BROADENING OUR HORIZONS

My parents emigrated to England after the Second World War. They were Greek Cypriot and spoke English incorrectly and with an accent for the rest of their lives. They had very little education and even less money all of which went into giving me the best schooling within those budgets and helped by scholarships my brain managed to win. Against all odds, I achieved something my parents had never even dreamt of for them and I went to university, to the prestigious London School of Economics no less and, even better, I read Law. (Sadly my father could not watch his daughter proudly as he had died five years earlier.) From there I progressed to the College of Law at Lancaster Gate to study for my Solicitors’ Part 2s as they were known then. Throughout school, at university and then at Lancaster Gate, I was very conscious of being the odd one out, an outsider. My friends were all very middle class, very English with names like Catherine and Sarah. I did not travel in the summer holidays - except to St Leonards if we were lucky - I did not ski nor did I visit the theatre or the opera or the ballet. I did read - voraciously - even Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre at the age of 11 and this passion for words and learning held me well. It was only when I dipped my toe into the legal profession that I knew however good my brain was and however easily I could hold my own in academic terms, there was a part of me that was too unpolished to ever fit in without certain tools, support, guidance and mentorship that, in those dim and distant days, simply did not exist. So I exited the profession and went into the world of advertising where your background, wealth and accent were irrelevant - this was a total meritocracy based on how good your last ad was - nothing more, nothing less.

All of this was before City Solicitors Horizons: established in 2015 by The City Solicitors Educational Trust and the City of London Solicitors' Company (CLSC) with support from a number of City firms, CSH is a three-year support programme aimed at improving access to the legal profession for undergraduates from low socio-economic backgrounds. Each year up to 50 first year students interested in pursuing a career in law are selected to join the programme, which lasts for the entirety of their degree course.

CSH is university agnostic, recognising that many target students choose, for social, family, economic or care responsibility reasons, to study at their local university. Chosen candidates are allocated a mentor drawn from one of the supporting firms and receive work experience, face to face and online training sessions on many aspects of legal practice and Insight days. In 2021 the programme was highly commended at the prestigious Law Society Awards and CSH won the award for “Supporting the Industry, 26+ Employees” at the 2022 Modern Law Awards.

Not only does this incredible programme help those who may not otherwise feel able to access the profession do so but, equally importantly, it guides them on how to navigate stuff that others take for granted; how to conduct interviews, how to behave at social events, even how to dress appropriately. Had this been around in my day, maybe I’d be a partner in a Magic Circle law firm today!

This July the organisation celebrated a decade of existence, coinciding with SEO London, a social mobility charity which has been responsible for delivering the CSH programme from day one, taking on ownership of the project, with CLSC continuing as both a moral and promotional sponsor. CSH has an excellent track record, boasting now over 200 alumni it has helped become lawyers. In recognition of the success of the past decade’s achievements and to mark the relaunch, an event was held on 16th July at the Connaught Rooms in Holborn, attended by many alumni and representatives from supporter firms, past and present.

The organisation would not have achieved the success it has had it not been for Roger Finbow, the founding Chair of Horizons and its initial inspiration; someone who from his years as the recruitment partner of Ashurst LLP has been passionate about helping young people from all sorts of backgrounds not just to get into the profession but to be equipped to feel very much part of it too.

“The journey these young people embark on is truly extraordinary to observe. You meet them in their first year of university, fresh out of school and they don’t really know how to talk, how to dress, then two and a half years later they are fully confident with the ability to talk to a room - the transformation is remarkable.”

I spoke to 4 such alumni to hear about their own experiences.

Nyah Clark knew she wanted to be a lawyer while she was still at school mainly because she always had a passion for debates, problem solving and manipulating language to exemplify two sides of an argument and so she geared her choice of A levels accordingly to achieve that end; History, Psychology and (a little out of the box), Chemistry. These got her into the University of Nottingham where she found reading Law was fascinating - she says it taught her a completely different way of thinking and gave her the skills to critically analyse. She was eager to see first hand how the theory translates into practice and applied for the Horizons scheme and was approved. Through this she managed to secure a place with BRidge to the City, a new social mobility programme exclusively for SEO and Horizons London candidates, in partnership with Ropes & Gray LLP and Bloomberg LP. She spent a week at Ropes & Gray and a week at Bloomberg seeing how in-house lawyers work. She secured a scholarship with Ropes & Gray which then gave her a vacation scheme in her second year at university and offered her a training contract which she begins this September having finished her Law Masters (LLM).

“Without Horizons opening that door for me, I would never have been exposed to the connections that led me to the fortunate place I find myself in today. I feel honoured to be a part of a programme like this which allows people like me to showcase their talents.”

“Without Horizons opening that door for me, I would never have been exposed to the connections that led me to the fortunate place I find myself in today. I feel honoured to be a part of a programme like this which allows people like me to showcase their talents.”

Nyah is only 22 and has come a long way in a short period of time; she definitely puts this acceleration down to Horizons who she says have truly not just “kickstarted but catapulted” her career.

“Horizons helped me combat the feeling of imposter syndrome when attending events and functions that were so alien to me. I hadn’t had the experience or opportunity to be at such events in my life so it was daunting. But Horizons equipped and prepared me so I felt confident about my etiquette, my behaviour in a way I would not have done before. They even organised a trip to the opera - something I had never even dreamt of doing before - and it was phenomenal. I had no idea what they were saying but the emotions spoke volumes. I was in awe. I now know you can put me anywhere and I will know how to fit in.”

Adam Badawy is with Freshfields LLP. He grew up in Colindale in London. His dad was a flight attendant who lost his job through COVID while Adam was at university. He then found work as a part time bus driver. Adam’s mum worked part time in retail. Adam went to a state school then went to Warwick to read History and Politics. He did a vacation scheme with Freshfields in his second year and got offered his training contract with them shortly after. After university,Adam did his Law Conversion then his SQE.

“I never went to university wanting to be a lawyer but I very quickly decided to - for a multitude of reasons. I went to university in order to get a job, and originally I was looking at the Civil Service and also Politics because that aligned with my degree. Then, out of the blue, a law firm came to campus to talk to us; the event was held in a cafe and only two of us turned up and the recruiter gave us the company card and said to order whatever we wanted. I could not quite believe this. I did just get a coffee but it gave me a glimpse into a much more glamorous world; very different from my own. I started to listen to podcasts about the law, to read books, to follow deals in newspapers and I soon realised it really suited the way I think.”

Adam discovered Horizons through looking through LinkedIn posts around jobs. He says getting onto the programme was pivotal for him; it was at the time of COVID and he was working in construction during the day and studying for his degree in the evening so was, unsurprisingly, stressed. At the time, Horizons were doing four full-day virtual training days where every hour was a session with a different partner who explained their practice area.

“This gave me so much confidence because I felt I was within a structure, I was learning a lot and getting exclusive access. By the time I went for an actual interview, I had already undertaken mock interviews and been given so much support that, despite everything else going on in my life, I felt fully prepared.”

As with Nyah’s trip to the opera, Adam explains how part of the Horizons journey is to expose would-be lawyers to cultural events. Adam went to the Courtauld and he and his group were taken round the gallery by a museum staff member who gave them a very personalised and informative guided tour. Like Nyah, these sorts of events were unfamiliar to Adam but, being introduced to them in such an intimate way, they added to his armour for future life.

“The Horizons project is bold. There is so much talk about whether office ski-ing trips and suchlike should be banned but rather than just discussing the problem, Horizons were not concerned about the optics but more interested in providing us with the tools to be able to fit in with any situation. This meant I could speak to someone about an experience I had never had before with knowledge and confidence.”

Jude D’Alesio was born and bred in Cardiff where he went to a state comprehensive school. Jude’s parents separated while he was quite young and he was then brought up by his actress mum as a single parent. His mum was super influential in his journey; she loved reading and writing and instilled this passion into her son. He says while he may not have had the flashiest clothes or toys, there was never a shortage of books for him to read - and he would take that over material things anyday. He went to Bristol University to read Law and fell in love with the subject straight off. He applied to Horizons in his first year and was delighted to be accepted. He says the help he received from them was fundamental to him getting his training contract with Shearman & Sterling (which later merged with Allen & Overy).

“The Horizons events and the support they gave demystified the legal world for me and gave me the confidence and ability to get through my interviews successfully and land my training contract.”

Jude is now in his final seat in litigation and is about to qualify.

“For me the best thing Horizons gave wasn’t necessarily a tangible thing but the mindset it instilled in me. They made me believe I could be a lawyer even though I did not have the connections. I didn’t have to be privately educated nor did I have to have to go to Oxbridge. They gave me the confidence to believe these were not barriers and I could realise my dreams. That may not sound like a lot but, trust me, it was everything.”

“The Horizons events and the support they gave demystified the legal world for me and gave me the confidence and ability to get through my interviews successfully and land my training contract.”

Myung Cho is also at A&O Shearman LLP, now an associate in Derivatives. He studied History and wasn’t really clear as to his future path. His parents were both hairdressers who had emigrated to the UK from South Korea, Myung was seven at the time. The very English legal world was not one he was party to or familiar with in any way but an interest sparked when he shadowed some barristers and criminal lawyers quite informally whilst at university.

A friend of Myung introduced him to the Horizons programme and so he decided to give it a shotand the rest is history.

“The programme helped me in so many ways and on so many different levels. I got a training contract with Ashurst LLP and then moved to A&O Shearman LLP. I don’t think it is over selling it and I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I genuinely don’t think I would be sitting here today without the Horizons programme. I remember the first time I set foot in a City law firm and even questioning what to wear would have been an issue without them. They polished me up in a way I wasn’t used to. I also felt that for the first time in my life I was surrounded by people who were just like me. Like me, they didn’t have all the right connections. We were in a different ball game and we could empathise with and help each other. No longer was I the odd one out surrounded by people all discussing how good or bad the snow had been on their last ski-ing trip. We were all on the same journey; most of us working part time to support ourselves

financially, all of us trying to navigate through the social nuances of a world that we had never been accustomed to. We were all learning everything from scratch; it didn’t come naturally to us as it did to those who perhaps had grown up in families where parents worked in professional services. For us the finesse to tackle these situations was not intuitive, but needed to be taught. Horizons taught us all of this - and more.”

Over the years, I have interviewed so many people connected with our profession; managing partners, judges, politicians. These four young lawyers could hold their own with the best of them. They are smart, knowledgeable, entertaining, witty, humble, well spoken, articulate, rounded, wordly and confident. They have Horizons to thank for nurturing and bringing out these qualities and giving them the tools and the opportunities to really develop the best versions of themselves. Whilst so many firms are clearly investing in their own social mobility schemes, the success of CSH shows that collaboration between firms can have a greater positive effect and give disadvantaged students a much better chance of joining and flourishing in the legal profession.

Contact Roger Finbow; rogerfinbow2@gmail.com