National law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has marked its most financially successful year to date with the enrolment of one of its biggest cohorts of trainee solicitors.

HR Director Daniel Jones said the 12 traineeships were evidence of Clarke Willmott’s commitment to expansion. The firm recently reported growth of 12 per cent on the prior year.

“Clarke Willmott grows and develops its own talent, recruiting trainees exclusively from the non-qualified fee earners already working for us,” said Daniel.

“This demonstrates our commitment to building the careers of our own staff and gives us the opportunity to help shape the lawyers of tomorrow – both in terms of legal skills and also the broader human skills to deliver excellent service for our clients.”

Daniel said the firm is embracing the opportunities provided by the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) which aims to broaden inclusivity and open up new routes for people into the profession.

“The new trainees recently underwent an in-person induction at our Bristol office to share the new programme, to provide some training and development and the chance to network with each other,” he added.

The firm will be using College of Legal Practice for their prep courses for SQE 1 and 2, as part of its commitment to building excellent well-rounded lawyers.

It has built two additional electives into the trainee programme, which include being an ‘O-shaped Lawyer’, namely well-rounded people who combine technical competence with commerciality, innovation, accountability and a growth mindset.

The trainee solicitors are:

• Ruth Metelerkamp, Lily Dawkes, Sylvie Ball and Alice Keane in Bristol

• Joe Wheeler, Krishnan Pillay, Megan Rusca and Laura Sullivan in Southampton

• Madeline Keep in Taunton

• Emily Rollason in Manchester

• Selina Cowburn in Cardiff

• Nistha Sharma in London

Clarke Willmott LLP is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.

For more information visit www.clarkewillmott.com