Four new legal eagles take flight at Harrison Drury

A Preston law firm has recruited four budding solicitors as part of its latest intake of legal trainees.

Harrison Drury has offered four new training contracts to Jacob Walker, Rabia Bapu, James Dickinson and Rebecca Hayles.

The appointment is Harrison Drury’s single biggest intake of trainees to date and comes at a time of strong growth for the firm.

Jacob, Rabia, James and Rebecca will work across the firm’s various departments, including dispute resolution, commercial property, employment and family law, before qualifying as solicitors in two years’ time.

John Chesworth, managing director at Harrison Drury, said: “We’re experiencing fast growth and this requires us to recruit at all levels of the business. As we become a larger firm, there’s also clear need to expand our trainee programme.

“Jacob, Rabia, James and Rebecca represent the future of the firm. I’m looking forward to seeing them flourish and I’m confident they’ll follow in the footsteps of previous trainees who are progressing their careers with Harrison Drury. They’re hugely talented.”

Jacob Walker, 25, joins Harrison Drury after studying for a graduate diploma in law and completing the legal practice course (LPC) at Manchester Metropolitan University. Jacob, who is from Preston, was awarded the best performing student award for securing top marks in the graduate diploma in law.

Rebecca Hayles joins the firm from O’Donnells Solicitors where she worked as a paralegal for two years, supporting the firm’s mental health and court of protection departments, while 25-year-old Rabia joins from Hempsons, where she worked in the litigation team helping to resolve healthcare-related disputes. James joins Harrison Drury from DWF where he specialised in defendant insurance work. The 25-year-old also has experience in wills and probate, family law, civil litigation and inquests, in particular in representing some of the bereaved families at the ongoing Hillsborough inquests.