‘Bright future’ for newly qualified solicitors at Williamsons

NEXT GENERATION: From left, Eleanor Young, Neeve Pearce and Cathy Fairweather

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

Three newly qualified solicitors have been appointed at a leading regional law firm.

Neeve Pearce, Eleanor Young and Cathy Fairweather, who are all in their 20s, have successfully completed training contracts with Williamsons Solicitors.

Neeve, who is from Hull, and Eleanor from Hessle, are both practising in the family and childcare department, while Cathy, from Gateshead, is practising in the firm’s clinical negligence department. All three have now been formally admitted to the national roll of solicitors.

The 18-month supervised training contracts, in which they gained experience in a variety of disciplines, followed a period working as paralegals at the firm, which operates from Hull, Bridlington and Driffield.

Williamsons has a consistent record for training and retaining new solicitors with the majority being offered permanent positions. With a recruitment strategy focused on developing homegrown talent, many young people from the area have developed long careers at the firm.

Neeve said she enjoyed being able to make a difference to people’s lives. “In the family department I can help clients through difficult times and also like the fast-paced nature of the work and the courtroom environment,” she said.

Eleanor said the family department enabled her to work on solving real day-to-day issues occurring in family life. She said: “I have always known I wanted to practise family law but was concerned about the distressing nature and emotional impact of dealing with sensitive cases. My training has helped to address this.”

Cathy, who initially wanted to be a nurse before deciding the legal side of medicine suited her better, said: “Clinical negligence cases very often follow traumatic incidents for clients, and I find it highly satisfying to be able to bring a little positivity to what can be bleak circumstances.”

Sarah Clubley, a Williamsons Solicitors owner-director, said: “We are always looking to foster the next generation of legal professionals and are very pleased that Cathy, Eleanor and Neeve have started their careers with us. We are sure they have a bright future with us and wish them every success.”

Eleanor went to Hessle High School and studied law at the University of Leeds. Neeve attended Winifred Holtby Academy before studying at the University of Hull, with both completing their legal practice course at the University of Law, Leeds. Cathy studied at Teesside University, before completing her legal practice course at Northumbria University.

Williamsons is well known throughout the East Riding and has a reputation for the quality of its services which are provided by a 125-strong team working from the head office in Hull, and branches in Bridlington and Driffield.

It provides comprehensive private client law services along with commercial property.