Swansea solicitors Hutchinson Thomas again illustrated its commitment to developing young, local talent by opening its doors to young people this summer who wanted a taste of a career in law.
The company has a deeply engrained ethos around developing young talent that goes back decades. Three of the firm’s existing partners first started by doing work experience with the firm during their summer holidays and a number of the firm’s 22 lawyers did the same.
This summer we opened our doors to students Juhi, Rhylan, Richard and Teaghan, who all come from the local area. Each gained a diverse range of experiences at the firm including placements in several different departments.
A recent product of the firm’s ‘production line’ is Phil Lewis, who also started out on work experience here. Phil joined Hutchinson Thomas in 2014 and then qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive (CILEx) lawyer in 2015 after completing training in the Litigation department.
Talking about his time at the firm Phil said: “I gained a wealth of experience from a wide variety of interesting work, managing my own case load from start to finish and attending court.
This year I joined the firm’s Property department and have recently cross-qualified as a solicitor. The firm helped me achieve this by allowing me to study for the Legal Practice Course, part time.
I undertake a mixture of property transactions including drafting commercial leases but I also have a steady flow of residential conveyancing work. The support from the Partners, other fee earners and support staff here is second to none.”
Managing Partner Peter Morgan added: “I did work experience at the firm while I was still at school – I went to court and on-site visits and generally got a real taste of what was involved. It must have been good as I came back and worked here straight after qualifying.”