As with any child, my favourite question was ‘why?’. Whether we know it or not, the law affects our everyday lives and the majority of decisions we make every day. It’s also hard to flick through the television without seeing some sort of legal scene catching your attention and sparking your interest.
I wouldn’t say that I knew I wanted to be a solicitor when I was very young but it always grabbed my attention. So, I decided to study it at the earliest opportunity – sixth form at Trinity School in Carlisle – although it’s important to stress that you don’t have to take Law at A Level to study it at university.
A Level Law led to my interest in law growing further and, unsurprisingly, I chose to study Law for my degree, choosing Northumbria University and beginning my studies straight out of school in September 2015. Like most people, I was initially particularly intrigued in criminal law and family law but as my degree developed, I began to be interested in other areas too.
There are various pathways in gaining qualification to practice Law. One of the routes includes passing the Legal Practice Course, in which you must have a qualifying Law degree to study. My Law degree at Northumbria was a four-year course which incorporated a Masters in Law as well as the Legal Practice Course, which involved studying in a variety of areas of Law.
My next step to qualification was to obtain a training contract, a full-time job where you learn how to apply your studying in practice. I started my training contract in September 2019 with Bell Park Kerridge and trained in a number of different areas of law over two years: litigation, employment, debt recovery and residential and commercial conveyancing.
Upon completing my training contract, I qualified as a Solicitor and have been happy to stay with BPK since, where I am now based in the residential and commercial conveyancing departments.
And staying at BPK has been great for my career. Not only have I qualified with the firm but, with their support, I’ve been able to develop quickly. In 2022, I was promoted to an Associate Solicitor role and there are further career development opportunities for me in the future.
Law and working for BPK have been great decisions for me. I enjoy the work I do, am part of a great team and still get to enjoy my main hobby, rugby. You’ll see me every weekend either playing for Carlisle RFC or watching rugby so, if you want to find out more about working for BPK, just come and say hello.
