Three newly-qualified solicitors join Browne Jacobson’s education team

Browne Jacobson’s education practice continues to grow after welcoming three newly-qualified solicitors in this year’s intake.

Alice Wheatley, Chantice Kyle and Georgina Hall have joined the 100-strong team after completing their training contracts at the UK and Ireland law firm.

They will play a key role in delivering legal and HR services to the full range of education clients, which include schools, academies, and further and higher education institutions.

Alice and Chantice are based at the firm’s Nottingham office, with Georgina located in Manchester.

Chantice was the first to qualify last autumn, having moved from a previous nursing career into the legal profession, joining Browne Jacobson via its summer vacation scheme. She balances her job with caring for her 21-year-old brother, who lives with autism, and supports the firm’s REACH mentoring programme, which helps ambitious Black students to kickstart their career in law.

She said: “After being a nurse for several years and developing an interest in the legal aspects of healthcare, I want to feel like I’m still contributing to the community and, with the type of work we do with our education clients, I feel like this is the case.

“I provide a lot of pastoral support advising schools on issues such as admissions, exclusions and parental complaints, as well as special educational needs – something that is particularly close to my heart. I also update governance documents, and support on academy conversions and transfers.”

Alice, who like Georgina qualified in March this year, supports schools with pastoral matters, disability discrimination tribunals, and leading on academy transfers and conversions.

“I really want to continue making a difference to policy changes needed for schools to deal with issues such as the escalation in volume and complexity of parent complaints, while supporting them in navigating complicated day-to-day pastoral issues,” said Alice. “I couldn’t be in a better team, surrounded by well-respected and inspirational colleagues who embody the firm’s core values of inclusivity, down to earth and collaboration.”

Georgina arrived in the legal profession after initially studying business at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School, followed by roles in university student recruitment and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.

She said: “The experience I picked up in working on some of the most complex and high-risk complaints by students against higher education providers, and considering providers’ compliance with policies and procedures, ignited my interest in the law and it was an easy decision to work at Browne Jacobson because it has one of the strongest education teams in the country.

“I want to continue building a broad caseload experience but I’ll also look to leverage my experience in the higher education sector to build expertise as there’s huge potential for us to grow this practice area.”

Mark Blois, Head of Education at Browne Jacobson, added: “It has been wonderful to welcome Chantice, Alice and Georgina to our education team as our latest newly-qualified solicitors.

“As our market-leading education practice continues to grow, it is vital we maintain a strong pipeline of young talent in order to ensure we can continue meeting all our clients’ needs.

“Chantice, Alice and Georgina will not only enhance the education team's capacity, but they are a very natural fit with the team's values and personality. We are all looking forward to working with them and seeing their careers flourish over the coming years.”

Alice and Georgina are among 10 newly-qualified solicitors in Browne Jacobson’s spring intake. The group also includes Jasmine Shokar (real estate, Nottingham); Laura Roughan-Woodthorpe (healthcare and advisory litigation, Birmingham); Robert Clarke (business and professional risk, Birmingham); Isabella Moloney (healthcare and advisory litigation, Exeter); Zahra Khan (business services, Birmingham); Kim Roberts (business and professional risk, Nottingham); Tasha Jones (healthcare and advisory litigation, Manchester); and Thomas Mile (business and professional risk, Birmingham).