Hitting the ground running – new trainees off to a great start
The latest Wards Solicitors' trainee lawyers have begun their new careers at the firm with an unusual level of inside knowledge and an already proven track record in working hard.
After finishing their undergraduate law degrees in 2015, Ciaran Keane and Charlotte Gage have spent the last two years getting to know the ropes at Wards Solicitors by working full time as support staff whilst simultaneously studying for their Legal Practice Course (LPC) law finals.
Now their hard work has been rewarded with Charlotte taking up her first seat in the Conveyancing department and Ciaran joining the Commercial Property team.
Delighted
Both are delighted and though they agree it was tough at times, recommend the route they pursued as an excellent way to get a thorough working knowledge of the different areas of law before beginning work as a solicitor.
Ciaran, who studied at Bristol's University of Law, says: "As the legal profession is such a competitive and challenging environment, both from an academic perspective and also as an employee, the reason I chose to study the LPC part time was to develop a strong foundation of full time work experience whilst still being able to complete the academic requirements needed to become a solicitor."
"Although it was tough at times, studying during the evenings after work and at weekends, it gave me a great opportunity to apply what I had learnt at university to the real life scenarios I encountered at Wards Solicitors whilst on the other hand, being able to use what I learnt at Wards Solicitors to aid my university work."
Helpful to studies
Charlotte, who completed her LPC at the University of the West of England, couldn't agree more and found working as a secretary in different departments not only interesting but extremely helpful to her studies.
"Working in a legal environment undoubtedly helped me massively - it is one thing to be taught about the law in practice but another to be surrounded by it on a daily basis," she adds.
"I have also learnt such a lot about time management and client contact and how Wards Solicitors runs and works which is of huge benefit now as I begin my training contract."
Welcome
Managing Partner, David Sheridan, comments: "Ciaran and Charlotte have worked extremely hard to complete their LPC studies whilst being invaluable members of our support staff - an admirable start to their law careers. I am delighted to welcome them to Wards Solicitors as trainee lawyers and wish them the very best of luck."