From Whitehall lawyer to freelance legal consultant

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, before moving to an advisory role in the Office of Fair Trading, advising businesses on regulatory compliance issues. Deborah’s interest in driving greater inclusion in the legal sector, particularly in elite City law firms, led her to study for a PhD at Queen Mary University of London – and Deborah speaks about her findings of how firms can be more successful at attracting, developing and retaining lawyers from different backgrounds. Finally, Deborah speaks about her most recent career phase, working as a consultant in a UK-wide network of lawyers, an example of the more flexible career models now available in one of the new types of legal service providers. Actions for listeners:·         Look at the different areas of the Government Legal Service (now called the Government Legal Profession) to find out about career opportunities there.·         Understand more about “alternative legal service providers” and the types of career opportunities they offer in this article. Useful Resources: ·         A short video on the Government Legal Profession careers options.·         Career information from an “alternative legal services provider”, Axiom.·         For details of Deborah’s PhD research at the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, on the career experience of socially marginalized groups in elite City law firms, see this summary.