Member Article

Trainee solicitors graduate to permanent roles at North West law firm

Law firm SAS Daniels LLP has expanded its Litigation, Commercial Property and Employment and HR departments following the retention of four solicitors who have successfully completed the firm’s two-year training scheme.

Gemma O’Brien, Katie Hitchen, Charlie Wood, and Alex Nortier beat over 100 applicants to land a place on the coveted training programme and began in September 2016.

To complete the scheme, each solicitor has undertaken four, six-month placements across various departments in the firm. Following this, Gemma O’Brien, Katie Hitchen, Charlie Wood, and Alex Nortier have been placed in the Litigation, Commercial Property and Employment and HR teams respectively.

Karen Barker, head of the Employment team and one of the trainee scheme leaders at SAS Daniels, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been able to provide each of our trainee solicitors with a permanent position. We always aim to have a 100 per cent retention rate, knowing that we have such talented individuals on our programme. They have worked extremely hard during their time in training and we’re confident they will each excel in their respective specialisms.”

SAS Daniels has an annual intake of trainee solicitors and its sought-after programme attracts up to 120 applicants each year. Following the qualification of the trainees, the firm also has three trainees in their second year, currently in the Private Client and Corporate departments and two new starters in the Family and Residential Property teams.

Charlie said of his qualification this year: “As a Trainee at SAS Daniels you really do get a healthy balance of responsibility and support. It has been a fantastic place to complete my training contract. I’ve shadowed members of different teams throughout my placement, which has been challenging, enjoyable, and incredibly rewarding. The firm’s culture is one of the aspects that initially attracted me and I’m looking forward to remaining at a company that has established important values towards both its employees and clients. Everyone made me very welcome, both as a trainee and now as a qualified solicitor.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tamsin Dyson .