Muckle LLP Expands Teams with New Appointments

Leading North East commercial law firm, Muckle LLP, has appointed three trainee solicitors to enhance its client support.

Mark Reeves joins Muckle LLP’s Property Development Team. Mark, who is originally from Darlington, graduated from Northumbria University in 2010. During his studies he participated in Muckle’s vacation placement scheme, which provides law students with the opportunity to experience life in the business for a week and is an important part of the firm’s graduate recruitment programme.  Mark has also been working as a paralegal in the dispute resolution group during the summer months 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. Unlike vacation schemes at other firms, 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, like Mark, also started working at Muckle as a paralegal a few months earlier. Zoe 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.

Zoe 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. It is very inclusive and client focussed. The atmosphere and people are great – really approachable. I learned a lot, received a lot of feedback and was very much included in what was going on.

“Working as a paralegal in Corporate Finance has also been very useful for me ahead of my training contract and will help me to settle into the Banking Team.”

Daniel Graham, who has lived and studied in Newcastle, joins Muckle’s Construction Team as a trainee. Like Mark and Zoe, he also completed the firm’s vacation scheme: “The principle reason for my desire to train at Muckle was my experience at the firm whilst on their vacation scheme. There was a very positive atmosphere in the office. 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 whilst at the same time giving them an early insight into the way that we do things. We have a fantastic group of young people joining the business who have genuine enthusiasm and real potential. Successfully recruiting first class graduates like Mark, Zoe and Daniel is absolutely critical to the future of our business. I hope that they enjoy the experiences that they have with us and go on to have a long and successful career at Muckle LLP."

Trainees at Muckle spend six months in four different practice areas, including corporate finance, commercial, property, employment, dispute resolution, banking and construction.

For more information about graduate recruitment at Muckle go to the website at www.muckle-llp.com.