Solicitor joins expanding law firm
A LEGAL firm with offices across north Wales and Cheshire has appointed a newly-qualified young solicitor.
Sarah Pierce, 26, from Prestatyn, is based at Swayne Johnson’s Denbigh office and is the latest member of the private client team at the firm, which was founded in 1854.
Swayne Johnson now has six offices in the area, at St Asaph, Ruthin, Llandudno, Bangor and Tattenhall, near Chester, as well as at Denbigh – and plans for growth in the future.
Ms Pierce, a former pupil of Prestatyn High School, gained her law degree at Bangor University after switching from a course in criminology in her first year. After graduating, she worked for a Chester law firm before joining Swayne Johnson as a trainee solicitor and has been with them for two years.
Ms Pierce said: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, but my mum, nana and auntie were all nurses and I knew I didn’t want to do that. I was studying criminology and we did an introduction to law module and I found it so interesting that it whetted my appetite and I switched to law.”
She gained a first-class honours degree in law and then took her legal practice course at the University of Law at Christleton, near Chester, where she gained a distinction.
She has also had a taste of the law at first hand, volunteering for three years at a child contact centre in Saltney, where parents from broken families had their only contact with their children.
Ms Pierce explained: “It was a safe place where people whose relationships had broken down quite drastically could meet and spend time with their children in a controlled environment.
“The issues involved would often be very complex but I enjoyed the experience and the chance to meet and understand people with different backgrounds, and it provides a good insight into family law.”
While at Bangor she was part of their Street Law project, volunteering to give advice on legal matters such as stop and search and consumer rights to students and to young people at Menai Bridge Youth Club.
Sarah has also attended memory clinics in Kinmel Bay for older people who may be at risk of developing dementia, as well as Age Connects groups in Denbigh.
She is now part of the private client team at Swayne Johnson, headed by Lynette Viney-Passig, one of the company directors, where she will specialise in wills, inheritance tax, powers of attorney and estate planning.
She said: “I love being able to help people, whether they’re elderly clients trying to guard against threats like dementia or those trying to plan for their future.
“I’m so pleased to be with Swayne Johnson because they are very good at recruiting from within and for training people up, and they’ve got a real commitment to helping people through charity work.”
Swayne Johnson managing director Sarah Noton said: “We’re delighted to make another high-calibre appointment in Sarah as we continue to expand, which has seen us grow from two offices to six in the last eight years.”