Five ‘promising’ team members added to leading law firm Watkins & Gunn

Leading Welsh law firm Watkins & Gunn has strengthened its expanding team with three “highly talented and promising” new trainee solicitors and two qualified solicitors.

The law firm, with offices in Cardiff, Newport, Pontypool and London, has welcomed trainees Jonathan Williams, Eleri Griffiths, and Eleanor Swain over the past month, while two other team members Amy Thomas and Victoria Murphy qualified at the end of last year.

The five new additions will specialise in the firm’s Property, Public Law and Personal Injury, and Private Client departments.

Watkins &Gunn also offers a full range of legal services for individuals, including wills and probate matters, family matters, property, public and education law and personal injury.

Joining the Private Client department is Amy Thomas, who has qualified having completed her training contract with Watkins & Gunn.  During her training she gained experience in Conveyancing, Personal Injury and Employment, along with nine months in the Private Client department.

On her new role she said:

“Having trained at the firm, I always felt that Watkins & Gunn was dedicated to training, supporting and encouraging staff to be the best they can be. I was keen to stay with the firm because I knew the knowledge and experience, I would gain in my first few years as an NQ would lay the foundations for me to become a well-rounded and knowledgeable solicitor.”

Joining the Family department is Victoria Murphy, from Cwmbran, who previously worked for the legal firm Rubin Lewis O’Brien after completing her LPC at Nottingham Law School.

She said:

“I feel very welcome at Watkins & Gunn. The department is professional and diverse, yet friendly and accommodating.  I feel that my new role is a great fit and I actually feel I have been here much longer than six months, as I have been so warmly welcomed and supported.”  

Meanwhile Jonathan Williams, a trainee solicitor with a passion for trade union law, has been appointed to the Personal Injury team. Jonathan joined Watkins and Gunn as a trainee solicitor in January 2019 having previously worked as a paralegal in the industrial disease department at a large Cardiff practice.

Mr Williams is currently working on a military-based campaign aimed at supporting veterans who have sustained injuries in service.

He said:

“It is a privilege to be working with some of Wales’s leading legal minds and gaining invaluable experience at Watkins & Gunn. As a member of the trade union and as a former workplace representative and branch secretary for the GMB I couldn’t think of a better fit than Watkins & Gunn. It was for these reasons I was delighted to be appointed to the firm.”

Trainee solicitor Eleri Griffiths, will be joining the Family department in Newport and Pontypool in May after working in the firm’s Public Law and Personal Injury departments.

She said:

“I was recently asked to speak at a Public Law Wales event at Cardiff University to discuss with students how I entered the world of public law, and what I enjoyed about and the routes to entering the profession. It was great to see so many undergraduates at the event who wanted to learn more about the world of Public Law.”

Finally, Eleanor Swain, a trainee solicitor in the Property team is currently working towards becoming a qualified solicitor with the firm.  Over the next few months she will be working with various departments within the firm to continue her training and development.

Eleanor said:

“Working for Watkins &Gunn feels like being part of a family. I’d like to thank Clive and all the team for supporting me during my time here as I continue to work towards qualifying. Their support has been priceless, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Clive Thomas, managing partner and Head of Personal Injury said:

“We are thrilled to have welcomed such a highly talented and promising team of trainee solicitors to the firm over the past month and we can already see that they have great potential.

“As an industry-leading firm, we pride ourselves on attracting some of the finest legal talents to work across our expert teams and investing in their future to ensure continued excellence as a firm.

“Here at Watkins & Gunn we pride ourselves on our culture of continuous improvement and we are committed to providing all of our clients with an excellent standard of service. We believe these new team members will make a significant impact throughout the firm thanks to their undeniable passion and skills, and we look forward to watching them grow into industry-leading solicitors going forwards.”

For information about how to join the team at Watkins & Gunn please contact info@watkinsandgunn.co.uk