Ward Hadaway has awarded eight training contracts.

The trainees, who beat strong competition to win their contracts, will undergo a combination of on-the-job training and classroom study at Northumbria University as they take their first steps towards becoming solicitors.

The group will spend two years working in different areas of the firm to develop their expertise.

ROSS CHAMBERS, 25, from Oxford, joins the corporate finance department.

STUART CRAIG, 25, from Durham, starts his training contract in the same department.

NEIL SMITH, 25, from Peterlee, County Durham, will begin in the commercial litigation department.

Now living in Jesmond, the former Northumbria University law student spent two years working as a paralegal after graduation.

KIRSTY MACDONALD, 24, from Wakefield, joins the commercial property team after working for a high street firm in her home town dealing with personal injury work.

RUTH WHITAKER, 22, from Staffordshire, studied law at Newcastle and spent time at Ward Hadaway on a placement before being awarded a traineeship in the property department.

RUSSELL WARD, 22, of Gosforth, will begin his training in the healthcare unit.

Newcastle's LISA BURTON, 26, has joined the banking and finance unit, and ANNA STEPHENSON, 24, from Guisborough, Teesside, has joined the commercial litigation team.