Schofield Sweeney invests in lawyers of the future

Award-winning law firm Schofield Sweeney has welcomed a new cohort of solicitor apprentices and trainees this month. The firm is recognised as a Sunday Times Best Place to Work and saw a record number of applicants this year for its pathways into law.

The firm advocates social mobility, ensuring its workforce is diverse and inclusive and offers an excellent environment for development and progress. It is also a member of the West Yorkshire Fair Work Charter.

Their commitment to social mobility and alternative routes into law is reflected in their second year of recruiting a cohort of solicitor apprentices. Four new apprentices, chosen from over 140 applicants, are now embarking on a Level 6 apprenticeship programme with BPP, which they will complete in six years' time.

“These aspiring lawyers have all excelled through the recruitment process and we are really excited to have them on board. They will benefit from the considerable support provided through our structured programme as well as from working closely with experts specialising in different legal disciplines. The firm has already successfully brought solicitors through to, and beyond, qualification through this route and we are committed to, and passionate about, identifying and developing young talent in this way.” Simon Glazebrook, partner and apprenticeship principal.

For the first two years of the apprenticeship, Anna Hall will join environmental and regulatory in Leeds, Lucy Sheehan will join real estate in Bradford, Harriet Simon will join contentious probate in Huddersfield, and Florence Wharton will join property litigation in Leeds.

This brings the total number of apprentices across the firm to 13, including apprenticeships in business administration and IT.

Three new trainees have started their contracts with the firm.
Emily Brown graduated from Northumbria University in 2020 and has been working in-house as a paralegal in the corporate and commercial team at Jet2 for the past two years. She is joining our real estate team in Huddersfield.
Holly Goldsborough-Pike graduated from Newcastle University in 2022 before studying her LPC there. Holly’s first seat will be in the dispute resolution team in Leeds.

Emma Davies has been with Schofield Sweeney since November 2022 as a paralegal in the corporate team in Bradford, through the firm’s ‘foot in the door’ internal recruitment process, she has commenced a training contract in the same team.

Leo Jones-Rowe, partner and training principal, commented: “Each of the successful trainees and solicitor apprentices has already achieved so much to secure their place. I’d like to congratulate them on taking this significant step in their career and welcome them to the firm. We invest a lot of resources to nurture these individuals to become our future partners, and we can’t wait to see them grow and achieve their ambitions with us”.