By Sarah Walker
29 April 2025
An award-winning North East law firm’s commitment to remaining independent and growing its team from within has been further strengthened, as four employees it funded training for achieve their well-earned qualifications.
Jacksons, which has offices on Teesside and in Newcastle, has seen Alena Din and Victoria Blackham complete their training contracts to qualify as solicitors.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Barugh is now a legal executive and Lindsey Scott has achieved the position of licensed conveyer at the firm, which recently underwent a complete rebrand to highlight its longstanding heritage, while looking to a future of providing legal advice with care.
Back row – Lindsey Scott, Erica Turner.
Alena Din, who joined Jacksons in January 2022 as a trainee paralegal, was offered a solicitor’s training contract in the summer of the same year.
She said: “I’m pleased to have been offered a newly qualified role in the commercial property department.
“I started the training contract in January 2023 and mostly remained in commercial property but also did a little bit of work in the dispute resolution department.
“Both teams have been really supportive of me.”
Alena says one of the best things about working at the firm is the open plan offices, where people are encouraged to seek advice and support from others at all levels.
“You sit amongst the partners, and I had the opportunity to get involved in large, complex transactions,” she said.
“I’ve been given lots of support and have been able to get involved in interesting deals as a result.
“It hasn’t been the case that because I was a trainee, I was given administrative work, at Jacksons, you are given the opportunity and support to learn when it comes to complex cases.”
Alena would now like the opportunity to “progress through the ranks” within the firm.
“The firm cares about the future and giving people the opportunity to progress and take on more responsibility so I am hoping for a long-term future here,” she says.
Victoria started her career with the firm as a paralegal during one of the Covid lockdowns in 2021.
“I’m really pleased and grateful to have qualified this year in the residential conveyancing team, where I have spent most of my time with Jacksons, with the exception of a short stint in the Employment team,” she said.
Like Alena, Victoria enjoys the fact this is “not a firm where the partners sit behind a closed door”.
“If you’ve got any questions or any concerns, people at all levels are approachable and supportive,” she says.
“I would like to stay at Jacksons and progress into management because it’s such a nice place to work and it’s also growing – It feels like it is going somewhere.”
Charlotte Barugh has now passed all her CILEX examinations, which she has been studying for the past five and a half years alongside working full time in order to reach the position of legal executive.
“I am so grateful for the support which Jacksons have provided me with throughout this course as well as my career,” she said.
“I am within the dispute resolution team and head up our debt recovery team, where I assist clients in recovery – either bulk debt or one-off debt recovery.
“I also deal with general litigation with a focus on commercial property litigation.”
Lindsey Scott, now a licensed conveyancer, completed the CLC Levels 4&6 to become a certified licenced conveyancer in two years and three months – something which normally takes up to five years.
“This means that I am able to deal with residential property transactions as if I was a qualified solicitor in the same field,” she explains.
“What this means to the firm is that they recognise that there are different ways for people to achieve their aspirations of becoming legally qualified when qualification as a solicitor is not an option.
“As I don’t have a degree, I couldn’t be a solicitor and because I knew that I just wanted to do conveyancing there was no point in me doing CILEX.
“This option has allowed me to become trained in solely conveyancing and understand the different types of transactions that are covered under that umbrella.”
Erica Turner, head of legal at Jacksons, said: “As a firm which is committed to independence and dedicated to growing our team from within, we are very proud to be able to announce these four recent qualifications and promotions.
“I would like to extend a huge congratulations to these four women, who have all demonstrated great dedication and a natural flair for working in the legal profession, regardless of the different routes they have taken to reach their goals.
“I am looking forward to seeing how they all develop within their roles and beyond.”
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