A day in the life of… Chelsea Yates

As a Legal Support Manager in the Dispute Resolution team at HCR Law, my days can look very different depending on where I’m based, which is one of the things I enjoy most about my role. Although I’m based in our Central England office, I regularly travel between offices to catch up with colleagues – but today I’m in Northampton, so it’s a short drive in.

After the usual Monday essentials – a cup of tea from the on-site café and a quick weekend catch-up – the morning disappears in a blur of emails and Teams messages. I flag actions, review my ever-reliable electronic to-do list (I genuinely couldn’t function without it) and get stuck into a mix of management admin and client work. Today that includes finalising my team’s appraisals, reviewing absence and holiday requests, completing meeting minutes and progressing a few client-related tasks.

With the weather on my side, I make the most of it with a lunchtime walk, followed by lunch and a catch-up with colleagues.

The afternoon is equally varied. I arrange meetings, send correspondence in my role as PA to the Under Sheriff of Northamptonshire, liaise with the wider support team and compile information on international travel for two partners. Before heading off, I always check diaries for the days ahead – it’s one thing I like to do to ensure everything runs smoothly.

The day doesn’t stop there. I dash across Northampton to spend the evening making pancakes with my Girlguiding Brownie Unit. As expected, it takes far longer to clean up than to cook, but it’s great fun – and I get to sample the results.

14 hours after I left the house, I’m home to an over-excited puppy and husband. To avoid evening doom-scrolling, I unwind with a couple of chapters of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – our current book club read – before calling it a night.