Journey of a Junior Lawyer

As I recall my first days and tentative steps into the legal world, I realise that the legal world is very different to the image one may have from university.

In the first days, one of the biggest challenges may be appearing to know which documents your senior colleagues are referring to when they mention terms you have never heard of or which you may vaguely know. Documents which may be obvious and common to practised (or even junior) lawyers have the potential to baffle youngsters in their first exposure to terms such as "affidavit", "information capsule", "timetabling directions" and so forth.

What is an affidavit? I wondered to myself on my first days at work. Now, of course such terms are "normal" and I must admit even I (who less than 2 years ago was a clerk myself) begin to use such words when speaking to our ever helpful law clerks without a second thought or explanation. I was reminded some while ago by a clerk that they were also slightly confused with the terms (and truthfully did not know what an affidavit meant). This is comforting. I was not the only bewildered law clerk to join the team. I suppose the transition from bewilderment at the use of such terms and documents to common use of the same is a right of passage we junior lawyers pass through on our journey through the legal world.