Sarah Buchan

Over the past nine months as a qualified solicitor, I have utilised the skills learned during my traineeship at Shepherd and Wedderburn and transitioned into a role with increased responsibility as an NQ.

During this role, I have strengthened my client communication skills and attended various meetings advising clients with no supervision.

I have managed complex executries, played a more active role in managing client relationships, and produced technically advanced advice throughout the Budget period.

Contributing to firm-wide projects, I have become an Innovation Champion and have worked well as part of a larger team to research and present ideas.

1st and 2nd Seats: Private Wealth & Tax (Edinburgh)

3rd and 4th Seats: Private Wealth & Tax (Glasgow)

I enjoyed a unique and specialised Private Client focused traineeship at Shepherd and Wedderburn, which exposed me to a breadth of interesting and varied workstreams.

This dedicated length of time in one team meant that I was afforded a great level of responsibility, managing multiple executries and large-scale projects across various teams and locations.

Throughout my traineeship, I gained a comprehensive understanding of all manner of Private Client matters such as Executry Administration, Succession Planning, Wills, Powers of Attorneys, Tax, Charities, Property Issues and Trust Administration. This vast experience means that I have excellent organisational skills and I am comfortable with managing a high and varied caseload, often balancing competing deadlines.

I was given great client exposure and was entrusted to attend and lead client meetings independently, answering a range of queries and gathering information through open and closed questioning. In many cases, I was solely responsible for progressing my own matters and acting as the lead client contact. As a result, I have become skilled at advising high-net-worth clients in an empathetic and sensitive manner, and demonstrating excellent communication skills whilst navigating challenging situations.

I am confident in both my drafting and research abilities, displaying a high level of attention to detail and often described as a "safe pair of hands". I was entrusted with drafting a wide variety of complex legal documents with minimal supervision, which contributed to consistently strong results throughout my PQPR's.

I work effectively as part of a team, having worked in both the Edinburgh and Glasgow offices whilst also working collaboratively with other departments within the firm.

I also have a keen interest in innovation and technology, assisting the team with the development of multiple automation projects in order to streamline work.

Whilst working as an Administration Assistant in the Private Wealth & Tax team, I was promoted to work as a Paralegal whilst studying for my Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow.

This opportunity afforded me a great level of responsibility early on in my career and meant I had to balance my studies alongside working at the firm. This role allowed for an easy transition into my traineeship and quickly solidified that this was an area I was passionate about and could visualise myself qualifying into.

In this role I assisted the team with administrative tasks such as handling Anti-Money Laundering compliance, drafting and document preparation, dictations, liaising with external companies, assisting with client meetings, data analysis, file management, diary management, and mail handling.

Paying great attention to detail was crucial in this role when dispensing medication, in order to ensure accuracy and patient safety.

In this role I studied to obtain an additional qualification - the General Pharmaceutical Council Accredited NVQ2 Dispensing Assistant Course. This provided me with the knowledge required to give the best possible patient care.

I remained GDPR compliant throughout, handling patients' sensitive and confidential data.

My primary duty in this role was to investigate and make decisions on different cases against the backdrop of eligibility criteria to decide whether a Power of Attorney should be granted or refused.

My caseload and targets were monitored; I was allocated a certain number of cases each day from which I had to manage my inbox, prioritise my workload, and use my initative.

This gave me a greater understanding of the layout and legal requirements of the Powers of Attorney deeds, which has greatly assisted me in my current role.