armalitigation

18/05/2022

We were disappointed with the findings of recent research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute which showed there is a resistance to gender equality, particularly from male managers in the workplace. The poll stated that male managers believe too much effort is placed on supporting greater gender balance by 3 to 1 over female managers - while 47% of female managers felt that too little effort is devoted to achieving gender balance. At ARMA Litigation, we remain fully committed to equality and inclusion and we hope that this poll will shed further light on the need for employers and employees to eradicate gender and other forms of bias in the workplace. The CMI press release on the research can be found here:
https://www.managers.org.uk/about-cmi/media-centre/press-office/press-releases/cmi-research-reveals-chasm-between-male-and-female-managers-views-on-need-for-more-gender-balanced-leadership-and-opportunities%EF%BF%BC/

The study found that there was passive, and even active, resistance to gender equality from male bosses in many companies.

17/05/2022

On behalf of the team at ARMA Litigation, we would like to thank everyone involved with and who attended the recent Leeds City College Careers Fair, which was a great success. Wani Mkandawire, ARMA’s Head of HR and Operations, attended the event and very much enjoyed meeting the country’s future workforce. It was great to see so much interaction and to talk with many attendees who were keen to learn more about a career in law and who wanted to hear what ARMA has to offer, particularly from those whom law was not their first choice. ARMA fully supports apprenticeships, and we are delighted to hear there is clearly a strong appetite for this qualification as well as gaining work experience.

ARMA is currently offering apprenticeships for paralegal and solicitor positions, and we are starting work on a virtual placement programme to enable more young people to work with us and experience life in a commercial law firm. Anyone interested, please feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected].

16/05/2022

ARMA Litigation is delighted to have continued our membership of the programme, a national initiative supporting employers to take a positive approach towards mental health at work. We are committed to healthy wellbeing and inclusivity, and regard this membership as a key part of our ethos towards better mental health in the workplace - and to ensure it is managed in a positive and productive way. People are at the centre of everything we do whether at work or society as a whole. Signing the programme’s Charter provides a declaration of an employer’s commitment to supporting the mental wellbeing of staff, and we urge all businesses to support similar initiatives.

12/05/2022

We would like to welcome Bien Lodge to the ARMA team. Bien joins us for a work placement through social mobility charity,
Bien took the proactive step of immigrating from the Philippines to the UK in 2017 with the aspiration of becoming a solicitor. Like so many others, Bien was unable to attend university and is now pursuing his legal career via the apprenticeship route.
Bien will focus on completing tasks from ARMA Academy, a curriculum which the firm created to add value to work placement students, whilst also assisting with live cases. This placement provides Bien with his first step into the legal world gaining experience of working in a law firm. Bien has shown great determination and enthusiasm in his journey of becoming a solicitor and we are delighted to have him on board.
Corporate social responsibility is a key component of ARMA’s business ethos. We remain focused on supporting students with limited access as they embark on their career in law.

10/05/2022

The theme for this month’s Mental Health Awareness Week, taking place from 9 to 15 May, focuses on loneliness. Loneliness can affect anyone whether in their personal or professional lives and can often be a trigger for poor mental health. ARMA Litigation is committed to inclusivity, and we strongly support initiatives such as this to help anyone feeling isolated and for them to feel comfortable in speaking out.

09/05/2022

At ARMA Litigation, we are keen to use our resources to help others. This month, two of our litigators - Ailsa Selman and Sandra Boateng have been supervising university students at University Law School’s pro bono clinic in Leeds. This combines our ambition to train the next generation of legal talent with our goal of providing free advice to those in need of support and guidance.

Ailsa has been supporting students with a query about how a client can withdraw from a contract entered into as a result of misrepresentation, while Sandra has been assisting a client with defending a claim for an unpaid invoice. We commend Alisa and Sandra for their assistance with these matters, and for their commitment to sharing their personal knowledge and expertise with others.

04/05/2022

We are delighted to be participating and taking a stand in this year’s Leeds City College Careers Fair on Thursday 5th May at their Park Lane Campus. ARMA Litigation’s Head of HR and Operations, Wani Mkandawire will be available from 10am to 12:30pm to discuss career opportunities at ARMA including apprenticeship opportunities. Wani will be on hand to discuss any questions attendees may have about a career in law, and to provide an overview of the firm’s business ethos and how it is diversifying the legal industry.

29/04/2022

We are delighted to announce a further new addition to the ARMA team. Salman Hasan joins ARMA Litigation as a paralegal after completing his Legal Practice Course (LPC) with a focus on commercial law and commercial dispute resolution. He has also completed his Law Degree and a Master of Laws (LLM) in commercial law.

Salman brings clear and incisive academic thinking to the ARMA team and has hit the ground running assisting with active cases. He has quickly understood and implemented the litigation process.

Salman was particularly keen to join ARMA, emphasising the importance of joining a law firm which values excellent client care and service together with a supportive intellectual environment, a strong commitment to diversity and a significant pro bono programme. He is making a great start to his legal career at ARMA.

21/04/2022

ARMA Litigation’s head of HR & Operations was privileged to have the opportunity recently to lead a discussion on ARMA’s Pro Bono legal work and how to enter the legal industry if you come from a non-traditional background with students from University Centre Leeds’ Policing and Law course.

The talk was part of an initiative in partnership with Luminate Education Group Education, whose mission is to transform lives in an inclusive and supportive environment to ensure students progress to a successful future particularly challenging and overcoming diversity and inclusion barriers. This aligns with ARMA’s philosophy to specifically support students who are first in their family in higher education or have challenged immigration and other stereotypes to build their own social capital and wish to forge a career in the law.

Well respected ARMA colleague Sandra Boateng was an ideal case study. Coming from a German/Ghanaian background she achieved a 1st class degree from Manchester Metropolitan with English as a second language. She spent 3 years applying and receiving countless rejections despite final interviews at numerous firms. With little social capital or links into law firms she found it very difficult to access her chosen career but she is now building a very successful practice at ARMA Litigation as we recognised her superb qualities.

11/04/2022

We would like to congratulate our Trainee Solicitor, Sandra Boateng who has finally graduated from her Legal Practice Course (LPC) following COVID delays. Sandra started her LPC LLM at BPP University in Manchester in September 2019 and successfully completed both courses in September 2020, however, the graduation had to be postponed to March 2022.

Sandra previously achieved a 1st class degree from Manchester Metropolitan with English as a second language. She has been working with us on a full time basis since October 2020 and is a great asset to the team. Throughout her time with us, she has shown great resilience, patience and determination in reaching this well deserved recognition of her achievements!

04/04/2022

It was a real privilege for ARMA Litigation, an Employer Partner of Leeds Trinity University, to join their recent Careers Fair held at their lovely campus in Leeds.

We were pleased to see so many high quality students and greatly enjoyed the many excellent discussions with those looking at a career in law particularly with a small firm like ours with a unique approach to diversity and inclusivity and the practice of law.

It was also great to see so many employers offering apprenticeships, which now appears to be the new normal providing numerous opportunities for graduates to really start their careers in industry and business.

Everyone was certainly made to feel very welcome so a big thank you to everyone involved and all those who attended!