In case you missed it: 10 solicitor stories from 2025
“It's been a great privilege to be a corporate lawyer and do human rights work – I feel humbled by it all”
“Even when a case has been unsuccessful, good can still come from it.”
Tony Fisher spent much of his career growing a successful law firm, and balanced his solicitor day job with pursuing human rights cases in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“It was a struggle sometimes, but it was worth it”, says Tony, who has been on the Human Rights Committee at the Law Society for 20 years.
A contributor to our Lawyers at Risk programme, it’s not just solicitors abroad who need protection, he says.
“We’ve recently seen immigration lawyers in the UK facing abuse.”
“Being a lawyer is pretty rock and roll”: what3words head of legal on working in-house, IP and knowing when to seek advice
If it wasn’t for Lindsay Lohan, says Jason Stephens, he wouldn’t be a lawyer.
When Jason left university in 2009, he felt lost. At the same time, his mum’s fashion business was growing.
A popular bodycon dress – made famous by celebrities including Lindsay Lohan – led to the family business making an intellectual property claim against a high street retailer, and Jason to a career in law – eventually working as head of legal at what3words.
Jason doesn’t believe, as some have suggested to him, it is necessary to spend two years in private practice before moving in-house.
“You can hone your skills in-house too. If you want to move, just do it.”
“I’m from a working-class, single parent home. Only in recent times can you own who you are in law”
“I love the adrenaline hit I get when I close a deal, even if it is at 2am”, says real estate partner and global head of wellbeing Caroline Turner-Inskip.
“But it also means that the next day, I need a moment to reflect and to prioritise picking my son up from school. It’s important to open up those conversations.”
Caroline has led the Simmons and Simmons Bristol office since 2012 and helped build its culture.
“We’ve brought in some incredible talent, and I’ve seen how the partnership has grown to be very entrepreneurial”, she explains.
From refugee to leader in law: “I fled with nothing but the clothes on my back”
After 37 years of managing his time in five- and ten-minute blocks in the legal department at Brighton and Hove City Council, Abraham Ghebre-Ghiorghis is finding retirement a bit scary.
“It’s strange to wake up to a blank diary with nothing to do.”
Abraham arrived in the UK as a refugee from war-torn Eritrea in the 1980s. “I’d experienced so much cruelty and destruction, but I also saw the best of humanity”, he explains.
Looking back on his legal career, Abraham feels much of what he achieved would have been impossible without managers who were allies.
“It’s important to stay optimistic…ultimately, most people will be on your side.”
“I’ve never had ‘Sunday dread’”: leading a global record label’s legal and business affairs
“Before my career, I had a passion for music but no real insight into how the industry worked”, says in-house lawyer Talia Shabatai.
She has spent eight years rising through the ranks at Island Records, part of Universal Music Group (UMG).
Talia completed her Legal Practice Course (LPC) and training contract alongside her job as a paralegal. “That period taught me there is no time to procrastinate”, she explains.
Now director of legal and business affairs, Talia explains the importance of the legal team in a creative industry.
“You are there from the beginning of an artist’s career, overseeing their journey at a label.”
“I went from working at the world's largest restaurant chain to the world's largest law firm”
Jacob Reilly qualified as a solicitor through a legal apprenticeship straight after school.
“I like to tell people that I went from working at the world's largest restaurant chain, McDonald's, to working for the world's largest global law firm”.
But before that point, Jacob had been far from confident that he would even become a solicitor.
“I was so convinced that the legal world was beyond the grasps of someone like me, that after my interview at Dentons…[and] a very long train ride back to my hometown Grays, in Essex, I applied to join the navy.”
“I’ve dealt with everything from gunpowder to drones, from planning inquiries to Lego workshops!”
Charlotte Bradbeer’s professional ethics were set early in her career, at the College of Law.
“You need to keep ethics firmly embedded throughout your career when you work in-house. Colleagues inevitably push back on your counsel sometimes”, she says.
With a wealth of experience working in the public, charity and private sectors, Charlotte believes persuasion is the most important skill for in-house solicitors.
“When an organisation instructs a private sector lawyer, they've made a conscious decision they want that advice. In-house teams may need to step in even where you have not been specifically instructed.”
“When you’re a partner, the buck stops with you – you really do feel the weight of that responsibility”
City partner MaameYaa Kwafo-Akoto sold her homemade cakes to a sandwich shop near Liverpool Street station to fund her way through law school.
Seventeen years later, she has reignited her passion for baking through a cake decorating course, as she continues to learn how to balance her personal wellbeing with other responsibilities.
The process of becoming a partner was challenging but rewarding, she says.
“For three months, I’d take out every Saturday to prepare, which was hard because I have two children. But I thought, ‘Whatever the outcome, I’ve learnt something’”.
“I treated my MS diagnosis as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. I wanted to do things I wouldn’t have done before”
Some practising solicitors are still reluctant to declare a disability for fear it might jeopardise their career, believes CBRE solicitor Alex Wilson, who says “they don’t feel comfortable because the culture of their organisation isn’t open or supportive”.
Alex, who has represented disabled solicitors on the Law Society Council for around three years, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2016.
She feels strongly about prioritising a ‘life-work’ balance. “If you put work first, at some point it's going to catch up with you and could leave you burnt out.”
“I thought solicitors belonged to a different stratosphere – but I finished my training contract at 62”
Joe Kelly qualified as a solicitor at 62 years old. He spent his previous years ascending through the construction industry, picking up transferrable skills from building sites along the way.
“I particularly liked writing letters to subcontractors when they weren’t performing. I became an excellent negotiator”, says Joe, whose biggest regret is not starting his legal studies earlier.
Now working in-house at a telecommunications and utility company, Joe intends on sitting the higher rights of audience exam next year.
“I’ve driven my partner mad with all the years of studying.”
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