24/09/24

Meet The Team - Laura-Kate Davies

Formally a solicitor, Laura-Kate has a varied role at Thornton Legal. She specialises in recruiting for roles at all levels across the Midlands as well as paralegal and non qualified roles in all practice areas within the North West, with a focus on graduate recruitment and early career positions.

Interested to know more about Laura-Kate?

How did you get into legal recruitment?

I was working as a solicitor within personal Injury, and had qualified at a time when many changes were coming in with that area of law (and not for the better). I was becoming disillusioned with my career and the crazy hours I was also working with a young family. I saw an advert asking ‘are you disillusioned with your career in law’ and it was for a recruitment agency within the legal department. I previously worked in sales for a large banking organisation and having qualified in law I thought I had transferrable skills to do the role so would give it a go. When I turned up for the interview Nick Tappin was there who I had worked with at a law firm previously. Almost 10 years later I am still working in legal recruitment, so I like to think I made the right decision!

What do you do at Thornton Legal?

I recruit for a wide range of roles across most practice areas, predominantly specialising in conveyancing at all levels covering the North West as well as Shropshire. I also recruit for non-qualified roles and early career roles for legal assistant, paralegals and fee earners. I particularly enjoy this aspect and watching candidates' careers develop over the years.

What advice would you give a law firm looking to hire in 2024?

Be flexible! If you want the right talent and have been trying to find a candidate for a tricky role for some time often flexibility is key. Flexible and hybrid working are a must for most candidates I work with now. Firms not offering some WFH are going to struggle to hire the best people. 

The same goes for the job specifications.  Often clients are looking for that ‘unicorn’ candidate for months with a strict job specification. The firms that flex the job specification a bit and offer extra training etc for skills missing often get good talent through the door while others are recruiting for the same role months later.

What makes you a good recruiter?

I am super organised which I think is key in recruitment when you can have a lot of different things going on at once. I am also a good listener and will always match people to the roles I think suit them best. Having worked in the law myself and getting to know the clients I work for I think I offer a lot of insight to the candidates I work with.

What's the best part of your job?

I genuinely have built up some great relationships with candidates over the years as well as clients. I enjoy being a part of someone’s journey especially those at the start of their career and then seeing them get training contracts and go onto qualify is very rewarding!

Tell us about your hobbies?

Booking holidays haha!. I love to go on holiday and travel to different places. I also enjoy watching musical theatre shows and eating out. I would love time for more hobbies but with 3 boys I spend most of my time at theirs! I have started to try and fit in the gym on my lunch breaks.

Who is your favourite band?

This is a hard one as I have such a diverse taste in music. I am due to see Oasis next year and have seen them before back in 2009, so they are up there I guess!

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I was part of a youth theatre growing up and used to love performing in theatre shows. I had a few solo singing performances at school and once auditioned for the X factor (singing is now reserved for the shower only). Oh and I once danced in the disney parade dressed as a penguin in Mary Poppins!

A typical weekend for me is…

Cheering my sons on the sidelines at football and rugby. They play friday night, saturday and sunday so my weekends are taken up with anything sport related!. My sons and I are also Tranmere Rovers season ticket holders so we watch them both home and away. When I am not stood in the rain on a muddy field I like a few drinks with friends and a night out.

If you want to discuss vacancies Laura-Kate is working on, or the market generally, please get in touch directly on 07731 525 692 or drop her a line at laurakate@thorntonlegal.co.uk

Thornton Legal is a specialist legal recruitment agency. We regularly recruit for international, national, Legal 500, regional and boutique law firms across Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Main locations include Liverpool, Chester, Preston, Manchester, Leeds and Shropshire. At Thornton Legal we work with partners, solicitors, paralegals and legal assistants across a range of practice areas including (but not exclusively) corporate, commercial property, residential property, employment, litigation, private client and family.

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