The post Sarah U appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

We didn’t know anyone who had a professional career, and I received no career guidance or support during my education. My path to becoming a lawyer was a result of luck and circumstance.  In a Summer job, I met a couple of people who encouraged me to think about becoming a lawyer- I would never have considered it otherwise.

I am an AS mentor as I am very passionate about ensuring that people from all backgrounds have access to legal careers.  We can all benefit from advice, guidance and support throughout our careers, but it is especially important when you are starting out. Students can email me or contact me on LinkedIn, and I am open to having calls with mentees to discuss their plans and ambitions.

The post Cindy S appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

I am a trainee at Withersworldwide, currently doing my seat in Litigation &Arbitration – but my prior career spanned many different sectors before I changed direction and trained to become a lawyer.

I had extensive professional experience before changing careers and entering the law. I worked for Microsoft and the German government’s international development agency in Egypt; in Geneva for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and with refugees for the UN in Israel and Palestine and an NGO in Brazil amongst others.

I was the first in my family to attend university. I studied a BA in International Relations with French and Arabic at the University of Exeter, spending a year abroad in France. I moved to Paris for my master’s degree in international development, studying at Sciences Po. I studied for my Graduate Diploma in Law at the University of Law in Guildford and secured a Legal Practice Certificate from BPP University London.

As an African-European ‘cultural hybrid’ I often doubted whether certain spaces would really be open to “someone like me”. The legal profession still has a long way to go to make people from all backgrounds feel welcome – this cuts across ethnicity, social background, gender, and more. Diversity is critical and affects us all: bringing in more perspectives from different backgrounds leads to better outcomes for us all. I am a fierce advocate of social justice and work to build awareness of the talents and potential of historically excluded communities.

The post Josefina B appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

Previous to beginning my training contract at Weil, I completed 2 summer internships in Asset Management (Impax Asset Management and Western Asset Management) and worked for 6 months as a paralegal at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.

Diversity is incredibly important as a way of ensuring that everyone feels that they belong to an organisation and feels as though they belong at work. I am passionate about encouraging social mobility, so diversity is central to facilitating a workplace where state school educated individuals feel welcome and that they belong.

The post Alex S appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

After the LPC, I undertook my training contract at SJB working in Commercial & Technology, Corporate (venture), Tax and Litigation. I enjoyed all of my seats but Tax was definitely the ‘right fit’ and I was delighted to qualify into the team in 2007, where I worked on a broad range of matters before specialising in the taxation of real estate transactions and joint ventures, as well as private investment funds.

In early 2017, I took a career break, during which time I focussed on raising my children and helping to look after a family member.  Once I was ready to get back to law, I spoke with the Reignite Academy who helped me secure a fantastic re-introduction to the legal world with CMS Cameron McKenna, working in their tax team on real estate transactions.

A year later, I moved to Goodwin to focus on private investment funds and to work alongside former colleagues from SJ Berwin.

I now work part time at Goodwin and am really enjoying being back at work whilst still managing my family commitments and carer responsibilities, with the support of my Goodwin colleagues.

It’s incredibly important to me that Goodwin represents a diverse cross sector of individuals, including elevating women who may have taken time away from the law and to be an ally to women of colour who still face institutional barriers during their legal careers.

The post Katy W appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

I was born in the Philippines and moved to the UK at the age of 9. At first my family and I struggled to navigate our unfamiliar environment and being first generation immigrants, we were not clued up on the ins and out of the UK education system. With little guidance on which career path to take, I ended up working in the fashion industry instead of pursuing a degree I was unsure of. I worked my way up from Sales Administrator to Licensing Coordinator where I was exposed to legal issues which enticed me to pursue the LLB.

I decided to study law 6 years after leaving college and it was daunting to say the least. By this time, our family circumstances meant that I needed to help financially at home. I worked a 9-5 job and rushed to my lectures in the evening from 7pm to 10pm. Needless to say it was a hectic time, but hard work pays off! I eventually graduated with a 2:1 and completed the LPC with MSc in Business Law whilst pregnant on my third trimester.

My journey is a prime example that anything is possible and a legal career is attainable and open to everyone with the correct guidance and willingness to put the work in. I am passionate about helping individuals navigate their career path into law and hopefully support someone to overcome any barriers in the way of their goals.

The post Ariane K G appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

It is important to me that both career changers and parents returning to the workplace feel welcomed by the profession and empowered to take on a role in law. It is easy to be put off or to think it is too hard or too much of a sacrifice, and so the industry needs to support and enable applicants who have previous careers, or who are navigating the world of parenthood. I am also keen to see a future where there is no distinction made between a working mother and a working father.

The post Penelope S appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

I am also a mature career changer and carer. I originally planned to take the GDL soon after graduating from my undergraduate degree over 20 years ago, but my life went in a completely unexpected direction when my child was diagnosed with autism and complex needs. I abandoned my career aspirations and spent the next decade as her full-time carer, therapist, home educator and advocate. I went on to work as a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Advisor for several years before finally deciding to pursue my original ambition.

I was in my forties when I started a 3-year, part-time, Master’s law degree at Birkbeck College and was constantly worried that I had left it too late to secure a training contract at my age. I am a state- school educated, ‘BAME’ woman, who grew up on a council estate in East London. I am also the first generation of my family to complete ‘A’-levels, let alone attend university. Having attended countless law fairs, open days and law firm insight events, I am yet to meet anyone who shares all my diverse characteristics!

Diversity is important to me because it is vital to the development of an equitable and inclusive legal sector, that can better meet the needs of the society it serves. Aspiring Solicitors have demonstrated that greater diversity in the profession benefits everyone. I will be eternally grateful for the support I received, which enabled me to secure a training contract with a firm whose values align with mine. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to pay it forward by helping other diverse candidates interested in a career in law.

The post Netty Y appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

My background is that I was born in London to Indian parents who emigrated to London in the 1970’s from East Africa. I attended school in North London and went on to study Psychology at City University as an undergraduate. Following graduation and prior to starting law school I worked at Clifford Chance for a year.  I secured a training contract at Slaughter and May and subsequently undertook the law conversion course at BPP Law School and the LPC at Oxford Law School. I worked at Slaughter and May between 2004 and 2011, initially as a trainee solicitor and thereafter as an Associate in the Real Estate department. I joined Taylor Wessing as a Senior Associate in 2011.

As someone who is female and from an ethnic background I completely understand and have seen first hand the lack of diversity in the legal profession and how this disparity does not reflect modern society. Society at large benefits hugely from the diversity of its people and it would be fantastic for the benefits of diversity to enhance modern law firms who are increasingly competing in a global market.

I am keen to see the many inequalities in our profession eradicated and am heartened to see the many wonderful and positive steps that are being taken by our firm and the legal profession in general to promote diversity.

The post Shilpa V appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.

I think diversity is so important for so many reasons; from an organisation’s standpoint, studies have shown a connection between innovation value and the degree of diversity within a team, which absolutely tracks for me – of course a cacophony of voices / opinions / perspectives will bear richer fruit than a chorus all singing the same note. Law firms can be a bit stuck in the mud but our clients aren’t, and we need to keep up with them in order to provide them with the best service we can.

On a personal level, I will admit that I didn’t think I “needed” feminism or diversity etc. growing up as I was very lucky to grow up never feeling “less than” because I was, inter alia, a young, minority female. Entering the workforce was a quick lesson in that! With experience, I can now see that it takes a particular kind of person to be able to imagine themselves  – and work towards putting themselves – in situations where no one who looks like them, or shares their values / background / accent, etc. has ever been, let alone succeeded. If you suffer from even the mildest case of imposter syndrome, it becomes just that much harder to believe you belong somewhere, that much easier to think “why should I, of all people, be the person to overcome this?”

The post Jo J appeared first on Aspiring Solicitors.