New lawyer qualifies into busy Oswestry Family team
The Family department at an Oswestry law firm has gained another solicitor following the qualification of one of its trainees.
Deon Hayward joined GHP Legal, which has one of the largest Family teams in the region, as a Paralegal in 2019. Within six months she had been offered a training contract to become a fully qualified solicitor and went on to gain experience first in the firm’s head office in Wrexham and later within the family team in Oswestry.
Working throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, Deon assisted wherever she was needed. Her hard work and commitment was rewarded when she qualified on October 1st into the firm’s Family department in Oswestry, where she now undertakes all work relating to family matters, from divorce, finance, care proceedings, pre-proceedings and separation, to children and domestic abuse.
Deon was born in Wrexham and lived there until she went to Liverpool John Moores University, where she received the Moses Ackah Prize for the highest results in Land Law before graduating with a First Class BA Hons degree in Law and Criminal Justice. Following her graduation she completed the LLM, Legal Practice Course (LPC) with combined Masters at University of Law, Chester.
Whilst studying law, Deon spent three years as a volunteer at Welsh Women’s Aid (now DASU), where she became a part of STAR Crucial Crew to deliver presentations to secondary school students to raise awareness of domestic abuse and won the Wales Volunteer of the Year Award. She has also volunteered at the Personal Support Unit, Chester Family Court, assisting litigants in person through court proceedings. This instigated her deep interest in Family Law.
Speaking about her time with GHP Legal over the last two years, Deon said today: “I am so grateful to the firm for giving me the opportunity to complete the training contract with them, and to my colleagues and the firm’s Training Partner, Nathan Wright, for the guidance they provided throughout the training contract. No matter how much pressure they themselves were under during the difficult pandemic period, they were always patient and willing to assist.”
