Reimagine Law

In this bumper episode we explore Real Estate Law, including areas such as what it really is, what a typical day looks like, the types of clients and work involved, as well as career path options within this area of law.  We also find out about ESG in the context of property and the impact of ESG advice for Real Estate clients.  We are joined by Cheryl Gurnham (partner), Amit Unadkat (partner) and...

In this episode we speak with Roy Lee, a Legislative Counsel at the Law Officers of the Crown, Guernsey, who has worked across the world in many jurisdictions, consulting to governments for over 25 years to draft legislation in a range of areas.   Roy explains how his formative years led him to become passionate about Human Rights and Governance issues, and why the law became his chosen career, af...

We hear from two apprentices, Amy and Hamza, one in house and one in private practice, sharing their own and different journey into a solicitor apprenticeship & why is was right for them. They also share the skills and behaviours you need and will develop to succeed, including why you need to be brave, the importance and power of building networks and accessing mentors, as well as their top ti...

 Kerry (Jarred Consulting) explores this topic with Julie Harris (Head of Law BPP University South East) and Kathleen O’Reilly (Head of Law BPP University South West), in order to bring to life examples of the type of tech used in the sector, and what this means in the context of the role of a future facing lawyer.   We also hear from Julie and Kathleen about the kind of tech skills needed to flou...

Nicholas Cheffings who was Global Chair at Hogan Lovells, and was also until recently Chair of the Prime Commitment shared his insights as to how the legal sector has changed in the last 10 years, with more law firms focusing more on their wider purpose and creating more routes into the profession for people from all backgrounds. On the skills needed, strong technical legal skills are key but IT a...

It is no secret that studying Law can be expensive.  This episode explores all the ways that you can look for support and assistance to help pay for your studies.   Hilary Chadwick and Vicky Walden from BPP take an in-depth look at the options available for undergraduate Law courses, apprenticeships and post graduate studies.  They share their tips and tricks and outline the breadth of funding ava...

Our guests this week are Mary Westcott, an extradition Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, Rosemary Rollason a Solicitor who specialises in regulatory law (including the regulation of barristers and solicitors) and Lisa McClory an independent consultant who set up Fractal Knowledge advising businesses on ethics.    This panel discussion considers what we mean by legal ethics and why it is import...

Today we are talking about diversity and inclusion within the Solicitors Profession.  This episode considers the progress in the profession to date and the vital need to keep momentum going to drive further change.  This week our guest is Chris White from Aspiring Solicitors who talks frankly about the work still to do and the importance of data to progress diversity initiatives.  One of the value...

How is law and regulation being used to support the world’s attempt to slow climate change and achieve environmental sustainability?  In this episode Zaneta Sedilekova, Associate in Climate Risk at global law firm Clyde & Co, and Biodiversity Risk Consultant at the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative explains to listeners how current climate issues are being implemented into international...

The ReImagine Law team are joined by Jane Cotton (Pro Bono Manager at Eversheds Sutherland) and Rebecca Wilkinson (CEO of LawWorks) to join in the discussion and unpack all things pro bono. This episode gives listeners an in-depth look at the definition of pro bono and some practical examples of how it works in practice.  Current issues in the pro bono sector are discussed, as well as ways that li...

How should we approach making career decisions?  What should be the balance of logical analysis versus our “intuition”, and how can one guide the other?  Also, are there lessons from how we make decisions in other contexts which we can apply to our career planning? In this episode, Roger Parker, former EMEA Managing Partner at global law firm Reed Smith, adviser to leaders and mentor to those begi...

In this episode we speak with Lisa McClory, who talks about how she developed her career from practising as a solicitor in large firms to running her own consultancy advising businesses on Knowledge Management, data, AI and ethics.   Lisa reflects on her career path choices and what she particularly enjoyed about the different phases of her early career as a solicitor: ranging from working at majo...

Apprenticeships are a paid job and a programme of study funded by your employer. Within Law firms, Public Sector and In House, there are apprenticeships be to become a Solicitor or Paralegal, and there is a growing volume of Digital, Finance, Business Admin, HR, Project Management opportunities too   In this bumper episode we hear from some of the experts at BPP, on the hugely important topic of A...

As a final revisiting of our “Skill-Kit” episode for listeners, we think about the related areas of communication and project management.  What does “good” look like when we are managing a project in terms of our communication?  What choices of communication do we need to consider in general?  And how have things changed as we emerge from the pandemic into a world of hybrid working, where communic...

 Collaboration We are all told to collaborate and be good at team work, but what does it actually mean? To launch our mini-series looking at different skills, Nigel and Simon from the ReImagine Law team discuss the practical realities of collaboration.   This episode discusses how to develop your creative mind-set in ways you might not have considered. Nigel and Kerry discuss the fact that creativ...

Resilience and agility We often talk about the importance of resilience, but what does it actually mean in the workplace and how can you build this key attribute? Nigel, Simon and Fran from the ReImagine Law team discuss the interconnectedness of resilience and agility, as well as giving some key tips to listeners to help them develop these skills.    Most of us learn most from when we fail at som...

In this episode we speak with Lucy Dillon, senior Legal Knowledge and Innovation Consultant, and Michaela Hanzelova, trainee solicitor at Reed Smith who has worked on a number of projects in the firm’s “Innovation Hub”.   Lucy speaks about how innovation in the delivery of legal service needs to be a key focus for law firms now, and also talks about the positive impact this can have in terms of a...

In this episode we speak with Deborah Lawunmi about the different elements of her career path.  We discuss how Deborah first became interested in law, in particular her interest in civil liberties and Human Rights.   Deborah explains how her career developed, her specialisation in employment law, and the roles she held working across different Whitehall departments in the Government Legal Service,...

Our guests this week are Carole Mehigan the Responsible Business Manager at Reed Smith and Robert Barnard-Weston the ‘grandfather’ of sustainability who is also the Co-Founder of Transform ESG and a Member of the Board of Directors at the Association of Sustainability Practitioners.  We learn about the importance of both the ‘environmental’ and ‘social’ aspect of governance, and discuss how caring...

In this episode Dr Mike Drayton looks at the area of “burn-out” and the risk to the mental health of those working in high-pressure industries such as the legal sector.  Mike begins to defining what “burn-out” is, and what the impact can be, both on individuals and their organisations.  How does one notice it, and when it is most likely to impact us?   Mike then goes on to discuss some strategies...

In this episode, the ReImagineLaw team are joined by Cathy Goodman, Lead Practice Innovation and Knowledge Counsel, Paul Hastings LLP.  Cathy speaks about her own career pathway from qualifying as a solicitor to teaching law, and then developing expertise in the new technologies which law firms are adopting to deliver service to clients in a more efficient and effective way. Cathy explains why law...

Legal aid is the mechanism whereby public funds pay for a client to be represented by a lawyer.  Cuts have been in place or decades and the areas of law covered by legal aid have changed. This episode welcomes legal aid solicitors; Harun Matin (National Legal Services) and Vivien Cochrane (Sherman Bowen) who discuss some issues from all sides.  They talk eligibility for legal aid, the impact it ha...

From lost work bags, to news echo chambers! In this episode Nigel, Kerry and Fran discuss what one top tip they each have to aspiring lawyers as we head into 2022.  

There are four parts to the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination, the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments, satisfying the character and suitability requirement and gaining 2 years’ worth of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE).  In this episode the team are joined by Lucy Blackburn (University of Central Lancaster) and Lisa Slater (A-maze Consulting) to discuss what this means in practice.  This episode will l...

In this episode, Re ImagineLaw’s Nigel Spencer is joined by special guests Liz Ritter and Lisa Slater to discuss the change in how you qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales, the move to the new “Solicitor’s Qualifying Examination” of “SQE”.    Liz and Lisa looks at a number of areas to de-mystify the new examination: ·      What is the SQE, and why is the profession’s regulator, the Solicito...