If You Ask Me

In this episode of If You Ask Me , Hannah and Sarah are joined by Katherine Res Pritchard, Partner at Howard Kennedy and one of the UK's leading family lawyers. Katherine shares her unconventional route into law, from working in magazine publishing to retraining as a solicitor while raising a young daughter. She reflects on building a legal career alongside motherhood, why becoming a parent s...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , Hannah and Sarah speak with Francesca Ainsworth , Corporate Partner at Lewis Silkin , about her journey from training and qualifying at Linklaters to becoming a partner while on parental leave. Francesca shares why she chose to leave Big Law just three years after qualification, how she found a firm culture that aligned with her ambitions and values, and the mome...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , Hannah and Sarah speak with Natalie Quinlivan , Partner in the Dispute Resolution team at Fieldfisher , about her  route to partnership and what she learned from briefly stepping away from private practice to raise her young family. Natalie shares how she took a two-and-a-half-year career break , navigated the uncertainty of returning to law during the pandemic,...

In this episode of If You Ask Me, Hannah and Sarah speak with Aoife McDonagh, Partner in the Funds & Investment Management Group at Maples Group, about building a successful legal career while navigating motherhood, ambition, leadership and career change.  Aoife reflects on beginning her career during the global financial crisis, securing a training contract at a time when opportunities were s...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we speak to Louise Jeffers, partner in clinical negligence at Browne Jacobson, about building a successful legal career in a way that is both ambitious and sustainable. Louise reflects on her route into law, her move from claimant to defendant work, and the career path that led her to partnership while raising two young children. She talks openly about the realit...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , Hannah and Sarah speak to Marianne McJannett, employment law partner at Aberdein Considine, about building a legal career on her own terms. Marianne shares the story of how she stepped into leadership unusually early, taking on major responsibility just months after qualifying, and how that shaped the way she thinks about confidence, networks and career developme...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we speak to Joy Davey, partner at CMS, co-founder of Women Who Work, and mother of three, about what it really takes to build a senior legal career alongside family life. Joy shares her path into law, her determination to make partner, and the reality of navigating promotions, maternity leave and career moves with young children. We talk about the impact of post-...

This episode explores the reality of building a senior legal career while raising a young family and why trying to “do it all” simply doesn’t work. Georgie Field, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, shares her journey from returning from maternity leave unsure about her future, to making partner with two young children. She talks candidly about the pressure, self-doubt, and emotional load that comes...

In this episode, we are joined by Harriet Miller, an investment management partner at Macfarlanes, and someone who has built her entire legal career within the firm. Harriet trained at Macfarlanes, discovered her passion for private funds early on, and has now been with the firm for 15 years. She was made partner four years ago while on her second maternity leave.  In this conversation, Harriet ta...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we are joined by Louise O’Byrne, Partner and Head of the Commercial Department at Arthur Cox. Louise has spent nearly two decades at the firm, specialising in employment law and progressing through partnership while raising a young family. She reflects on making partner while heavily pregnant with her first child, navigating three maternity leaves and later advan...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we speak with Lauren Gosnell, Partner at Kennedys and Manchester lead of the firm’s Serious and Catastrophic Injury team. Lauren’s career in law began with an early interest in the profession, influenced by her father’s work in the legal world. Over nearly two decades in practice, she has developed a specialism in complex, high-value defendant claims, acting in c...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we speak about maternity leave, returning to work and what it really takes to keep moving toward partnership in law. We reflect on how becoming mothers changed the way we were seen professionally and how those shifts are often subtle rather than explicit. The expectations that appear on return. The assumptions that are made about ambition, availability and commit...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we are joined by Rebecca Jason, a partner in the Banking and Finance team at Winckworth Sherwood. During the conversation, Rebecca shares how motherhood reshaped her confidence, judgement and approach to what mattered most in her career. She also shares how a partnership opportunity first arose while she was on maternity leave, how that possibility took shape ove...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we are joined by Carolyn Miller, a partner at Lewis Silkin and one of the lawyers responsible for opening the firm’s Glasgow office. Before returning to private practice, Carolyn spent several years running her own consultancy, Fish to Water. During this time, she provided HR and employment law advice while creating greater flexibility to be present with her chil...

In this episode of If You Ask Me , we speak with Alison Eddy, Partner and Ambassador for Inclusion at Irwin Mitchell and former London Managing Partner, a position she held for over a decade. Alison’s career has been shaped by her work as a medical negligence lawyer and her role in growing Irwin Mitchell’s London office from its early beginnings into a large, full-service practice. She joined the...

In this very first episode of If You Ask Me , we wanted to share our story. Why we left law, what it was really like to come back from maternity leave, and why we decided to build BlueSky. We talk about the moments that stayed with us. Being told we “wouldn’t be hungry enough” for a partnership. Watching colleagues praise fathers for doing a single nursery pick-up while mothers were questioned on...