Emma joins the farming team

For newly qualified solicitor Emma Blamire, living and working in Cumbria is the best of all worlds. Having grown up on a farm just outside Carlisle, she loves the outdoor life and is now combining that with her chosen career in law.

Emma, 24, qualified as a solicitor in September and is now part of Cartmell Shepherd’s Agriculture and Estates team, one of the leading agricultural law departments in the north of England.

“It’s great to be part of a team which has such an excellent reputation,” says Emma. “I wanted to specialise in this area because I can relate to it. Living on a farm, I know from personal experience some of the issues our clients face. I now have the legal understanding of those same issues which means I can help through my knowledge of both the sector and the law.”

Emma lives at Mid Whinnow Farm near Thursby with her parents, Ian and Gillian, her sister Amy, 23, and her brother Tom, 21. Amy is a veterinary nurse at Belle Vue Vets in Wigton and Tom works at home on the farm and is currently chairman of Raughton Head Young Farmers, a club with which the family has a long association.

Emma has held the positions of treasurer and secretary for the club and regularly takes part in competitions, particularly public speaking. She studied for her A-Levels at Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton, going on to read law in Liverpool John Moores University followed by a one-year Legal Practice Course at Northumbria University.

While in her second year at university, she got chatting to Mark Jackson, a director in Cartmell Shepherd’s Agriculture and Estates department at the firm’s stand at Dalston Show who invited her to do some work experience with them. She then successfully applied for a two-year training contract, spending six months in different departments to gain experience.

Emma’s ambition is to become an integral part of the Agriculture and Estates team.

“I absolutely love working at Cartmell Shepherd,” she adds. “I’m looking forward to building relationships with clients and becoming the person they can trust to do a good job.”