On 26th May 2026, five training contracts reached their conclusion at mfg Solicitors. Rachel Pick, Oscar McCracken, Lauren Collins, Emily Stancer and Sara Southall can now call themselves qualified solicitors.
The quintet will scatter across the Midlands firm’s footprint, each taking on clients in distinct areas of law. Pick joins the private client team in Kidderminster, whilst McCracken heads to Birmingham’s Colmore Business District to focus on corporate and commercial matters. The remaining three qualified solicitors—Collins, Stancer and Southall—will operate from Worcester, specialising in agriculture and rural affairs, commercial property and employment law respectively.
Seven offices. Five new solicitors. Three cities.
For Iain Morrison, partner and chairman at mfg Solicitors, the simultaneous qualification represents a deliberate strategy. “Rachel, Oscar, Lauren, Emily and Sara have excelled and impressed at every turn during their time with us as trainees,” he said.
The breadth of specialisms matters. Agriculture and rural affairs sits alongside employment law; private client work complements corporate matters. It’s a portfolio that reflects the firm’s regional ambitions rather than narrow focus.
“They have exactly the kind of talent, passion and professionalism we are looking for in our team,” Morrison added. “All five have what it takes to help us grow our reputation and the firm, especially in their chosen areas of law.”
Training contracts in England and Wales typically span two years, during which trainee solicitors rotate through different departments before settling into a specialism. The qualification rate—how many trainees a firm retains after completion—often signals both the quality of training and the firm’s growth trajectory.
mfg Solicitors operates across Birmingham, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, the Black Country, Worcester, Ludlow and Telford. That geographic spread, combined with the retention of all five trainees across varied practice areas, suggests a firm building capacity rather than standing still.
Morrison acknowledged the milestone. “It is a lengthy and detailed process to train as a solicitor and every one of them deserve their success. I have no doubt they will go from strength to strength as they contribute further in the months and years ahead.”
The firm describes itself as providing commercial, agricultural and private client services across Worcestershire, Birmingham and Shropshire—a positioning that places it firmly in the regional legal market where local knowledge competes with specialist expertise.
For the five newly qualified solicitors, 26th May marks the point where supervision eases and client responsibility grows. Pick will handle wills, trusts and estates in Kidderminster. McCracken will advise businesses on transactions and contracts from Birmingham. In Worcester, Collins will work with farming clients and rural landowners, Stancer will manage property deals, and Southall will navigate workplace disputes and employment contracts.
The simultaneous qualification across such different specialisms is relatively unusual. Most firms see trainees qualify in clusters around corporate or litigation, reflecting where the majority of training seats are concentrated. That mfg has retained specialists in areas from agriculture to employment suggests both deliberate recruitment and targeted training.
Whether the five will remain with mfg as they progress toward partnership—a journey that typically takes another eight to ten years—remains to be seen. For now, though, 26th May 2026 represents the day their careers as qualified solicitors began in earnest across the Midlands.
