COMMERCIAL law firm, Muckle LLP has appointed three trainee solicitors to enhance its client support.
Mark Reeves joins the Newcastle firm’s property development team. The Northumbria University graduate joined Muckle’s Vacation Placement Scheme, which provides law students the chance to experience life in the business for a week and is an important part of the firm’s graduate recruitment programme. He has also been working as a paralegal in the dispute resolution group during the summer to help support the team with some new client wins.
He said: “Muckle’s vacation scheme was really good – it provided a fantastic insight into the type of work and training I would get as a trainee. They concentrated on providing broad experience of working at the firm. I have been very impressed by the people I work with at Muckle LLP. It’s a great working environment and I couldn’t be happier.”
Zoe Ditch, originally from York, has joined the banking team and started working at Muckle as a paralegal a few months earlier. She studied History at Newcastle University, winning the William Lawrence Burn Prize, and then went on to Northumbria University where she completed the Law Conversion course in 2010, and graduated from the Legal Practice Course with a distinction in May.
She said: “I’ve had work experience at other firms, but I did the vacation scheme at Muckle and was impressed by the culture of the firm. The atmosphere and people are great – really approachable. I learned a lot, got a lot of feedback and was very much included in what was going on.
“Working as a paralegal in Corporate Finance has been very useful for me ahead of my training contract and will help me settle into the Banking Team.” Daniel Graham, who has lived and studied in Newcastle, joins Muckle’s construction team as a trainee after completing the firm’s vacation scheme: “The principle reason for my desire to train at Muckle was my experience at the firm while on their vacation scheme.
“However, it was the inclusive approach of the firm’s partners and senior people that stood out.”
Stephen McNicol, managing partner at Muckle LLP, said: “We are delighted to welcome such enthusiastic people into the firm.
“It’s been a very busy period for us, and having Zoe and Mark here as paralegals has helped our teams while at the same time giving them an early insight into the way that we do things.”
