My diversity networks

State School Educated
Race

Profile:

I am a Solicitor at Macfarlanes LLP having qualified in September 2017. My final seat was in the Corporate and M&A department.  I have completed seats in Financial Services, Private Client and most recently Commercial Real Estate, I studied Law at Cambridge University and graduated in 2012.  I took a gap year after having secured a training contract with Macfarlanes, then completed the LPC and began my training contract in September 2014.

I am the first in my family to pursue a career in law and although I was lucky enough to attend a good school and university, I initially found the legal profession somewhat intimidating.  The written application process for vacation schemes and training contracts was daunting and the prospect of assessment centres and interviews even more so, especially after going through the inevitable rejections before I received an offer from Macfarlanes.  I learnt during this process that it really was a question of choosing law firms which I thought would suit me best and that I was motivated to apply to.  This allowed me to focus on the quality of each application, rather than filling in endless forms.

I passionately believe that the legal profession should be open to everyone, regardless of their social background, ethnicity or gender.  In an increasingly international working environment, the profession can only benefit from increased diversity and should do all it can to encourage it.  There is no doubt that the legal profession is a competitive environment, but nobody should be discouraged from entering because of factors such as ethnicity or social background.  It is all too easy to underestimate your own ability in situations that are unfamiliar and where role-models are hard to come by, and the profession has to do everything possible to help people overcome these barriers.  I would be very happy to help with applications for vacation schemes or training contracts, or indeed with any other general queries about the legal profession, so please do get in touch.

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