I am a paralegal and have worked in the Financial Disruptions Litigation Team since 2020. The team works on various civil cases under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 cases from seizure of cash at borders to high profile money laundering, contempt of court and crypto currency seizures. They say FDL is a gift that keeps on giving!

The paralegals in the team run a duty paralegal system with a single individual nominated each week to triage/monitor the inbox, varying from urgent advice to ongoing contested litigation.

A typical week as a paralegal in the team begins with monitoring my workload on a Monday morning and setting a colour of green/amber/red to reflect whether I have capacity/busy but I could take on more work/full capacity. Every Tuesday the paralegals have a catch-up with one senior paralegal chairing the meeting; the paralegals take turns to indicate their colour and ad-hoc tasks would be allocated during the meeting. The paralegals have another meeting on Friday to discuss any issues they’ve encountered during the week or share any knowledge.

A typical day as a paralegal in the team can include filing emails, diarising court directions, drafting instructions to counsel, drafting letters to the Court and parties, preparing electronic and hard copy bundles, transferring documents and attending meetings/Court hearings. The important thing is to keep on top of your work and be organised as you can get easily distracted if you’re having a particularly busy week.

The team is always busy as that is the nature of litigation but the work is diverse and interesting so you will never get bored!