I head up our criminal defence and police investigations team as well as our sexual misconduct in the workplace practice. I am interested in people, and I guess I am a nosey person.
I decided to become a lawyer because I wanted to have my own voice. In my twenties, I was a team leader in a child protection social services team. I would have done an assessment, done the work, known the family, thought I had made good decisions, but then it would get reinterpreted a couple of times for me. The legal department would say ‘this is what you mean’, then the barrister would say ‘this is what the legal department have told me that you mean’. I thought: ‘Actually – maybe I can say what I mean.’ These people were doing a job that I knew was hard, but nowhere near as hard as turning up to these families’ homes and making decisions about their children. So, I decided to do the conversion and see what would happen. I didn’t know if it would be for me, as I am not the usual type of person that becomes a lawyer.
A police officer threatened to arrest me because I refused to give him my phone in Stoke Newington police station. He was right up in my face and demanding my phone. We are talking about 17 years ago when there was an absolute distrust of solicitors among the police. We were very much aligned with our clients and it felt very adversarial. The way I approach the police station now is very different. Thankfully there are few officers like that now. I’m not saying that they don’t exist anymore, perhaps I am more confident about what I am doing. I don’t need to argue anymore. I always start off by trying to create a consensus.
There is no doubt that there is racism. If you think about racism as prejudice plus power, I saw it in some of the decisions made about my clients when I was a social worker and I see it today in the approach that the police might take with a client. I see it less in their approach to me. Every now and then though, it pops up and smashes me in the face.
A few weeks ago, I was at a police station up North. My client is a tall, white male. He opened the door for me, and we both went to the desk at the front of the police station. They acknowledged him as the solicitor and me as the client. My client was incensed. I told him to keep it calm and not to worry about it. I was there to defend him not the other way round. What do you do? The police officer was embarrassed enough at the faux pas. Hopefully she won’t make that presumption again.
When I see things like that, I think about the best way to create a chance for change for that person. It is important to be deliberate and clear in your response. Often the most impactful change can be achieved when you reflect and think how you can help them see how it was wrong and challenge themselves in the future. It’s fine – I am a middle-aged woman. I am confident about who I am and I know this area of the law inside-out. It is not about me anymore – I’m alright.
One of the most interesting cases I worked on, was for a client called Lady Lavinia Nourse, who was eventually cleared of historic sex abuse charges at trial. You have these extremes – I have been in a police station to represent a ten-year-old, which is something that I would be happy to never do again. A ten-year-old has no business in a police station. Our age of criminal responsibility is a joke. Having represented Lady Lavinia, who was a 70-something-year-old, I am not saying in all cases, but a great deal of thought has to be put into what the purpose is of bringing someone to court when you have these extremes in terms of age. What are we wanting to achieve? The criminal justice system now is so focussed on a form of justice for complainants and victims that it runs the risk of losing its way a bit. We are potentially ruining lives for no obvious benefit to the complainant, defendant or society.
I don’t know what career I would have picked back then, but I know what I would pick now. Now I would grow orchids! It’s silly, isn’t it? I just love them. They are so ugly most of the time and then they do this amazing thing, and it is beautiful. It doesn’t last that long, but it is worth the other six months when the plant looks broken and miserable.
The most embarrassing thing that has happened to me at work has to be missing my seat in court. The seats kind of flip up behind you, don’t they? I was the advocate, and I missed the seat and ended up in a crumpled heap. Fortunately, it is an experience a lot of people at court have had. Honestly, if you could see me blush – I was just thankful I am black – it didn’t show but I was burning up inside.
I would say that my management style is ‘sunshine with a little hurricane’. I had to talk about this in my equity partner application. I am a really inclusive leader – I love to see people achieve things and I try to create an environment where people have the emotional safety so that it is possible to take risks. If it works well, you get the credit, and we are going to celebrate. If it goes badly, it is my responsibility. I am super clear with people about that. I do encourage and expect high performance, but I want people to be excited about and committed to their work. Working as a team, the ultimate responsibility is mine – but you go fly. I’ve got you if you fall.
A great criminal defence lawyer has got to like people and not judge. You have to be curious and want to understand. That doesn’t mean that you agree with everything. But you have to be interested in what that person has to say. You then apply the law to that set of facts.
There have been so many people that have inspired me. Judge Judy Khan KC at the Old Bailey is just an awesome woman. She is courageous and knows her stuff. If you spend time with her, she is so unassuming, but she has got this rod of steel inside her wrapped in compassion and humour. Louise Hodges, my head of department is another. She navigates this male-dominated world of white-collar crime and investigations. She does it like a don. She is so well-known, respected, and often the cleverest person in the room but she would never act like it. My husband is the one who encouraged me to give up my job as a social worker and remortgage the house to go to law school. I’ve got to give it to him.
My biggest achievement is raising my kids without them getting arrested. I actually like them both too. They are different to each other and different to me. I think wow – we navigated that. They are independent. That is my best achievement so far.
AI is going to have a significant impact across the legal profession. Why would you spend thousands of pounds getting a solicitor to read hundreds of thousands of documents when AI can do that for you? No-one is going to have you sitting there and writing a letter for half an hour when you can get it from Chat GPT. The way we package and sell our services is going to have to change. However, there will always be areas, and perhaps mine is one of them, where you are always going to need a human being and their judgement. An AI programme can’t go to the police station.
Our profession could usefully apply its privileged position and skills to helping lawmakers more. We are largely consumers of the legislation, but there are opportunities to influence legislation in a way we could and should and will need to do.
The way the law is heading in terms of sexual misconduct may ultimately feel at times like a straitjacket. You can see in the future that it will be more challenging to create an opportunity for a fair trial. It makes it very difficult to anticipate working if all the changes proposed are implemented – I can’t help you when the law is stacked against you. What is the point of me?
If you look at the proposals from the law commissioner in terms of serious sexual offences there are a combination of things that include: Separate representation for the complainant, the cross-examination of the complainant via a third party, rather than the defendant’s barrister, intermediaries to decide what questions can and cannot be put when we already have limited questioning and we have to send our questions to the judge ahead of time, as well as an enhanced disclosure regime in terms of relevant communications and health records. When you combine all this, we have a situation where a defendant can’t even have a barrister of their choice ask questions that they think are relevant to the complainant. That looks like no other trial in this jurisdiction.
I am a late starter and became a lawyer when I was 30. If I could do things differently, I would have backed myself a bit earlier on. There was an opportunity to set up a firm with someone – I thought they were crazy; I didn’t think I knew anything. They saw potential somewhere and I should have backed myself.
I am a home bunny – I have a big West Indian family. There is always something family-based going on. I like my plants – my husband says that I talk to them more than him. Mostly family and friends. I go to the theatre once a month with my daughter. There is less time than I would like when I am not working.
Work-life balance is a real challenge, and something I need to work at to achieve. I worked for 56 hours and 12 minutes last week. Some of it is people time. I see taking the time to speak with my associates as an essential part of my role. It is investment that allows them to trust me and me to trust them, which makes the work innovative and great.
I try not to do guilt and just own it. I love chocolate and I really like gin.
Portrait: Juan Trujillo