26 July 2021
Chief operating officer, London
I enjoyed the practical challenges offered by engineering and management. Yet it was an engineering management work placement which gave me my first taste of litigation. I was instantly hooked. During a summer work experience scheme with ICI, I was asked to deal with a complex issue relating to trade unions and a prospective dispute that was in the offing. I came at the top of the group. I enjoyed understanding the overlap between legal analysis and the human dynamics of dispute resolution.
I had previously dismissed law as a career. Having seen the domestic conveyancing work my father undertook in his high street practice, I knew that was not for me. However, this experience gave me pause to reconsider whether there was anything I could do to avoid the profession for which both my father and grandfather had trained. I took a serious look at the possibility of a career in law. The next summer saw me spend time working at Allen & Ov