LAW firm Dickinson Dees has taken on 14 trainee solicitors in its annual recruitment drive.

The firm has attracted recruits from the Universities of Nottingham, Oxford, Manchester, Warwick and Cambridge as well as students from local universities including Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria.

The 14 trainees will now undergo an intensive induction period.

Sarah Frost, one of the trainees, said: "Dickinson Dees is well established as the largest law firm in the North-East and this year's Legal 500 report has just confirmed that.

"Working at a firm like this brings opportunities to work with, and learn from, some of the profession's leading experts.

"I am really looking forward to getting started and hope to have the opportunity to travel at some point during my time here. Dickinson Dees has a Brussels office so I am hoping to spend some time out there."

Neil Braithwaite, managing partner at Dickinson Dees, said: "There is huge competition for the training contracts that we offer each year at Dickinson Dees.

"We attract candidates from all over the country and competition for places has become more intense."