Hareena Kaur, Trainee Costs Lawyer, Bolt Burdon Kemp

Hareena discusses her path her career in costs law

After completing my law undergraduate degree and then the LPC, I was trying to start my career in the legal world.

However, I faced a lot of rejections for Paralegal and Trainee Solicitor roles, so I started to feel a little deflated. As I was searching endless job pages, I came across a trainee law costs draftsman role which piqued my interest as this was a junior entry role that would get my foot in the legal world, yet I had never heard of this career in law. As I initially had no knowledge of a legal costs role, as this was not taught at any level of my education, I undertook some research before I decided to apply, and this is how my journey into costs started!

A year into my new costs role I began the ACLT course in 2022, my employer encouraged me to sign up as they saw my keen interest in costs. With my educational background, I was exempt from the first 2 years of the course and only had to take the final year which specialised in costs knowledge. This made a significant impact in my work, where felt I was able to deal with any technical queries with a much better understanding. I also felt as though the quality of my work improved as I began to understand the laws and regulations of costs.

I joined Bolt Burdon Kemp in January 2023, where they handle life-changing Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence cases. Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence was an area of law that I had no prior experience of at my previous firm, however, having completed the ACLT course it provided me with a good foundation of knowledge and information where I felt comfortable in approaching a different area of costs.

My career plan was always set on the more traditional route of law in becoming a Solicitor. However, I am so glad that I have found my home in costs and would recommend the ACLT course to anyone to kickstart their career.

Added September 2023