The final Bolton School Perspectives webinar of the academic year focused on careers in law. The regular open-to-the-public presentations see former pupils elaborating on what it takes to pursue a successful career in a range of fields.
Sixth Form student William Martin introduced the speakers, the first of which was Christie O’Connell (Class of 2016). Christie told how, after her GCSEs in the Girls’ Division she went on to focus on Humanities subjects in Sixth Form and how she took a gap year before studying in the Theology department at Kings College London. To help inform her decision as to whether to become a solicitor or barrister she reached out and shadowed a former pupil working in law through the Alumni Network. Christie recalled taking the Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP in Manchester and then training to become a barrister where there was a focus on advocacy and cross-examination skills. Considering pupillage, the one-year last stage of training before becoming a barrister, Christie explained how she would usually spend 2 to 3 days each week on her feet in court alongside her secondments.
Christie told how she is now a barrister specialising in matrimonial finance work at 1 Hare Court in London, an area of law which she particularly enjoys. Alongside her work as a barrister, she said she also spends time on secondment at law firms Mishcon de Reya and Katz Partners LLP, advising in their high net worth divorce departments. She also sits on the committees for the Inner Temple Junior Barristers Association and FreeBar, the Bar’s LGBTQIA+ organisation.
Considering the question of why be a barrister, Christie said if you enjoy talking and being on your feet, then it could be the job for you. Most barristers, she said, are self-employed and she has a fair degree of control over her diary. The skills you need, she said, are to be a good talker and a quick thinker and that if you like debating and drama it is the perfect career for you.
Next to present was Matt Ashforth (Class of 2003), who joined the session from Dubai. Matt told how he had been a ‘lifer’ at Bolton School, having joined the Infant School aged 4. He recalled how he did an AS in Law at school, which was his first taste of the sector. After studying History at Durham and completing a Masters, he too studied for a Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP in Manchester. He then went on to take what was called the Legal Practice Course (LPC) but is now known as the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examinations (SQE) and recalled going to a lot of careers fairs to help him decide if he wanted to become a solicitor or a barrister. He recalled how vacation schemes at Addleshaw Goddard and Pannone were useful to him and then how he started his career in private practice in Manchester as a litigator at DAC Beachcroft. Matt told how he qualified into the area of Professional Negligence (Construction) and how, after a couple of years, he realised he preferred the construction side of things more than the insurance side. In 2014 he moved to Eversheds Sutherland to work in construction litigation and, four years later, moved to Dubai with them when they were setting up a new construction team. He switched roles and took on an ‘in-house’ position in 2020, where he developed a broader set of skills. Matt told how then, somewhat out of the blue, an opportunity came to move into sport when a contact he knew went on maternity leave at Everton Football Club. He explained how he became Head of Legal there and how he will be joining Aston Villa in July as an in-house lawyer.
Matt said that a career in law offers an intellectual challenge that you don’t get in a lot of other jobs. He stressed that you need to be on top of the subject that you are specialising in and that, in his current role, you need to network and be very adaptable. During his career so far, he said, he had learnt that being a good trainee is critical as is being pro-active, positive and hard-working. Considering how his own career has evolved, Matt said you need to look out for opportunities and to try and enjoy yourself.
Recalling her time at Bolton School, Angeli Kapadia (Class of 2007) told how she used to like reading about current affairs and how she took A levels in Maths, Chemistry and History – subjects which made her think and involved problem solving. She remembered visiting six or seven university open days before opting to study Law at The University of Manchester. She became a qualified solicitor after studying the LPC at BPP Law School in 2016, specialising in construction and insurance disputes. On reflection, she said the difficult stage at that point in your career is getting a pupillage or training contract. She recalled how she got her foot in the door at Keoghs, which is based locally at Middlebrook in Bolton. Angeli said she learnt so much as a paralegal.
Talking from New York, where she moved in 2022 with her husband, she is now a Construction Claims Specialist at AXA Insurance. However, she said, one of most rewarding parts of her career had been working in the Ethnic Minorities Lawyers Division, where her role was to help people develop skills and organise events. She also told how she joined the Hindu Lawyers Association and helped offer legal guidance for religious institutions.
Angeli’s take home message was that the skills that you develop while working in law tend to be transferable to other jobs and career paths and even to your personal interests. She advised the audience to keep an open mind, explore your options and do what you enjoy.
Andrew Lee (Class 0f 2017) joined the discussion having graduated from his Post-graduate Diploma in Law at the University of Law in Manchester approximately one hour earlier!
He told how he first became interested in law during Year 9 or 10 of school and how he always enjoyed the Mock Law Trial competitions – he enjoyed being a witness but was not so good at being a barrister, he said. He recalled undertaking some work experience in a solicitor’s practice and, after his A levels, changing his mind at the last minute and deciding to study Classics at the University of Oxford instead of Law. He told of attending Law Fairs and of exploring a career in the area by taking part in several mini-pupillages and vacation schemes. In his final year at Oxford, he obtained a training contract with Eversheds Sutherland and was delighted when they allowed him to put back his start date by a year in order that he could complete an MPhil in Classics at the University of Cambridge. Classics, he said, has helped develop his problem-solving skills.
Reflecting on his decision to enter the law profession, Andrew told how he had considered academia but thought law would allow him to work with other people and make an immediate difference in the world. He said he also thought pragmatically and worried slightly about the future prospects of working in academia. He is currently working towards the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam and his next move, he revealed, was to London in September to begin a training contract with Eversheds. Andrew spoke of the difficulty of juggling part-time jobs and his law courses but advised that if you apply for a training contract, firms will often pay for the conversion. He also said that it is possible to apply for five or six-year apprenticeships from the age of 18. In terms of gaining that all-important work experience, he advised that it is sometimes possible through centres offering free legal advice such as Citizens Advice, and that you can also gain insight from turning up at most criminal and civil courts and watching proceedings. He, personally, had found networking at Law Fairs to be very useful.
Miss Chloe Zornemann compered the questions for the panel, which included: are there are any drawbacks or advantages to not doing a Law degree, what tips did the panel have for applying to vacation schemes, how competitive was it when applying to get into university and the job market, how to make best use of career fairs, how many applications for a pupillage did you submit before striking lucky and did you try various forms of law before settling on your area of expertise?
