Gallagher Bassett takes great pride in its commitment to supporting employees in their professional pursuits. Our primary objective is to equip our staff with the necessary tools and resources to foster personal growth and career advancement. Charlie Marklew, a Trainee Solicitor at Strata Solicitors, Gallagher Bassett's legal division, exemplifies the growth journey that can be achieved within our organisation. Charlie shares her experience of starting as a Claims Handler and progressing to a Trainee Solicitor with the aspiration of becoming a fully qualified Solicitor.

I graduated from De Montfort University in 2019 with an undergraduate law degree and was eager to get out into the world and gain some experience in the legal sector. This was initially an intimidating process as throughout my studies it was emphasised how competitive the industry is. I saw that Strata Solicitors were looking for claims handlers and I instantly applied as it seemed like an interesting and niche area in law and, I wanted to work in a Solicitors firm.

Acquiring experience in the legal field immediately after graduating from university can be quite challenging, as many roles demand prior experience. That is why I was grateful to Strata and Gallagher Bassett for offering me the chance to begin my career in a claims handling role, providing me with the necessary platform and training to progress towards becoming a qualified solicitor.

As my experience within the role grew, I was able to develop my skills further by joining the internal progression programme. This involved taking on litigated and high value/complex claims, mentoring more junior colleagues to support their development, attend client meetings, completing training programmes and supporting a project to install a new team within the structure of the department.

Following this, I successfully progressed into a technical claims handler role in 2023 and, during this period, I also joined the SQE programme that the company runs. Being able to join the SQE programme has allowed me to take the first steps to achieve a personal goal of mine, which is to become a fully qualified solicitor. The programme is fully funded for by the company and I have now completed my first set of exams.

Since joining the business 5 years ago, I have been able to progress from a claims handling role into a technical claim handler role within 4 years and, I am now a Trainee Solicitor with the hopes of fully qualifying as a Solicitor in 2025.

The highlight of my career to date was when I qualified as a technical claim handler as, not only am I making steps towards achieving a personal goal of mine to become a solicitor but, I am also succeeding in a career within the insurance sector also.

It is great to work for a company that does not require specific qualifications or work experience in the entry-level role as it allows young individuals, starting their working lives, to gain experience and grow within the company.

In my role, I believe what matters most to our client’s is the quality of the work that we produce. We thrive on effectively recovering the maximum proportion possible for our client’s losses that arise out of their non-fault motor incidents, in the most efficient time possible. We pride ourselves on case ownership from notification to closure, including all pre and post litigation matters being handled by the same department, and in the case of myself the same handler due to my experience gained.

My top 3 goals for the future are:

1. Become a fully qualified Solicitor
2. Continue to progress as far as I can within the business (hopefully a Director one day)
3. Continue to mentor newcomers and be on active projects that help support our company’s objective to grow

Although I did not initially envision that I would be working in the Insurance industry, I was curious as to how a Law firm could work in such a sector, and my knowledge and skills have expanded since joining the company and will only continue to develop.

Outside of my role, I have been able to buy my first home, adopted my beautiful rescue dog and I got engaged in Rome to my partner of almost 8 years. I like to highlight this as to have such a work life balance is something that is unheard of in the legal industry. It is usually something that happens later on once fully qualified but, I have been able to live and grow in my personal life and career.

I enjoy looking back on where I started to where I am now in my career. I look forward to growing with Strata and Gallagher Bassett and qualifying as a Solicitor with the Company.