Squire Sanders supports law students’ aspirations

Global legal practice, Squire Sanders has collaborated with leading UK universities, Durham University and Newcastle University to launch a scholarship scheme for aspiring lawyers, in a bid to help fund their degree costs and promote greater collaboration between academic institutions and Squire Sanders.

The university scholarship prize will be granted each year to an undergraduate student who has demonstrated both excellent academic results in their first year examinations along with evidence of making a positive contribution to their local community. The successful students are awarded a scholarship and a place on the Firm’s summer vacation scheme.

Two students have this week been awarded the inaugural scholarship prizes; Thea Bainbridge from Newcastle University and Natalie Ingram from Durham University. They will undertake their placements in the London and Leeds offices respectively. Shauna McNulty from Newcastle University was a runner-up in the scheme and will be carrying out her placement in Leeds.

Discussing the new initiative, Squire Sanders graduate recruitment partner Richard Morton said: “The scholarship gives the winner a helping hand in achieving their goal of a successful career in law, in addition to invaluable work experience at one of Squire Sanders’ UK offices.

“Giving something back to local communities is important to us so we are delighted to work closely with Durham University and Newcastle University in looking for people who not only aspire to academic excellence but who also have an equal commitment to helping their local communities and charities.”

Dr James A. Sweeney, Chair of the Board of Examiners, at Durham Law School, said: “The forward thinking approach Squire Sanders are taking by establishing this scholarship mirrors Durham University's own commitment to developing the employability and skills of its students.  We are proud to be working in partnership with Squire Sanders and once again we congratulate all the winners, especially Durham’s Natalie Ingram.”

Chris Rodgers, Head of the Law School at Newcastle University concluded: “We are proud to be working with Squire Sanders on this initiative. We have a strong commitment to providing our students with the best possible skills for entry to the employment market, and this scholarship and the work placement scheme at Squire Sanders has been an enormous success. It has benefitted our students immensely, and will continue to do so in the future. I congratulate Richard Morton and his team on their forward looking approach to graduate recruitment and training, and also congratulate Thea Bainbridge and Shauna McNulty on their success in the scholarship competition.”

Due to the success of the scheme, Squire Sanders is discussing similar scholarships with 10 UK Universities and hope to expand the scheme in time for the next academic year.

Winners image:L- R: Shauna McNulty, Thea Bainbridge and Natalie Ingram

Scholarship image:L-R (Back row) Chris Rodgers (Professor of Law, Newcastle University), Shauna McNulty, Richard Morton (Squire Sanders Partner), Dr. James Sweeney (Professor of Law, Durham University)

L- R (front row) Thea Bainbridge, Natalie Ingram

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