Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

DLA Piper welcomes new recruits in Yorkshire

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

DLA PiperLaw firm DLA Piper has welcomed 21 new recruits to its Yorkshire offices this month, with the latest intake of trainee solicitors joining the international legal practice.

The new starters all hail from, or have studied in, the Yorkshire region and will now spend the next two years with DLA Piper in Leeds and Sheffield as part of their qualification as solicitors. Each trainee will spend six months in departments across the firm to ensure they have a broad legal knowledge, before deciding which area of commercial law they will specialise in as a career.

Over 1800 graduates apply for between 85 and 90 trainee contracts at DLA Piper each year. The two year programme is renowned as being one of the broadest training programmes for commercial law trainees and gives applicants the opportunity to gain a broad range of experience, working on high profile and complex matters in a wide range of UK locations.

DLA Piper Leeds new recruits 2010

Faith James, who was born in Wakefield and lived in Harrogate before studying at Cambridge University has started her traineeship in the Leeds Finance and Projects team. She comments; “When I was looking at training programmes, I wanted to find a firm with a strong  reputation in national and international work for high profile clients, so that I could gain the broadest exposure to different types of work. But, as I have strong ties to Yorkshire, I ideally wanted a firm with regional roots. DLA Piper fulfilled all these criteria so was top of my list!

“Even in the short time I have been with the firm, I can already see that I am going to have the opportunity to work on some really interesting projects and get a fantastic grounding for my future career.”

Steve Sly, Managing Partner at DLA Piper in Sheffield comments; “Recruiting and developing the legal ’stars’ of the future is incredibly important to the DLA Piper teams in Sheffield and Leeds.

DLA Piper Sheffield new recruits 2010

“Not only do we want these graduates to have the best possible grounding in their profession so that they can contribute to the continued success of DLA Piper in Yorkshire, we also believe we have a responsibility as an employer to support and develop the skills of our region’s young people so that they can continue to flourish, despite the challenging economic climate.”

Contact information for DLA Piper Sheffield

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Planning expert takes up permanent residence in Sheffield

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Michael Pocock - DLA PiperDLA Piper has further strengthened its real estate offering with the appointment of planning lawyer Michael Pocock to its Sheffield office.

Michael, who has been working between the Manchester and Sheffield offices of the local law firm for the last two years is now permanently based in Sheffield in response to a continuing demand for specialist planning advice to service the firm’s Sheffield clients, which include Sheffield City Council, Lafarge, Corus UK Limited, National Express Group and J F Finnegan Limited.

Working for both public and private sector clients on issues including; complex planning applications and appeals, compulsory purchase orders, highways issues and judicial reviews, Michael has developed a strong reputation in the region, advising on high profile regeneration schemes including the planning agreements for the £300 million redevelopment at Chesterfield Waterside.

Michael believes his permanent appointment to the Sheffield office reflects demand in the city for high quality planning advice from a locally based specialist. He comments; “I have been working with the real estate team in Sheffield for a number of years now, so have seen a variety of trends in the local economy and understand the dynamics of the real estate market.

“Despite the economic downturn there has been an increased demand for planning advice over the last six months in particular, which suggests that developers are now focussing on progressing schemes that were previously shelved due to lack of funding, or focussing on new projects entirely.

“The challenge for developers now, is that despite the recession the Government has continued to make changes to the planning system which means that aspects of the planning regime will be unfamiliar to those reentering the market. For instance, as recently as two weeks ago the Government introduced the Community Infrastructure Regulations 2010, which permit local authorities to introduce a new community infrastructure levy on developments. Whilst indications are that there is unlikely to be a high take up of the new levy by local authorities – at least in the foreseeable future – its implications will still need to be fully understood and taken into account in contract negotiations.

Now more so than ever good quality planning expertise at the beginning of any project can make the difference to the final viability and success of development schemes. I am looking forward to working with the firm’s clients to overcome the challenges that a constantly changing planning regime brings.”

For further information, contact DLA Piper on 08700 111111 or visit www.dlapiper.com  

Tags: , , , , , , ,