Ward Hadaway - Emerging Talent

What a year it's been for Emerging Talent! As we begin to wind down for the festive period, we've been reflecting on everything that we have achieved together in 2024: ✅ We welcomed 14 new trainees and 1 apprentice to the firm. We bet they weren't expecting to have their horse drawing skills tested during the induction week (photo evidence below 🐎) ✅ All of our incredible trainees passed their SQE exams before joining us in September (phew!) ✅ We had a 21% increase in applications to our 2026 training contract ✅ We celebrated 7 newly qualified Solicitors from our graduating trainee cohort - congratulations again to all of you 🥳 ✅ We recruited 13 new trainees who'll be joining us in 2026/27 (here's the heads up to start practicing your drawing skills 🐎) ✅ We have 9 people currently on other routes to qualify at the firm ✅ We were recognised for our amazing work with On the Up (North-East) CIC and awarded the prestigious People in Law award for the Best CSR Initiative. Plus our very own Caroline Jones got to meet THE Josh Widdicombe! 😄 ✅ We've hosted 4 Emerging Talent Forum meetings with our emerging talent community across different law firms ✅ We hit 1000 followers on LinkedIn (full disclosure: 3 of them were our mums). Hi Mum 👋 ✅ We launched our new firm values and reflected on how we can live them every day ✅ We welcomed Lorna Slane and Rachel Flanagan to our growing emerging talent team 💗 We are very proud of all the amazing things that we've achieved this year and can't wait to see what 2025 brings. Thank you to all our followers for your continued support. We hope you have a wonderful festive season spending time with family and friends 🌟 Remember to start the year right and get your application ready for the vacation scheme and training contract. Applications close on 31 January 2025. Apply now - https://lnkd.in/eP2qkjwF

🚀 We're just two weeks away from the final pitches for the award-winning On the Up (North-East) CIC Business Challenge at a primary school in Shieldfield, proudly supported by Ward Hadaway! Each group of young entrepreneurs has been tasked with creating a product and building a business around it. They take part in weekly activities to develop their business ventures, including logo design, filming adverts and preparing for their final pitch to the 'Dragons' (our very own trainees) in the final week. They have come up with some great ideas for products so far, including chopsticks which add flavour to your food, a hat with a cooling function and Bluetooth speaker, and even a Tupperware which doubles as a teleport! Our trainees have had the pleasure of attending these sessions, assisting the students with each activity, and imparting their knowledge about the importance of intellectual property law and the various elements of running a successful business. We can't wait to see the innovative ideas the students will present in their final pitches. Stay tuned for the grand finale! 🌟

As our first year trainees enter the second half of their first seats, we asked them to reflect on their experience thus far. Here is what Laura McLaughlin, a trainee in the #Newcastle Corporate team, has to say about her first 3 months at the firm. "I have thoroughly enjoyed my first three months as a trainee within the Corporate Team. During my first few months, I have attended client meetings, drafted documents and undertaken legal research for different companies during the due diligence stage of transactions. I also assisted on the completion of deals in the run up to Budget which was a really exciting and busy time for the Team! The support and supervision I have received has aided my learning and allowed me to really settle into the department. In addition to this, I have enjoyed getting involved with other social aspects of the firm including joining the Netball Team and partaking in volunteering opportunities."

This time last week we had an amazing day at LawCareers.Net Live in Manchester! 🙌   Our team hosted a legal due diligence workshop, giving students the chance to work through a real-life due diligence case study. The workshop offered valuable insight into the legal due diligence process and how a firm like Ward Hadaway can collaborate to assist one another, support our clients and provide tailored commercial advice. They considered how different practice areas, such as corporate, commercial, employment and property, all feed into detailed forensic due diligence, with corporate spear-heading and project managing the process. The added bonus for attendees? It gave them the opportunity to conduct their own due diligence as to whether we might be the right firm for them!   We were also delighted to have Rosie C., a second year trainee, join the trainee panel this year. The panel provided an insight into the experience of the trainee application process, what being a trainee is really like at the firm and their advice for prospective candidates. Rosie shared some great advice with the audience and we are very proud of her contribution to the panel! 👏   Overall, it was a fantastic day meeting the next generation of students and sharing more about the training opportunities we have to offer at Ward Hadaway.   Maybe we'll see you there next year! 👋

Our Trainees had a great time at the MTSG - Manchester Trainee Solicitors Group Winter Ball last week 😊✨ Rosie C. Olivia Smith Alice Ferguson Chloe Middleton

And so the Celebrations begin! ✨🎅🎄

🔟 SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A PROSPECTIVE TRAINEE LAWYER: 🧦 You have a filing system for everything in your life (including your sock drawer) 🏆 You always win when you argue with your siblings (unless your Dad steps in as a mediator) 👨💼 Your favourite outfit is a suit 💡 You know all the legal jargon (but don't use any of it) 📰 Your friends would describe you as "commercially aware" 📺 Presumed Innocent was your favourite TV series this year 🤓 You actually read the small print when you agree to your iphone update ❔ You perform internal due diligence before making everyday decisions 😐 You've practiced your "neutral but engaged" face in the mirror ✅ You can't help but correct someone's grammar and punctuation in casual conversation Sound like you?! Get your application ready, our vacation scheme and training contract closing date is 31st January 2025. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eP2qkjwF

We are back with a Q&A! This week, we have a useful insight into the recruitment process from Jordan Barber, a solicitor in the #Manchester Real Estate team. How would you rate Ward Hadaway's recruitment process? "The firm gets to know potential applicants through events like open days and university/law career fairs. Beyond the application form, the assessment centre is a challenging and enjoyable experience that enables candidates to think on their feet and display their potential. The Emerging Talent team is personable and this allows candidates to feel at ease throughout the day."

We’re very aware that your LinkedIn feed has been flooded with photos of our team, proudly standing in front of our shiny, new emerging talent banners at law fairs (we're a little bit obsessed with the glow up they've had this year) 🔥 So, as we come to the end of the season, here's a few insights into how it’s all been going:    ☕ Coffees consumed: Enough to keep the Emerging Talent Team awake until Christmas. 👋 Students met: Hundreds — we’ve loved meeting so many of you and hearing about your ambition to start a career in law. 👣 Steps counted: Between us it feels like we've walked the equivalent of the distance between our Manchester and Leeds offices – our fitness apps are ready for a break. 📢 New catchphrase: We've said the words "we're a full service commercial law firm" so many times that we're repeating it in our sleep. 👷♂️👷♀️ Banner struggles: We have at least five new ‘how-to-assemble-a-banner’ experts amongst our trainees. We think that Construction might be a popular next seat request.   If you haven’t had the chance to meet us at one of the recent fairs, please feel free to ask a question in the comments below or drop us a message and we’ll get back to you! We couldn't resist one final opportunity to show off the stand at our last two law fairs of the season The University of Manchester and University of Liverpool earlier this week 📸

We are very excited to be collaborating with On the Up (North-East) CIC on the Business Enterprise Challenge again this year! ⭐   Yesterday, some of our Newcastle trainees visited a local school in Shieldfield to kick off the 7 week challenge which is designed to equip young people with essential business acumen and entrepreneurial skills, empowering them for years to come.   We were proud to have been awarded the Best CSR Initiative People in Law Award for our collaboration with On The Up earlier this year https://lnkd.in/eqfSG7Uk, and can't wait to see the continued positive impact of this incredible project.    For more information about On The Up and the amazing work they do, click here - https://lnkd.in/e8rZGCa6   #ReachForTheStars #UPSKILLForSchools #CSR