A LAW student could be in with a chance of receiving a £1,000 bursary to help with their studies, thanks to Dorset law firm Kitson & Trotman.

The annual bursary is being launched to coincide with the opening of the law firm’s new office in St Albans Street, Weymouth, where solicitor Stephen Jones is at the helm.

The bursary will be available to year 13 students who are planning to study law at university and are currently attending a secondary school in Weymouth and Portland or studying at Weymouth College.

Kitson & Trotman, which also has offices in Bridport, Beaminster and Lyme Regis, was founded in 1756. The firm advises on all legal matters including property, wills and probate, business, family, dispute resolution and agriculture.

Partner Richard King said the company is keen to show their support for young people in the town.

Stephen, 54, is Weymouth born and bred and the bursary is very special to him and resonates with his own experience as a teenager.

He said: “I left school with only a few qualifications and went to a talk at Weymouth College by a lawyer, coincidentally called Mr Jones. He inspired me there and then to study law and within two years I had turned my life around and was Student of the Year. I got a distinction in my course and received a cheque for £16 from Lloyds. It was a lot of money back then and helped me believe I really could achieve.”

Stephen went on to Cardiff University and qualified as a solicitor in 1986 and returned to Weymouth. He became a university law examiner in 2002 and still works as a tutor.

He added: “It was Mr Jones who made me think, ‘I don’t want to do maths and science like my dad and brothers and sisters. I want to be a solicitor’. I still love the law. Every day there’s something different.”

Another Kitson & Trotman solicitor, Tracy Scammell, did not follow a conventional career path. Tracy began life at the firm as a secretary and worked her way up to become partner.

Tracy was offered a partnership in 1996 and is the first - and still the only - female partner in the firm for almost quarter of a century.

To apply for the Kitson & Trotman £1,000 bursary students should say in 500 words why they want to be a lawyer and email it to mmmarketingpr@gmail.com by Monday, October 31. The winner will be announced on November 30.