Mairi Pirie

A career in law had always been in the plans for Mairi since she was a child.  When Vario Paralegal Mairi had finished her law diploma just as Covid restrictions hit the UK, those plans had a hit a snag.  Although this did hinder her original career plans of trying to secure a training contract, Mairi was fortunate to have secured a place within the Vario Flexible Services’ bench.

As her first legal role, Mairi has picked up a great deal of knowledge in not only how legal matters are dealt with but also how the modern workplace is run.  Working as a freelancer in a junior role could also be perceived as a daunting experience but Mairi has relished her opportunities working through Vario: “I think I can definitely draw a contrast with being freelance with Vario and working for an agency in healthcare because I was apprehensive coming into Vario because as a healthcare assistant you were kind of not ever integrated into the team and you always got the feeling that no-one really wanted you there, so coming into this job I kind of thought it would be the same, but it's not been at all and I always get so much thanks and everyone's always so grateful for the support, we're going into projects when the support is desperately needed most of the time and so everyone is very grateful and happy to have you there and it's always been lovely in contrast with what I had perhaps expected it to be” Mairi comments.

Mairi’s advice for other paralegals or junior lawyers considering becoming a legal freelancer? “There's no other setting where you are going to have the opportunity to be exposed to such a variety of legal sectors and people... Whether it's smaller teams or big global teams, I think it's a great opportunity, especially for someone that at my stage who's fresh out of Uni and maybe not too sure what you want to do, it gives you a chance to try different things and to build up a bit confidence as well in yourself so that you can then decide where you want to take it from there."