North East law firm Hay & Kilner has rewarded four young lawyers’ hard work and dedication by taking them on in solicitor roles at the end of their practice traineeships.
Jeremy Nash, Rebecca Weir, Tom Clarke and Sophie Allinson have all completed a training programme which involved spending four blocks of six months working alongside experienced practitioners in different departments within the Newcastle-headquartered firm to give them a sound general grounding in the law and identify any particular strengths and areas of interest.
Alongside this on-the-job learning, the quartet have also completed a Professional Skills Course at Northumbria University, which is a mandatory qualification run by the Solicitors Regulation Authority which must be successfully undertaken prior to an individual practicing as a solicitor.
Rebecca has now joined Hay & Kilner’s construction team, while Tom is working in its employment department.
Both Jeremy and Sophie are based at the firm’s Wallsend office, Jeremy within its family law division and Sophie as part of its criminal litigation team.
Rebecca Weir, who returned to her native North East after studying at Leeds University, says: “I wanted to train with a firm that was big enough to attract the right calibre of clients and work, but small enough to feel that you were making a useful contribution to its work, and Hay & Kilner fit the bill in both respects.
“Our training programme has been designed to give us the chance to focus on areas in which we’re particularly interested, and where we could gain experience on topics that would be important in our future careers alongside experts in these fields.
“We’ve gradually been taking on more responsibility during our time with the firm and are all now looking forward to progressing on to the next stage of our careers.”
Established in 1946, Hay & Kilner is one of North East England’s leading independent law firms and provides a full range of legal services to businesses and individuals from both within and outside the region.
Nicola Matthews, partner at Hay & Kilner Law Firm, adds: “Bringing through talented young people is a crucial part of the sustainable success of any professional services firm.
“Having the opportunity to work alongside experienced practitioners is an ideal introduction to the legal profession and it has also given our trainees the chance to get an early insight into the particular ways in which we work to ensure clients get the best possible service for us.
“Our four trainees are all impressive individuals who have demonstrated lots of potential which we hope they will now go on to begin to realise in their new roles and we’re looking forward to seeing them broaden their contribution to our continuing success.”
