Lia is a first year, first seat Trainee Solicitor in the Construction department in Newcastle.
In this seat she will gain experience in both contentious and non-contentious work. Lia will gain experience across all aspects of construction law, including drafting and reviewing collateral warranties and other associated documentation, and also dealing with construction disputes.
During her first seat, Lia is looking forward to experiencing a new area of law in the Built Environment sector and being challenged by different pieces of work that she has never taken on before.
Prior to starting her Training Contract in September 2025, Lia was a Paralegal in the Planning team at Ward Hadaway. During Lia’s time in the team she:
- assisted with negotiating and drafting S106 Agreements; and
- assisted on acting for a Statutory Undertaker in respect of Development Consent Orders for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects;
- assisted on a successful appeal for a national housebuilder client;
- carried out planning due diligence for the wider Real Estate team; and
- maintained her own caseload for Infrastructure Agreements (largely s278/38 and s104 Agreements).
Across both departments, Lia has worked with many national and regional housebuilder clients and Councils across the North East.
Alongside work, Lia also organises the Ward Hadaway netball team and they play in a social league in Newcastle. Lia also plays netball outside of the work team and competes in the Tyne and Wear league at County level.
Prior to working at Ward Hadaway, Lia moved up to Newcastle from the East Midlands to complete her LLB law degree at Newcastle University. Lia then went on to self-fund her LLM in Legal Practice (incorporating the LPC) at Northumbria University.