UK’s first not-for-profit law firm grows with two Solicitors qualifying into the Employment Team

Former Uni housemates Caris Jones and Kira Gunter go from sharing a kitchen to sharing desks as fully qualified lawyers at AltraLaw

AltraLaw, the UK’s first Not-For-Profit law firm, has added two newly Qualified Solicitors to its team.

Founded by Nathan Vidini in 2020, AltraLaw provides specialist legal advice on employment and work-related issues. The firm also assists individuals in other areas of law including Wills, Trust and Probate, from a unique position of using its business for good – meaning all profits go to charitable and other causes chosen by its clients.

Having started as Paralegals with AltraLaw, Caris Jones and Kira Gunter undertook over two years of training and are now fully Qualified Solicitors, part of a six-strong team of specialist Solicitors working with AltraLaw out of its headquarters in Caerphilly, South Wales.

Achieving qualified status isn’t the first time the two women have worked well together, however, as the pair were also housemates during their time studying Law at Swansea University, where they both graduated with First Class Honours.

Kira, aged 25 and from Ebbw Vale, said: “Caris joined AltraLaw before me and I knew from conversations with her that it was a new and exciting business, and consider it a great opportunity to be involved in the first not-for-profit law firm in the UK. I’m really pleased to have finally qualified as a solicitor and very grateful for the excellent training and experience I’ve gained during my time at the firm.”

Following her graduation in 2020, Kira went on to gain a masters in Legal Practice alongside part-time work as an adviser for Citizens Advice. She joined AltraLaw following a brief period as a Trainee Solicitor elsewhere and went on to complete her training in Employment Law and through a secondment in Civil Litigation with Bater Law in Cardiff.

After Caris’ studies finished, she went to work with Swansea Bay University Health Board as an Administrative Assistant, before joining AltraLaw in 2021 as a Paralegal. At that stage in the firm’s development, she was its only employee.

Caris then went on to become a Trainee Solicitor with AltraLaw in 2021, undertaking a secondment to Watkins and Gunn in their disease litigation department working with the Ministry of Defence and going on to travel the world before achieving her qualification as a Solicitor in December last year.

Caris, who is 24 and from Llantrisant, said: “Finding out that AltraLaw was a not-for-profit business was something that I hadn’t seen before and was very attracted to as it put people before profits. These were ethics which really came to the fore when the company allowed me to take four months leave to travel the world during my training, which I had always planned to do until Covid got in the way.

“I could also see the benefits of being supervised and mentored by someone like Nathan, as a highly experienced specialist in Employment Law, and knew that the opportunity to join AltraLaw would be invaluable in starting my career in law and enhancing my training and learning overall.”

Nathan Vidini spent more than 15 years carving out a reputation as the ‘go-to’ specialist employment solicitor for employees in Wales and the South West, before using his extensive experience and reputation for an altruistic cause and launching AltraLaw in January 2020.

As the UK’s first Not-For-Profit law firm, AltraLaw has continued to attract like-minded lawyers working across several disciplines who want to ‘make a difference’ in the legal sector and has won many prestigious awards along the way as a result.

Since Caris became Nathan’s first employee, the Employment Team at AltraLaw has grown to six Qualified Solicitors, including three industry leading experts, based across South Wales and in offices at the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise in Caerphilly.

Nathan said: “It’s been a pleasure and a privilege for me to have been able to encourage and support Caris and Kira at such a crucial time in their careers, I have watched them both learn, grow and achieve so much in making their way from graduates to fully qualified Solicitors.

“As a business, AltraLaw is also delighted to have retained talent which is not only exceptional but home grown too. I’m also hugely grateful to Caris in taking the leap of faith in becoming our first employee and sharing in our vision to provide legal services that our clients can truly have faith in – I have nothing but admiration for both Caris and Kira when it comes to the choices they have made, and the great lawyers they will both no doubt become.”

For more information on AltraLaw, the services it provides and the ways you can work with them to support charities and causes close to your heart, visit www.altralaw.co.uk