Sheep farmer Tristram qualifies

The latest qualifier at Warwickshire law firm Lodders enjoys getting his hands dirty on the family farm – just like senior partner David Lodder.

Twenty-seven-year-old Tristram van Lawick was recently lambing on his family’s 300-acre unit in East Sussex, where he helps to look after its flock of 200 sheep – a mix of pedigree Texels and Suffolk X Mules.

Mr van Lawick joined Stratford-upon-Avon-based Lodders in September 2005 and qualified in March having done his training in various departments as a para-legal.

He had no doubt he wanted to start his career as a qualified lawyer in the firm’s Agricultural and Rural Affairs team of six fee earners, which includes senior partner David Lodder and managing partner Rod Bird.

He said: "I was brought up in farming and like to work on the farm, which hopefully will stand me in good stead with agricultural clients."

Senior partner David Lodder has been a farmer near Henley-in-Arden since the 1970s.

He said: "We’re delighted to welcome a hands-on young solicitor like Tristram to our team and I note he enjoys getting his hands dirty like me."

Mr van Lawick, a former pupil of Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, is a keen sportsman.

He plays rugby for Stratford RFC, cricket for Stratford Bards, and played polo while at St Andrews University where he obtained a degree in French and Spanish before taking his Legal Practice Course at York College of Law.