A Cumbrian-born solicitor has returned to the county to continue her career with the business law firm Baines Wilson after working in Manchester and Shanghai.

Samantha Clark, 30, grew up near Cockermouth and has now joined the dispute resolution team at the firm.

Sam, a former pupil of Cockermouth School, studied English Literature at university. Sam always had a passion for law.

When she graduated from the University of Liverpool, she worked in the publishing world gaining the confidence she needed to move forward and follow her passion.

In 2017, Sam made the switch and completed two post-graduate law degrees in Manchester.

Once she had completed her post-graduate studies, Samantha was awarded a scholarship to travel to Shanghai and study Chinese Law. 

Sam completed her training contract in Manchester at a large national firm, Gateley Legal.

During her training contract, Sam completed a six-month secondment in-house at Everton Football Club, also having experience in the firm’s corporate, commercial disputes and employment teams.

Although she has travelled and worked for other companies her heart was in Cumbria.

She said: “When the pandemic hit I was working from home and decided to move back to Cumbria while completing my training contract remotely. My life is in Cumbria, my roots are in Cumbria so it was the right time to return home.”

Baines Wilson has offices in Carlisle and Lancaster and Samantha believes that being from the area will help her connect with clients and help their businesses to resolve their legal problems.

She added: “I’m really happy to have joined Baines Wilson, they have an excellent reputation, particularly for their good connections to local businesses and their people.

“I’m people focused, which is a really important part of my work in dispute resolution. I work with people in order to analyse problems from an individual business perspective, to resolve disputes and problems, commercially and pragmatically.

“I’m excited to get stuck in to the high quality of work that Baines Wilson undertakes for its local and national clients and to work alongside the firm’s highly regarded team of experienced commercial lawyers.”

Chris Clayton, Associate in the Dispute Resolution team at Baines Wilson said: “We are delighted to welcome Sam to the team and it is fantastic to see that she has wasted no time in integrating herself with our clients and the rest of the team at Baines Wilson.

“Sam joins us from a large, national firm and brings with her a wealth of experience in respect of resolving complex disputes for corporate clients and individuals, including director/shareholder disputes contractual disputes and professional negligence claims.

“Sam’s appointment, and the experience she brings, will contribute to the ongoing growth and expansion of our dispute resolution offering at Baines Wilson.

“Sam’s local origins and personable approach will help her connect with our clients to help them resolve their commercial differences as quickly and as pragmatically as possible.”