The Flex Legal blog

Lauren Connolly’s path to becoming a solicitor and now Legal Counsel in Privacy & AI was anything but traditional. Her journey is a powerful story of resilience, strategic career navigation, and the transformative impact of finding a true specialism. After returning from nearly three years working in business administration and logistics in Australia and completing her postgraduate law conversion (PGDL), Lauren found the standard path to qualification “opaque” and overly competitive. She knew her goal was to “use her brain constantly,” but faced the daunting prospect of self-funding her studies while pursuing elusive training contracts.

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Yeelen, who has worked through Flex at magic circle law firm, Freshfields. Take a read to hear all about his experience!

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Daniyal, a multilingual LLB Law Graduate, who has worked on multiple Flex placements, from Huel to Freshfields. Take a read to hear all about his experience!

We absolutely love shining a spotlight on our stand-out paralegals. This time, we were delighted to have a chat with Anastasios, a bilingual paralegal. After flourishing on a law firm placement through Flex, Anastasios is now thriving again at Summize, an innovative legal tech company. Here's what he has to say about working through Flex Legal!

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge catalyst for change. Two years later and hybrid working has become an established part of the ‘new normal’. In our latest virtual lunch event, we explored how junior lawyers can best navigate this new way of working. Take a read for our top takeaways.

For our latest Junior Lawyer Lunch, we were joined by ESG experts, Simone Davidson, Head of LexisPSL Environment, and Simon Colvin, Partner at Weightmans. Here's a summary of their valuable insight into why ESG should be important to junior lawyers and how you can make a real difference.

Book a place at July's Junior Lawyer Lunch Event. This is a continuation of our Junior Lawyer Virtual Lunches, which offer industry insights, professional tips and networking opportunities.

We're casting our Paralegal Spotlight on the wonderful Adilla Jamaludin! Adilla has been on the Flex platform since January this year, and was quickly snatched up for a Family Law placement. Learn more about Adilla's Flex journey by watching her spotlight video!

Marciano has been working as an interim paralegal through Flex Legal since October 2020. We’re so proud of the fantastic work he has carried out at various top law firms through Flex, and so we had a quick chat with him to discuss his journey so far and to see what advice he'd give to any other aspiring legal professionals.

In association with LexisNexis, for our April Junior Lawyer Lunch Event Tarun Tawakley, Partner at Lewis Silkin, and Chloe Mason-Williams, Head of Legal at EDF Energy, will be helping you to understand what it means to be commercial as a lawyer.

In our latest Junior Lawyer Lunch, Harry Mellor and Holly Moore talked about how the O Shaped Lawyer promotes a more rounded approach to legal work, and the importance of client-centric skills for future lawyers. Here's a summary of the key takeaways.

Application season is well underway! If you're looking to break into a career in law, you're going to have to contend with open days sooner or later. Here are our top tips for getting the most out of them, and how to make a great impression!

Legal job interviews are terrifying affairs riddled with intimidating questions. But they don't have to be! Here's our comprehensive guide on giving good answers in legal job interviews.

Alice Stephenson is a fearless challenger to the legal status quo, and we were delighted to welcome her to the Humans of Law podcast. Alongside Mary Bonsor, she discusses battling online trolls and shaping the future of the legal profession.

Book a place at November's Junior Lawyer Lunch, where Christopher Tart-Roberts, Head of Lawtech at Macfarlanes, will talk through what tech & key skills junior lawyers should have a grasp on to accelerate their career and become a valuable team member.

The legal industry is a behemoth, and timesheets are the lifeblood that course through its legislative veins. Working in law means you'll be filling out a lot of timesheets. There's a definite art to doing this, so read our 10 timesheet tips now!

We were recently asked: “How do I secure a paralegal role without any law firm experience nor the LPC?” The simple answer is: it will be tricky. However, we have set out some clear steps you can take below to build your experience and really make your applications stand out.

We catch up with Ali, who recently landed a permanent position as UserZoom following a Flex Legal placement. He shares all kinds of helpful tips and advice for making the most of Flex positions.

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Asad, a Flex paralegal working as a Litigation Executive for a Top 500 law firm. Take a read to hear all about his experience!

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Diana, a multilingual LLB Law Graduate, who has worked through Flex at magic circle law firm, Freshfields. Take a read to hear all about her experience!

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Daniyal, a multilingual LLB Law Graduate, who has worked on multiple Flex placements, from Huel to Freshfields. Take a read to hear all about his experience!

At Flex Legal, we absolutely love bringing communities of legal professionals together. Our Junior Lawyer Lunches are a great example of this, and this year we’re proud to have had over 1,000 attendees throughout our events. For anyone looking for a quick recap, here’s a rundown of all our sessions throughout 2022!

Our Paralegal Spotlight is being cast again... this time in the direction of the incredible future trainee Amy Hopkins! After coming to us in July on the lookout for some valuable legal experience, Amy has flourished on an in-house placement at leading consumer insights platform, Zappi. Take a read to see what Amy has to say about her Flexperience.

We're delighted to announce that the latest Flex paralegal we'd like to place a spotlight on is the wonderful Jack Enright, who has made such an incredible impression during his long-standing litigation placement at Provenio that he's now secured a permanent role there. Read this blog to hear all about his experience of using Flex!

We're delighted to announce that the latest Flex paralegal we'd like to place a spotlight on is the wonderful multilingual GDL graduate, Tiffany Tang, who has made an incredible impression during her placement at Tensar. Read this blog to hear all about her experience of using Flex.

In association with LexisNexis, For this instalment of our Junior Lawyer Lunch sessions, we are absolutely thrilled to be joined by the notorious Peter Watson, CEO of Watson's Daily! It should be a fantastic session that will leave you better equipped to conduct effective commercial research.

Every paralegal who applies to Flex Legal needs to complete an onboarding interview. This post covers what to expect from the interview itself, as well as what you should take care of before and after the interview.

In association with The Law Society and LexisNexis, for our March Junior Lawyer Lunch Event we'll be hosting a panel of senior lawyers to listen to what you as junior lawyers feel about the culture and ethics of the legal industry currently.

Giana Narciso is the subject of 2022's first Paralegal Spotlight! Watch Giana talk about her experiences working through Flex, and her advice to other aspiring legal professionals, in the video here!

Book a place at February's Junior Lawyer Lunch Event. This is a continuation of our Junior Lawyer Virtual Lunches, which offer industry insights, professional tips and networking opportunities.

We're delighted to announce that our POTM for December 21 is the incredible Antony Christopherson! Antony has excelled during his Flex placement at NJF Capital, the venture capital arm of NJF Holdings. We had a chat with him to hear all about his experience of working through Flex.

For the first time ever, we assembled a podcast panel! We invited three aspiring lawyers to talk about the different routes they're taking into the legal profession - Rhiana Assi, Hattie Rawlings, and Daniel Onafuwa.

Reflective learning? That’s just a waste of time, right? Wrong! It’s very easy to get caught up in the working world, so people rarely stop to think about what they’ve learned and achieved. This blog article explores what reflective learning actually is, and its personal and professional benefits.

With the SQE examinations rapidly approaching, it's wise to be thinking about the flexibility of the QWE requirements on offer. Read this article to learn more about your QWE, and how to get the most out of your SQE qualification!

We catch up with the wonderful Iliana to find out how she's finding trainee life at Wikborg Rein.

Law firm assessment centres are notoriously challenging - but they're not impossible. These 10 tips can give you the little bit of know-how to give you the edge you need to succeed.

There's nothing we love more than highlighting the fantastic work of our paralegals, lawyers and trainees. This month we were thrilled to have a chat with Devon, who has worked through Flex as a Competition Paralegal at Stewarts. Take a read to hear all about her experience!

The role of the Company Secretary is on the rise. As a route for those interested in businesses and how they operate, it offers the perfect alternative if you are on the look-out for a career outside of the law. But what is a Company Secretary? Who can follow this career path? And how can you become one through Flex Legal?

Law firm assessment centres are notoriously challenging. They are designed to push you and to establish how well you perform under pressure. It can’t be denied that they are incredibly competitive… but they're not impossible. Here are our top 5 tips to give you the edge and help you succeed!

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. Here's how it all went!

Legal ops is the latest buzz word on every lawyers' lips, but what does it actually mean? And why is it so important? We were lucky enough to recently be joined by Beejal Patel, Legal Systems Manager at Diageo, at our latest Junior Lawyer Lunch. Take a read of this blog summary to learn all about the rise in legal ops!

At Flex Legal, we truly understand how competitive the legal industry can be for aspiring lawyers, and how draining it is sending out hundreds of CV’s a week, only to receive piles of rejections in return. Take a read of this blog post for our top tips on how to ensure your CV stands out from the crowd, for all the right reasons!

For the last instalment of our Junior Lawyer Lunches, we were joined by the notorious Peter Watson, CEO of Watson's Daily. Here are his top tips on how to effectively improve and hone your commercial awareness.

Document review is a bread and butter task within the paralegal world. As a legal professional, the importance of having a good grasp of document review cannot be overstated. Read our comprehensive guide to paralegal-level document review here!

In association with LexisNexis, for May's Event, our very own Sabina Gabrielczyk, Account Management Associate at Flex, will be joined by Maaike de Bie, GC and Company Secretary at easyJet, for an exclusive fireside chat.

We're delighted to announce that the latest Flex paralegal we'd like to place a spotlight on is the wonderful Shannon Grant! Shannon has made such an incredible impression during her placement with DWF, that she has now transferred permanently to the client. We had a chat with Shannon to hear all about her experience of using Flex.

Are you keen to gain some paralegal experience but still feel unsure about flexible interim work? Let us dispel your worries and read our top 5 reasons for law graduates to join Flex Legal today.

The Commercial Development Scheme is a programme for future lawyers, either with or without training contracts, who are looking to hone their commercial skills before they start their legal careers.

If you're isolating, recovering or relaxing this winter, Flex Legal is here to help. We’ve rounded up our top 10 legal films and TV series to keep you entertained, motivated and inspired.

Book a place at December's Junior Lawyer Lunch, where Rory Oake, Consultant at Ardea International, will deliver a talk on everything Junior Lawyers should know about modern slavery - including how they can identify and combat it.

We launched our brand new Flex Legal SQE Journal in May and since then, we’ve had well over 25,000 qualifying work experience (QWE) hours recorded by SQE candidates. We caught up with Luana Gomes Medalha show you what a great tool it can be for QWE supervisors, as well a SQE candidates.

Gowling WLG is an international law firm with over 1,500 legal professionals across 19 different cities.  Flex Legal first began helping Gowling WLG back in 2017 when they faced unprecedented peaks of work due to multiple large cases heading to Court and staff maternity leave.

Josephine joined Flex last year, and has since gone on to receive sensational feedback from her long-standing placement at Vodafone! We're incredibly pleased with the energy she's been able to bring to the placement and our platform.

As part of his induction to the team, Harry sat new comer Louie down to have a chat about the LPC.