Two young graduates have taken their first steps onto the legal career ladder after being chosen by North East law firm Hay & Kilner as its latest trainee solicitors.

Kate Garrett and Megan Bradley have started a two-year training programme which will see them spend four blocks of six months working alongside experienced practitioners in different departments within the Newcastle-headquartered firm, in order to give them a sound general grounding in the law and to help identify any particular strengths and areas of interest.

Kate’s first training assignment is within the clinical negligence department, while Megan is now part of the corporate team.

Megan studied law at Durham University before taking a Master’s degree in Legal Practice at Northumbria University.

Kate took a Law degree at the University of Liverpool, which included a semester spent studying at a Chinese university, as well as time spent in industry, before going on to take a Legal Practice Course qualification at the University of Law in Manchester.

Before joining the firm, Kate also took part in Hay & Kilner's summer vacation scheme, which gives students the chance to learn more about a potential future legal career.

Alongside their on-the-job learning, the new trainees will be put through the Professional Skills Course at Northumbria University by the firm, which is a mandatory qualification run by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and must be successfully undertaken prior to an individual practicing as a solicitor.

Kate says: "I’d always been interested in the law and felt that the logical processes you go through to develop and deliver your arguments would be something that suited my skills and personality.

“I knew Hay & Kilner as a well-regarded North East law firm and the impression I got during my vacation placement of the supportive culture being much more than just something on a piece of paper has very much been the case in practice.”

Megan adds: “The complexity and variety that a legal career would offer really appealed to me, and I knew I wanted to work for a full service law firm like Hay & Kilner, so I’d get experience of different parts of the law.

“Everyone’s been really friendly and supportive, and having the chance to take on lots of responsibility this early in my career, with the backing of senior colleagues whenever I’ve needed it, has been really pleasing.”

Hay & Kilner is one of North East England's leading independent law firms and provides comprehensive legal advice across every aspect of the law to businesses and individuals from both within and outside the region.

Jonathan Waters, managing partner, who joined the firm as a trainee himself, adds: "We aim to give our trainees the best possible grounding in the law, as well as a detailed understanding of the high service standards to which we work and an insight into the ways in which solicitors use their expertise to meet their clients’ personal and commercial objectives.

“Many members of our senior team have built successful careers at the firm after joining as trainees, and both Kate and Megan have the potential and opportunity to follow in their footsteps.”

Applications for the vacation scheme and training contracts are open until 28th February 2023. Head to our graduate page for further information.