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Amy Wardrop Shortlisted for Young Practitioner of the Year Award

Friends Legal’s very own solicitor Amy Wardrop has been shortlisted for the Young Practitioner of the Year Award for 2021. This is hot-off-the-heels of Wednesday’s announcement from the British Wills & Probate Awards of our legal firm being shortlisted for the Marketing & Social Media Award. This YPotY award is a UK wide award recognising young talent in the private client legal sector, something we’re very new to as a firm after coming from a Personal Injury and Dispute Resolution background.

The announcement came this morning as part of a campaign of revealing the shortlists for their categories over the course of the week. There are 21 categories, with Friends Legal nominated for two of the awards.

Amy’s Legal Background

Amy Wardrop started her law degree at only 16. She was awarded the Law Society of Scotland Prize for Overall Merit — Third Place on the Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Strathclyde. She went on to graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University’s LLB (Bachelor of Law) degree with honours.

At only 30, Amy has over 10 years of professional legal experience and has secured multiple voluntary and internship legal positions before turning 20. She has worked with a number of legal firms in Scotland, where she has practised in a multitude of areas in Scottish law with clients and trade unions. As of 2015, she has also been admitted as a Notary Public.

Her colourful experience in private-client law, work with personal injury solicitors and leadership capabilities have made her the perfect head for our new department, and Friends Legal as a whole.

Amy Wardrop’s Role at Friends Legal

Amy Wardrop - Private Client Solicitor - By Your Side
Our By Your Side department head, Amy Wardrop

Amy Wardrop was recruited to the firm in November 2020 to be part of the launch of our By Your Side service in January 2021. Amy came to the Friends Legal team as a senior solicitor heading our new department. She delivers our Wills, Power of Attorney, Trusts and Executry services. She has since been promoted to the role of Associate.

Amy’s also helped to integrate technologies and practices to help streamline the efficiency of our By Your Side service, which results in a more affordable price for clients. This has been key in our strategy to deliver our services to customers in a modern fashion.

She has also been a key team player of our marketing efforts. Creating and reviewing content to change the tone of end-of-life legal services by being more empathetic and demystifying the legal process for clients. She has helped us to develop guides, to allow customers to make informed choices and better understand the minutia of the service they are using.

Her Work with Vulnerable Clients

Being empathic, understanding and consumer-friendly, Amy has trained in working with vulnerable people who require legal services.

Amy has completed the Dementia Friend training through Alzheimer’s Scotland, is an Affiliate member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She has just sat the exam for the STEP Advanced Certificate in Wills and Executries. Amy is a fully accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE).

Being a member of SFE means Amy is part of a specialist group seeking to support older and vulnerable clients. There is an emphasis on soft skills, as well as technical ability. Being a member of SFE and STEP means that she is held to high codes of conduct.

Her ethos and approachability perfectly encapsulate the type of professional Friends Legal feel the market needs more of in Scotland.

Amy’s Work During the Pandemic

Whilst the pandemic has been an awful experience for all, it has helped to illuminate the ever-changing circumstances and complexity of meeting client needs, which has given us the scope to truly prioritise them.

Amy assisted the team to transition to home working during the pandemic and sought to navigate all the challenges that this brought. For example, by dealing with seriously ill clients during the lockdown who urgently needed legal assistance.

In a more traditional setting, these challenges would have been a struggle. However, by starting a new Private Client department and building the team to provide these services in a new way, Amy guided the team using new technologies to modernise our process during a time when circumstances continued to change; to make it as accessible for customers as possible.

What is the Young Practitioner Award?

Friends Legal Award Nomination - Amy Wardrop - Young Practitioner of the Year award

As stated by the BWAPA: This award represents an exceptional individual who has shown a high level of involvement and development within the sector. This individual must demonstrate: 

  • Exceptional client service. 
  • High levels of skill and technical ability. 
  • A flair for innovation and championing best practice. 
  • Show initiative in challenging situations. 

Why does Amy Wardrop Deserves this Award

Amy has been invaluable in the roll-out of our new department during a time of great uncertainty. She has brought experience and practices to the table that have developed into tangible savings and better service for clients. Her continued commitment to the welfare of our customers has helped establish Friends Legal as a personable, fair, and ethical firm in the Scottish market.

Amy has brought a myriad of technical ability, customer, and legal skills, allowing the company to develop and refine the products on offer to customers. Crucially, she has also been instrumental in building a Probate Case Management capability

She has helped grow our team from just Amy and Anita Barlow to a team of 8 people in just 5 months. As we approached the 6-month-mark, we had already been trusted by more than one generation of families. Friends Legal have now handled the private client matters of hundreds of customers, which is extraordinary considering we started this division of our business from the ground-up. This all thanks to Amy’s key involvement in the team.

Work with Amy Wardrop on Your Private Client Matters

If you want to work with a (potentially — fingers crossed!) award-winning private client solicitor for your Will Writing, POA, Trust or Afterlife needs, contact Friends Legal on 0333 3580 583 or send a message via our contact forms.

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