Shakespeare Martineau welcomes largest trainee cohort to date
updated on 09 September 2022
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Full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau LLP has welcomed 11 new trainees, as part of its largest ever cohort.
The trainees, who will be based across the firm’s various offices, will carry out four six-month seats in a range of practice areas across the firm, including real estate finance, commercial property, education, social housing and litigation.
Emily Cupi, the early ambitions development adviser at the firm, said: “We are delighted to welcome 11 trainees to the firm across a variety of regions, including our first in Scotland, and we are committed to ensuring they receive the very best start to their legal careers.”
Many of Shakespeare Martineau’s current partners and lawyers qualified through the training contract programme, including partners Lisa Botterill and Andrew Wilkinson, who began as trainees in the 2000s at Harvey Ingram, as the firm was previously known.
Corporate partner Botterill said: “I grew up in Leicester always knowing the firm was the best in the city. I was lucky enough to transfer my training contract halfway through and spent 14 months of my two years training with the firm. I received a very good grounding in the area that I wanted to qualify into and have never looked back since I qualified.
“We have always done a really wide range of interesting work, which has provided me with a varied career and, 21 years later, I am delighted to still be working for some of the same clients I was working for all those years ago.”
Wilkinson, a contentious probate partner added: “Little did I know at the time that the firm I joined would become the firm it is now. I’ve seen extraordinary change, but throughout my time, the firm has supported my growth and development, and I am proud to call it home.”
The firm’s first-year trainees based outside London currently start on £30,750, rising to £33,000 in their second year. The starting salary for trainees based in London is £40,000, rising to £43,000 in their second year.
Applications for Shakespeare Martineau’s 2025 training contract programme open in January 2023.
