Further Accolade For Timms’ Solicitor
A high-achieving Family Law solicitor at Timms Solicitors has won the Rising Star award at East Midlands Chamber’s Enterprising Women Awards.
It is the second award in just a few months for Jessica Barnett who was previously named Junior Lawyer of the Year at the Derby and District Law Society’s annual awards in May.
This latest accolade was announced at a gala celebration event at Leicester Tigers. The Rising Star Award, sponsored by The Turnaround CEO, recognises a female professional aged between 18 and 35, who has achieved exceptional career growth, with potential to develop into a future leader.
Jessica Barnett has worked her way up with Timms Solicitors and was appointed in a permanent position in the Family Law team in 2020 - working across the firm’s offices in Derby, Burton, Swadlincote and Ashby.
Jessica first worked for Timms in school summer holidays when she was 16 years-old, helping in the archiving department before moving away to read History of Art at the University of Manchester.
After completing her Masters degree at Manchester, she was invited back to Timms to cover staff illness on reception and was quickly recruited to work within the conveyancing team.
She was then appointed as a Paralegal in the Family Law department and combined full time work with studying for the law conversion course at Nottingham Law School – qualifying in June 2020.
She has recently completed the Timms Associate Programme as part of her career development and has been promoted to Associate Solicitor.
She also supports the University of Derby Law school’s mentoring programme and, internally she manages the development of junior members of the team.
Furthermore, Jessica has led the successful implementation of a new company-wide practice management system.
Timms managing partner Fiona Moffat hailed Jessica as ‘a trailblazer for her colleagues – and those to come - an exceptional champion of young people within Timms and the law in general’.
She continued: “This latest award is greatly deserved as Jessica is an exceptional solicitor and a valued member of the Timms family.
“Senior colleagues request Jessica to work with them on high profile cases because she can manage the pressure exceptionally well and her attention to detail to second to none.
“Managing not only her own fee-earning caseload in the Family Team which is often a very challenging area of law for a young professional, she has also taken on additional duties to support company-wide improvements and is always looking for innovative and efficient ways of working and helping clients.”
Jessica added: “I was astounded to have won this award as the shortlist of young professionals was really strong.
“I am grateful for the opportunities to blossom at Timms and I hope that this will inspire other young lawyers to go the extra mile in their career and embrace all the opportunities available for career development.”