Iola Cameron, who joined our team at CooperBurnett two years ago as a Paralegal in the Corporate & Commercial team, has commenced her training contract with us following successful completion of her Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Master in Laws (LLM) with Distinction, and is now accumulating the hours she needs to be formally qualified.
“I’m very happy and grateful to have been given a training contract and feel another step closer to qualifying as a solicitor,” says Iola. “Even after completing an LPC, there are never any guarantees that you’ll be offered a training contract. I’m extremely grateful to CooperBurnett for facilitating different training routes.”
Adds Victoria Sampson, Partner and Head of Corporate & Commercial: “It’s really refreshing that there are different routes to qualifying as a solicitor nowadays and I am proud that, as a firm, we are flexible and forward-thinking to offer our trainees the route which suits them best. We were thrilled to award Iola a training contract and excited to see her progression towards qualification.”
Iola has three young children and trains flexibly around them.
“There are so many brilliant role models here at CooperBurnett, who work flexibly and are excellent lawyers - it’s great to work at a firm which facilitates them in doing that,” she explains. “I appreciate being supported to do the best possible job here.”
Iola gained a First Class (Hons) degree in Politics and International Relations from the University at Bristol, before completing her Graduate Diploma in Law and LPC, both with Distinction at the University of Law. Prior to Joining CooperBurnett, Iola was an Account Manager for a local marketing agency. There was a time when she was torn between pursuing a career in politics and becoming a lawyer but says politics is just a hobby at the moment.
Being local, Iola already knew CooperBurnett had an excellent reputation.
“I was lucky enough to do some work experience here a little while ago,” Iola explains. “I was impressed by the culture, and I realised CooperBurnett was the kind of firm where I wanted to build my career.”
She continues: “I was given so much support here while I was studying for my LPC and this has continued as I embark upon my training contract. You can really go to anyone in the building for help and advice, at all levels. Imogen [Fleur] is recently qualified and she’s great at providing guidance, while I am working very collaboratively with the rest of the Corporate & Commercial (CoCo) team.”
Iola has worked with the CoCo team for the past two years but is looking to move to other seats, as she continues her training.
“I really love the dynamic environment of CoCo,” she says. “It’ll be good to gain experience in other areas, working in both contentious and non-contentious settings. I studied elective modules in Employment, Family Law and Private Client as part of my LPC, so these are areas I’d like to spend time in. It’ll make me more rounded as a lawyer and I think it’ll be interesting to work under other partners and within other departments, to see how they work.”
When she’s not at work, Iola loves spending time with her family and friends. She also enjoys running and makes time to do that at least three times a week.
