The Lawyer
If Labour wins the general election, Britain faces the biggest shake-up in its employment laws in the last 50 years. The proposals are likely to cause a mindset change in the way employers recruit, treat and dismiss their staff. Employing and dismissing staff will become more complicated and expensive and some employers will be compelled […]
While June is Pride Month, no single month can fully encompass the celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community’s achievements and contributions, nor raise sufficient awareness and advocate for the challenges the community continues to face. This is especially the case given the diverse tapestry of human experiences, which the concept of intersectionality—recognising how different aspects of […]
Barrister, Hot 100 2024 member and author Christian Weaver sets out his manifesto for change as the election grows nearer.
In my 24 years as a lawyer I have always been open about my sexual orientation at work. In the early days this wasn’t the easiest path to tread. There were very few out lawyers who one could look up to as role models. Things have definitely improved. I now have a wide pool of […]
It took a long time after Willow was born for me to start to feel like a “parent”. Society links “parenthood” to if you provided the genetics, and people feel they are owed an explanation on who her dad is and what we know about him. I’ve had people immediately gloss over me and ask […]
The general election has been called and if, as anticipated, we have a new government what can we expect in terms of planning and housing delivery over the next five years? I have been a planning lawyer specialising in the delivery of residential led mixed use developments for 25 years and, throughout that time, there […]
My Pride story started pretty cautiously. I think I have always had a strong underlying sense of self (old school reports often included phrases like “Nick has a strong sense of justice…” or, perhaps less positively, “Nick is quite opinionated…”), but I wasn’t comfortable coming out to anyone except my closest friends until I was […]
I started as a legal assistant at Freeths exactly one year ago. Since then, I have achieved two of my greatest goals of securing a training contract with the firm and becoming involved in the firm’s LGBTQ+ network, SHINE. At the age of 14, I declared to my parents that I would be moving abroad […]
Name: Mel Rowlands Organisation: Sonnedix (International Renewable Energy Business) Role: General Counsel Based: London Trained at: Eversheds. Year qualified: pre-2000! (it’s nice to know I can still be hot!) What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Right from the start of my career I always loved M&A deals but I remember being totally […]
Name: Zaqia Rashid Organisation: TLT Role: Head of public inquiries and public law Based: London Year qualified: Scotland 1992; England and Wales 2007 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? My most vivid memory is working on a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland which involved the suicide of a female prisoner in HMP […]
Name: Karl Jansen Organisation: Freeths Role: National managing partner Based: Nottingham Trained at: Davies Arnold Cooper Year qualified: 1990 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Although I’m showing my age, it has to be the many hours spent at the fax machine! That apart, I really enjoyed my articles (showing my age […]
Name: Katie Chandler Organisation: Taylor Wessing Role: Partner Based: London Trained at: Taylor Wessing Year qualified: 2007 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? My first week at Taylor Wessing when I was asked to attend the trial of Conor Medsystems Inc v Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc to be a witness bowler for the […]