What’s Your Law Origin Story?
What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to become a lawyer?
My parents strongly encouraged my two sisters and I to go down the law route. Both my parents were teachers when we were growing up and they repeatedly warned us against entering what they described as a “thankless profession”. We were studious and liked reading. My Dad informed us that our objective should be to find a job that we liked and which would involve “getting paid the most money for the least work”. I’m certain that law doesn’t meet the last criterion but it wasn’t bad advice overall. It’s no coincidence that two out of the three of us ended up as lawyers.
Try These Hacks for Incredible Productivity
I think the word “hack” is overused nowadays and I really don’t like it. We’re bombarded with supposed “hacks” that promise to make our lives easier but rarely deliver.
Well, here I am, with a hack! Wait - come back!
Seriously, this is something which has really helped me. It’s to do with time. And using the time we have in the best way possible.
A Huge Lesson I Learned at an Airport
I was taught the importance of kindness many years ago on a trip to Barcelona. My husband and I were queuing up to go through security. We were stood directly behind a family of four: mum, dad and two teenage kids. The dad seemed extremely stressed.
When one of the man's sons went through the scanner, he started bucking and shrieking. He was over 6 feet tall and it was alarming to watch. His dad did his best to restrain him and calm him down so they could get through.
And then it hit me: the man's son was autistic. The dad had done this before and knew what was coming; that’s why he’d been so stressed.
Meeting the Beyoncé of the Legal World
As Lady Hale (the former president of the Supreme Court herself) pointed out, we now have a Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr. Yes, the most senior judge in England and Wales is a woman. Not called David but she did go to Cambridge. Being the first woman to head up the judiciary since the inception of the role in the 13th century is no small feat.
Also - doesn’t the fact that I can work mainly from home as a solicitor whilst being able to do all these other things show how far we’ve come? I no longer have to choose.
How I got networking all wrong
I was usually the last to arrive, having left work late trying to finish an urgent piece of work, and then struggling to figure out where on earth the event was being held. Speed-walking round the block a few times before realising I’d walked past the correct entrance 10 minutes ago.
I’d turn up, grab a drink from the nearest waiter and hope for the best, awkwardly crowbarring my way into conversations with the social finesse of a toddler on their first day at play group.
I’d grab one of the free snacks as I’d not eaten and didn’t want to drink wine on an empty stomach, only to worry I’d accidentally spit out the food in the face of the person I was chatting to.
I had no idea who anyone was.
Honestly, it’s a miracle I have a career at all.