A trainee solicitor has put her legal career on hold to return to full-time work in the fight against coronavirus.

Thorrun Govind was less than a year into her training contract with healthcare firm Hempsons when the pandemic began. She had previously enjoyed a successful career as a pharmacist and was allowed by her firm to go back to medicine while the coronavirus crisis lasted.

‘I felt like this was where I was needed most,’ Govind told the Gazette. ‘The firm has encouraged me and have been great in offering this flexibility. I honestly can’t wait to get back to the office and definitely still pursuing law, but I’m in the right place at the moment.’

Thorrun Govind

Thorrun Govind

Govind started with Hempsons in September 2019 and had completed her first set in the healthcare advisory team before starting on her commercial set. She studied for her graduate diploma in law full time whilst still working as a pharmacist. She subsequently studied for her LPC and MSc in law, business and management but stayed registered as a pharmacist.

When coronavirus struck, she answered the call for qualified medical professionals to come back to full-time practice, effectively putting her trainee contract on hold while she is needed on the frontline in community pharmacies in Bolton and Lancaster.

‘It is basically on pause while I continue to work. My skills are needed in pharmacy more than ever – I don’t see it as a problem, I see it as an opportunity to help where I can,’ she added.

Govind said the biggest change has been in the time that can be spent with patients, as social distancing rules mean less time can be spent interacting. There has also, she reported, been more incidences of abuse aimed at pharmacy teams as tensions are heightened for front-line work.

 

*The Law Society is keeping the coronavirus situation under review and monitoring the advice it receives from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Public Health England.