Ashtons Legal regards the recruitment and training of solicitors as a vital part of the development of the firm and as such has recently appointed five new trainee solicitors. Existing staff members Tom Beattie, Nathalie Fearnley and Taaher Robanni have been joined by external recruits Kurt Glencastle and Luke Evans. All five commenced their training contracts in September 2021 and will qualify as solicitors at different stages in the next few years as a result of various exemptions. They are working across a range of legal disciplines – employment, lifetime planning, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution and commercial property. Ashtons Legal – who became amongst the first firms nationally to adopt the Six Year Solicitors Apprenticeship (originally known as Trailblazer Apprenticeships) – now has a total of 14 staff training to become qualified solicitors. Ed O’Rourke, CEO of Ashtons comments: “I am delighted to welcome Kurt and Luke to Ashtons and congratulate Tom, Nathalie and Taaher on getting through our rigorous training solicitor selection process.” He adds: “We continue the firm’s successful strategy of training and development by supporting the long term plans of employees. We have a mix of solicitors trained through the ‘traditional’ route and those given the apprenticeship opportunity should they not wish to go to university or law school. Whichever route they take, our trainee solicitors are trained to be potential leaders of the future and we pride ourselves on an excellent training record.”