Vincents’ UCLan link ‘works’ for Chloe

Law student Chloe Reynard beat off competition from her course-mates to bag a work placement at Lancashire’s Vincents Solicitors.

Third year Chloe won the firm’s legal essay contest – to write a blog on which law she would like to see changed, and why – which was open to all students taking law courses at UCLan in Preston.

The competition was launched during a recent careers fair at the university, and Chloe’s blog was judged to be the best by solicitor James Yates and his colleagues in the commercial department.

James said: “Chloe’s essay looked at changing the law that means offenders serve only half of their sentence. She put forward clear, well-researched arguments for and against the point, evaluated both sides and made a balanced but firm conclusion in favour of her view. It made for an interesting read and we were impressed with her style.

“She certainly has a good grasp of legal theory and we hope that her placement will give Chloe a good insight into the practical realities of being a solicitor. We’re keen to support the training and development of the next generation of legal professionals, inviting young people into the firm and tailoring the experience to their main interests as we’ve done with Chloe.”

The 23-year-old from Clitheroe is in her final year at UCLan and will spend a week working in two different departments at Vincents’ head office in Preston’s Winckley Square, shadowing members of the commercial and criminal teams. In the commercial department she will work alongside lawyers working on commercial property and land leases, and corporate contracts.

Then Chloe will accompany one of the crime department solicitors to magistrates’ court and client conference, to see the ins and outs of the criminal legal system. She hopes to use the experience to help decide which area to focus on when leaving university at the end of the summer.

Chloe said: “I have always been fascinated by criminal law and that was one of the reasons I wanted to become a solicitor, but have found the commercial side of things really interesting during my course and so want to see a bit more of both in practice before deciding where to focus my efforts when applying for paralegal positions later in the year. “I was really pleased to win the competition and get this placement with Vincents. It was a good opportunity to express my opinion on an important legal point and demonstrate what I’ve learned over the last three years. I was shocked to win but very proud that the judges thought I’d done a good job.”