like?

I started my LPC in September 2022, and then will be starting my training contract in August 2023.

Additional Resources:

Hire now - want to take on some top quality interim legal professionals like Rhea? Check out our ‘hire’ page to find out how we can help you today.
How we've supported Emerald Publishing with interim lawyers - perhaps Rhea’s experiences have got you wondering what interim legal resourcing could do for your team? Take a look at this case study, where we break down how we supported Emerald Publishing.
Apply to be a Flex Paralegal - interested in what the world of interim paralegal work could look like for you? Well look no further! Click here to learn more, and perhaps even apply!