Jessica Irving

In her current seat with the Employment team, Jessica mainly assists the Education team with the large amount of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) claims for large local authority clients. This includes gathering the necessary documents from the client and the relevant schools, drafting initial responses, required forms and if needed, consent orders. She also monitors for any final evidence needed such as witness statements and preparing hearing bundles. She liaises directly with clients, the Tribunal and, in some cases, speaks with the parent of the child.

Jessica has also assisted with Employment matters such as reviewing client documents, attending client meetings and Counsel briefs, drafting letters for disciplinary meetings and various research tasks.

Previous experience

Jessica spent her first two years as a solicitor apprentice in the Debt Recovery team, which involved drafting documents including Letter Before Action, Bankruptcy and Winding Up Petitions, issuing County Court claims and reviewing Scottish matters. She then assisted with more complex matters such as court bundles, applications to amend or strike out and Part 18 requests. This helped towards gaining confidence to manage her own caseload, conduct client meetings and handle a large number of calls daily from debtors, clients and third parties.

Jessica’s third year was spent with the Commercial property team, which involved due diligence enquiries, Land Registry applications, title reviews and creating monthly client reports. She also had the opportunity to draft Leases, Licence for Alterations and Rent Deposit Deeds as well as organising completions and SDLT payments. In addition, she was involved in internal initiatives within the department such as organising the team’s weekly training sessions to ensure everyone maintained their CPD hours.

A particular stand-out matter was involvement in the introduction of the High Street Rental Auctions for one of our Local Authority clients. Jessica worked closely with Newcastle Executive Partner, Nick Gholkar on this and enjoyed the opportunity to see a piece of legislation develop from the ground up and to be part of the team advising on its implementation.

As part of her apprenticeship, Jessica attends university one day per week as she works towards obtaining a law degree. She was appointed to the Law School Honour Roll for the academic year of 2022-2023.

Jessica is a member of the Trainee Social Committee organising firm wide events for charity, Corporate Social Responsibility days, Trainee and Apprentice group meetings and socials. In addition, she is a member of the Gateshead Networking Scheme, Young Professionals and the Northeast Women’s Law Division.