Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Stowe Family Law joining forces with Leeds Beckett University
Hannah Ross is a newly qualified solicitor who has recently joined the Stowe Family Law Leeds office. She specialises primarily in private law children’s matters but is now learning the ropes in relation to financial proceedings as part of divorce. She completed her LLB BA (Hons) at Leeds Beckett University before moving on to complete her LPC and finally obtain that elusive training contract in 2016.
Stowe Family Law is the UK’s largest family law firm with 18 offices throughout the whole of the country and it has now decided to join forces with Leeds Beckett University in order to inspire future generations of lawyers.
Hannah Ross said: “At Stowe Family Law we try to give something back to students, especially those local to our offices. We engage in lots of student networking events and encourage students to contact us to spend time at the firm on work experience. We hope to deliver an interesting experience that helps students to understand what life is like as a family solicitor.”
A little bit about Hannah:
My working day generally starts at about 08:15. I am a bit of an early riser (too much of an early riser in fact) and like to get to work early in order to get a head start on the day. I will generally review my emails first and make a list of what I need to get done that day, although more often than not that lovely list that I start off with is thrown out of the window by midday. My days differ between days in the office, responding to post, preparing court documents and dealing with client’s enquiries and days out of the office at Court. I will generally leave work at 5pm but I am happy to stay after hours if there is work that needs to be done.
If I was to give advice to students about getting a job in family law it would be to be prepared to put in the work and never give up. I certainly didn’t become a solicitor the easy way, I finished my LPC in 2012 and for four years I worked away as a paralegal. I never actually studied family law after I did my LLB and never chose it as an option on the LPC. It was not an area of law that I was interested in and I felt I did not have the confidence to be attending Court and doing advocacy. During my time as a paralegal I was at a different firm of solicitors, but I was able to run my own case load and do my own court advocacy. It soon became clear to me that I did in fact enjoy family law and slowly built up my confidence in doing advocacy. I would say that one very important piece of advice would be to get work experience at a vast array of firms dealing with different areas of law, you may be surprised by what you do in fact enjoy.
It was a long route to where I wanted to be, but I believe it was the route best suited to me. I found learning on the job gave me an opportunity to pick up some good habits and of course witness some bad ones!! Thankfully the hard work and long days did eventually pay off and I qualified in March 2018. A ‘never give up attitude’ always helps in family law.
Hannah Ross
Hannah Ross is a newly qualified solicitor who has recently joined the Stowe Family Law Leeds office. She specialises primarily in private law children’s matters but is now learning the ropes in relation to financial proceedings as part of divorce. She completed her LLB BA (Hons) at Leeds Beckett University before moving on to complete her LPC and finally obtain that elusive training contract in 2016.
