Local law firm Sydney Mitchell has reached a milestone in its professional development strategy to empower the firm’s next generation of lawyers.
The top ranking, award-winning West Midlands firm developed an innovative, transparent career progression pathway for its lawyers that includes traditional routes to career progression, alongside less traditional but equally recognised professional development, such as CILEX and legal apprenticeships.
The firm’s professional development strategy supports the next generation of lawyers through their legal qualification journeys, including the equivalent means application route and the SQE via apprenticeship programs.
The milestone is announced to coincide with this year’s World Youth Skills Day on 15 July – an event established by the United Nations in 2014 with the objective of raising awareness about the value of investing in youth skills development – Sydney Mitchell’s workforce now includes legal apprentices, Chartered Legal Executives, CILEX lawyers, and paralegals, and an associate cohort that includes homegrown talent.
Among these is Hayley Caprani-Warner, a University of Liverpool graduate, who completed a combined LPC and Masters Degree at the University of Law. Hayley joined Sydney Mitchell as a paralegal in 2019, and last year qualified as a solicitor specialising in Contentious Trusts and Probate in Sydney Mitchell’s Dispute Resolution team.
“I didn’t qualify through traditional means. I submitted an equivalent means application, which I hadn’t even realised was an option before I started working at Sydney Mitchell,” Hayley says. “It essentially required a portfolio of work and references to be submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority demonstrating that I had met the objectives which would usually be achieved through a training contract. It was a lengthy process but ultimately I gained more experience in my chosen legal practice areas doing it that way than I would have done on a training contact.”
Paralegal in the Private Client team, Katie Fitzpatrick, will hopefully complete the SQE via a Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship in 2027, having originally joined Sydney Mitchell in October 2023 as a wills assistant. Her move to the firm followed working as a paralegal team leader at a local law firm, but with limited opportunity to progress.
“I wanted to throw myself back into learning, and combining academic study with on-the-job practical training was ideal for me. Part of my training includes shadowing solicitors working with high net worth individuals providing sound advice in the preparation of wills and trusts,” Katie says. “I also wanted to develop a greater understanding of complex estate administration as well as other areas of law as part of my progression to be a solicitor. All of this has been achieved with the support of Sydney Mitchell’s professional development and career pathways. Most recently I was promoted to private client paralegal and love the opportunity to work on complex matters. The firm has really supported me to find the best career development path for me, and at every step of the way.”
Homegrown talent, Charlotte Jones was promoted to the position of senior associate in the Private Client team in April this year. She originally joined Sydney Mitchell in 2018 as a wills assistant and estate administrator, and today advises on a wide variety of private client issues including complex estate and trust administration.
Charlotte explains: “The Equivalent Means Application (EMA) for a Period of Recognised Training (PRT) was introduced in 2014 to enable those who were struggling to find training contracts to qualify as solicitors. Prior to that, trainees with relevant experience could apply for an exemption from part of their training contract, but this EMA allows qualification as a solicitor without undertaking a training contract at all. The EMA allows paralegals who have completed their degree and legal Practice Course and have also met the requirements of a PRT, to qualify as solicitors. This route enabled me to actively work as a fee earner in a law firm since 2015 and to make that time count. Following qualifying as a solicitor, I then went on to qualify as a trust and estate practitioner.”
Emma Gray has also progressed her career throughout her time with Sydney Mitchell. She joined as part of the firm’s trainee programme in 2012, and after qualifying as a solicitor in 2014, moved into the Family Law team. She progressed to the position of senior solicitor in 2020. Emma was promoted again to associate solicitor in the Family Law team in 2022. She is a member of Resolution and spearheads the delivery of the firm’s new service ‘one lawyer, one couple, which gives couples a more co-operative approach to separation and other family problems.
Samantha Elsmore is a law degree graduate from Bournemouth University, and started working at Sydney Mitchell in 2018 on a 12 month contract as a member of the support team in the Private Client team. She returned six months later as a wills assistant and progressed to the position of legal assistant. Whilst with the firm, Samantha was supported through qualification via the CILEX route, which included courses, exams and the submission of her portfolio. She qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive in May 2024, and went on to obtain probate practice rights which she passed first time in April this year, and is now a CILEX lawyer.
Commenting on the firm’s milestone and World Youth Skills Day, Sydney Mitchell’s Senior Partner Karen Moores says: “We have a transparent career progression plan, which sets-out clear and attainable criteria for individuals to advance in their careers. We are dedicated to nurturing talent and are currently supporting several of our colleagues through the legal qualification process, including through the equivalent means route and the SQE via apprenticeship programs.
“Planning for World Youth Skills Day gave us the chance to reflect on our current workforce and career progression and learning and development pathways, a process that has made us realise just how many of our team are homegrown, and that our ambitious strategy to have staff developing their skills and adding to their legal qualifications using every route available is a major success.
“Like Sydney Mitchell, World Youth Skills Day is focused on empowering the next generation. Today’s youth face significant challenges, including high unemployment rates, rapidly changing job markets, and evolving skill requirements. By prioritising skills development, communities and organisations can unlock the potential of young people, reduce inequalities, and drive economic progress. The day reinforces the need for and the value of accessible and inclusive education and training, ensuring no young person is left behind.”
Founded over 260 years ago and with offices in Solihull and Birmingham, Sydney Mitchell LLP’s specialist team portfolio covers employment, commercial property, company and commercial services, shareholder disputes, contract law, litigation, personal injury, insolvency, residential property, dispute resolution, immigration, wills and probate, tax and trusts, personal injury, as well as family and child law. It is a Top Tier Legal 500 firm, Lexcel accredited, seven-times winner of the Birmingham Law Society Firm of the Year (5-15 partners) / Regional Law Firm, and won the Excellence in Professional Services award in the Nachural Signature Awards 2025 Birmingham.
Get in touch
To find out more about career opportunities at Sydney Mitchell in the first instance, please contact Annmarie Edmonds our HR and Recruitment Advisor by email a.edmonds@sydneymitchell.co.uk.
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