The 19 new recruits will join 19 existing second year trainees bringing the total number of trainees at the firm to 38.
- Birmingham - five
- London - three
- Manchester - four
- Nottingham – seven
They will gain specialist sector expertise in various contentious and non-contentious areas of law including corporate and commercial, health, local & central government, property & real estate and retail.
The firm’s recruitment and trainee programme is widely recognised as one of best in the country. It was recently shortlisted in the ‘Best training contract by a national firm’ category at the AllAboutLaw Awards 2018 for the second year in a row. Last year the firm was also ranked in The Guardian UK 300 as one of the country’s leading graduate employers and won the ‘Best vacation scheme by a national firm’ award from graduate recruitment website, allaboutlaw.co.uk.
In 2016 the firm decided to extend the numbers entering its trainee programme every year to around 20 and revised its minimum academic entry requirements to increase the diversity and background of its lawyers.
New trainees spend up to four periods of six months in key areas of the firm in either of its Birmingham, London, Manchester or Nottingham offices.
Seven of this year’s new starters have come via the firm’s summer vacation scheme which was launched in 2015. The scheme provides an opportunity for prospective trainees to undertake real work whilst learning more about the firm through interaction with partners, lawyers, trainees and central teams. Another eight of the trainees were internal candidates, having already taken up a position at the firm.
The firm also welcomed legal apprentices Hollie Ingram, Sahnia Shouan and Laura Morland who will be joining the commercial health, property and technical claims teams respectively.
Browne Jacobson were one of the first law firms in the UK to launch a legal apprenticeship scheme and to date 20 young people have joined the firm as part of the first step toward a successful career in the legal services sector.
Iain Blatherwick, Managing Partner at Browne Jacobson, said:
“We have ambitious plans to grow the firm across all our offices and in our key sectors and having a healthy pipeline of aspiring legal talent entering the business is key to that success.
“It is tougher than ever to secure a quality training contract so this year’s cohort has done exceptionally well to make it onto our programme and we wish them all the very best.”
Sophie Wardell, Head of HR, added:
“By opening up new career pathways into the profession through legal apprenticeships and summer vacation scheme placements, alongside the traditional university route, we have successfully maintained the high quality of trainee candidates whilst attracting individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds.
“We are delighted to have these highly promising young legal professionals join the firm and we look forward to nurturing their talent.”