DAS hires 11 graduates to Bedwas call centre team

DAS UK Group, the UK’s leading provider of specialist legal expenses insurance, has announced the appointment of 11 graduate Legal Advisers to the Legal Advice team at its call centre in Bedwas, near Caerphilly.

The graduates are John McGrath (Swansea University); Ryan James, Jon Wood, Briony Stanton, Leigh-Ann Harvey, James Hudson (all Cardiff University); Zoe Turner, Rebecca Moore (both University of South Wales); Shauna Everitt (University of Gloucestershire); Domonic Lyons (University of Lincoln); and Hannah Jones (University of Plymouth).

The graduates are also joined in the team, which sits in the company’s DAS Law division, by Alexandra Taylor, an internal appointment from DAS UK’s Personal Injury team.

Despite rising unemployment and the impact of Covid-19 on people’s lives and the global economy, DAS UK is committed to attracting and recruit new talent. The firm has established a strong and long-standing relationships with key local universities across the UK to launch and deliver a variety of initiatives such as career fairs, mock interview days/CV clinics, guest lectures, legal advice clinics, and work experience placements for graduates.

“We are delighted to welcome the new cohort to the DAS UK family,” said Nicole Rogers, Senior Associate Solicitor and Team Leader at DAS Law. “Onboarding and nurturing the next generation of talent is crucial for the long-term success of our business. The recruitment reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting new graduates and offering them opportunities to upskill and make positive impact in the community and the economy.”

David Keane, Work Experience Project Officer at Cardiff University who has worked with DAS UK to highlight career opportunities for students, commented: “During the past 12 months, DAS has offered tremendous support to Cardiff University students and graduates. This has resulted in a large number of much sought after legal work experience placements early in the academic year. We were particularly delighted that DAS reached out during the spring lockdown, to allow our team to promote paralegal opportunities to our finalists – which saw several Law School graduates being employed by the firm. An absolutely fantastic outcome in this most difficult of years!”

Julia Rees, Work Placement Partner, Careers & Employability, at the University of South Wales, said: “Covid-19 hasn’t stopped the partnership. This year we’ve just adapted and have done things differently. This autumn we’ve recorded DAS guest lecture materials and scheduled remote work placements for 2021. We still wanted to make sure our second year LLB students had exposure to employers, so we scheduled a ‘Focus on Solicitors' week with live Q&A sessions with DAS employees, including the chance of virtual mock interviews with DAS.”

Briony Stanton, Legal Adviser, DAS Law, said: “I applied to DAS through Cardiff University. One thing that drew my attention to the company was the ability and opportunity to develop my career. When I joined, it became very evident that there are a number of opportunities within the business that allow you to develop as an individual and career wise.

“Joining a law firm in the middle of a pandemic has been a daunting experience to say the least. The transition from studying law to practising it is a big leap but I have been reassured every step of the way. The support net within the Legal Advice department is incredible - no question is too little a bother for the team. The continuous feedback that I receive, from both the Team Leaders and the Senior Associates, allows me to develop and improve constantly. I am very grateful and thankful.”