Vertex Law

A new career with Vertex Law awaits Rachel Ramsden, who has recently started as a trainee solicitor with the Kent company having spent nearly seven years fitting her studies around a full-time job.

For some teenagers, the prospect of choosing a future career may be daunting, however for Rachel, law was always her focus and as a then 19-year-old she was prepared for the long haul when signing up for a degree in the subject through the Open University.

While working full time as a legal secretary, she embarked on the course, which required six years of study - although she would ultimately complete it in five.

She said: “I didn’t go to university so if I wanted a law degree this was the only way to go and get it. It was hard and I was under no illusions when I started about what lay ahead. The hardest part was trying to juggle work, study and having some sort of life beyond that.

However, it did teach me some very important lessons in time management and self-discipline, which will continue to be of use to me in my career. It also meant I could work and get paid and, at the same time as studying, I was building up workplace experience and contacts.”

Rachel joined Kings Hill based Vertex Law in 2004 and as she decided to cram the last two years of the course into one, she was able to cut her job down to four days a week for a few months.

She said: “Vertex were supportive of my objectives from the outset and worked with me to ensure that I had the support necessary to complete my degree and then my Legal Practice Course (LPC).”

Having graduated with a first-class honours degree, she was awarded a commendation in  her LPC - a small matter of 18 exams in nine months - and will shortly start as a trainee solicitor.

She said: “It has been a very intense but rewarding experience and I feel that although I may be a little older than I would have been if I had taken a law degree at university, I have come away with some great work experience and am a more rounded person because of it.”

Vertex Law partner James Beatton said: “Rachel has been extremely dedicated and focused in pursuit of her qualifications and we are delighted to be able to offer her a chance to realise her dream and become a solicitor.

At Vertex, we believe in being supportive about the needs of the people who work for us. This obviously includes people’s career aspirations but also the ability to offer tailored working arrangements for people who have commitments outside of the workplace. We are a people business and you have to be flexible to get the best out of people.”