Congratulations to Sundee Rutter who was recently presented with the Outstanding Apprentice Award at Oldham College.
In February, Sundee received notice that she had been nominated and was chosen out of 700 apprentices to receive the award. Sundee was nominated based on her studies and performance on the paralegal course and won the award for her faculty (law and business at Oldham College). Sundee’s teacher delivered a lovely, heartfelt speech stating how thrilled she was with her progression.
Sundee joined AST Hampsons in March 2022 as an apprentice Business Administration Assistant whilst studying at Oldham College one day a week. During this time Sundee provided admin assistance to the partner of our commercial department. This is also where she initially gained exposure to property law and realised this was an area that she would like to progress into as a paralegal. At this time Sundee also worked on reception at our Yorkshire Street office in Rochdale and found this to be very developmental with learning and improving her skills, particularly in the early stages of her role.
In January 2024, Sundee passed her Business Admin Apprenticeship with distinction and started the Paralegal Level 3 Apprenticeship, completing this in August 2025. Sundee was thrilled to be the first person at Oldham College to complete the new paralegal assessment standard and achieve distinctions across the board!
While Sundee was studying this course, she assisted Ben Tatters (Partner) and several solicitors in our commercial department. This enabled Sundee to learn about different areas of property law such as adverse possession, of which she went on to do her exam project on for the paralegal end point assessment. Sundee thoroughly enjoyed the course and says she saw a big change in her confidence during this time, as well as improving her understanding of concepts of property law.
We were delighted to also see that Oldham College did a case study on Sundee’s achievements. Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBP1Eo6iY9U.
Sundee began the Solicitor Level 7 Apprenticeship exemption route with BPP Law School in September 2025 which she will complete in 2031, allowing her to achieve a law degree. She will then proceed to sit her SQE exams to qualify as a solicitor later that year.
Currently, Sundee is learning key areas of law such as public law and contract law and has passed both her formative and summative assessments in these areas. She is now studying tort law and is preparing for the upcoming formative exam in this area.
Sundee has been given the responsibility of progressing files under Ben Tatters’ supervision, meaning she is responsible for tasks such as drafting legal documents, understanding and adhering to SRA regulatory requirements, completing AML checks and updating clients and problem solving to progress matters to completion.
Commenting on Sundee’s success, Ben Tatters (Partner and Head of Corporate & Commercial Property) said “Sundee has really progressed during her time studying to become a qualified paralegal and the staff at Oldham college are great. We worked closely with them to ensure that Sundee got the necessary support at work to be able to understand what is needed to work as a paralegal and to help her pass her course.
Sundee has gained in confidence over this time, and her legal knowledge and skills have come on considerably to the point where she is able to undertake work on files, producing work to a high standard. She is now on the road to becoming a qualified solicitor and AST Hampsons and my department will continue to support her in this journey.
Fostering and developing new talent is a key aim of AST Hampsons and Sundee is a great example of what can be achieved when talent and a supportive working environment are combined.”
Sundee, when commenting on her time working at AST Hampsons said “The firm is very supportive of young people trying to make their way up the career ladder and has always encouraged my development from the business admin apprenticeship to paralegal apprenticeship, and then to the solicitor apprenticeship. We decided that I would complete the apprenticeships in this way as each has transferable skills which naturally progresses onto the following course, so it has been a nice way to gradually ease my way into the legal field without being overwhelmed as there is lots to learn!
The partners at the firm are approachable which means that If I ever have a concern about my studies or need extra support with something I am learning, there is no doubt that I can discuss this with them and get that support put in place.
AST Hampsons is a big team and has a family orientated vibe to it! If you are interested in developing a legal career and are eager and willing to learn and apply yourself, AST Hampsons is great at recognising this and will invest in you to achieve your goals.
My future goal is clear – to become a qualified solicitor and to put my skills to use helping people achieve their objectives.”
Sundee has recently set up a weekly study group with the other solicitor apprentices, in which they cover the content needed for the SQE exams.
Sundee commented “I introduced this as I appreciate many of us here are studying for the SEQ exams and the solicitor apprenticeship courses are very challenging, so it is nice to have familiarity and solidarity knowing we are all in it together! We can help each other as one person’s area of weakness could be another person’s area of strength meaning we can all help to improve our knowledge of the law.”
All of us at AST Hampsons could not be prouder of Sundee and what she has achieved so far, and we are excited to see what she achieves in the future.