Back in Spring 2021, as part of our anti-racism strategy, we launched a mentorship scheme for aspiring female lawyers from Black, Asian and minoritised backgrounds. We were inundated with requests. Now we are a few months in, we are starting to hear back from some of those young women who benefited from the scheme. Vithyah and Jumaimah are two of the women we matched with a mentor and they’ve kindly written about their experience so we can share it with you.
We are always searching for mentors so if you are a practising lawyer who would could spare a little time to help guide a mentee through the training contract/pupillage process, please get in touch.
Vithyah Chelvam
I have listened to lengthy arguments about why I should not be applying for pupillage. I have been told that I might just make it by filling a diversity quota. I have been mistaken for the plus-one during events at my own Inn. Moments like these say “you don’t belong here”. Resilience is a well-known prerequisite to the Bar, but it is demanded tenfold for women of colour. I am the first in my family to even consider a career as a criminal barrister. Without any pre-existing knowledge, I needed support to build confidence, manage the stress of the application process, and deal with the emotional exhaustion of rejections. When a profession is still heavily cloaked in ‘tradition’, schemes striving for diversity are a necessity, not an option. I signed up to the CWJ mentoring scheme because it recognised the nuances of being a woman of colour when applying to become a solicitor or barrister. After all, we are trying to be a part of a profession that never intended to include us when it was created. The CWJ mentoring scheme helped me in two main ways. Firstly, it increased my confidence. Secondly, I was able to get tailored support. Ultimately, not only did my mentor ‘just get it’ but she helped me transform my pupillage interviews into an offer.
The first thing my mentor did was to have a frank conversation with me about my experiences of the pupillage process and told me that I more than deserved to be a practising barrister. Hearing this from a barrister and discussing practical ways to build my confidence helped heal some of the wounds that had made me feel like I did not belong at the Bar due to the colour of my skin and my gender. Unwavering confidence is a required quality for a barrister. Although some, through no fault of their own, have to work harder than others to have it, the job as it stands does not make room for those without it. Building confidence and self-esteem was the most invaluable part of mentoring that I will take with me into pupillage.
Finally, my mentor was able to tailor her advice to my pupillage journey. For instance, I was getting plenty of interviews, and quite a lot of second rounds, so I was frustrated that I was not turning them into any offers. Second rounds are typically advocacy exercises and my advocacy was rusty. My mentor gave me exercises loosely based on her real cases. She often made me prepare under time-limited circumstances, not dissimilar to an interview. Through this, I was able to see where I was going wrong and hear constructive feedback from a barrister who sat on interview panels. Importantly, I was able to better deal with the pressure of an interview.
Anti-racist schemes like these are a much needed reminder of what the Bar is about - camaraderie and a close community. When there is so much that goes wrong, it is uplifting to be reminded of the support that members of the Bar are willing to selflessly give. This is something that I will take with me throughout my career. It is the least I can do in return for the huge amounts of support and kindness that this scheme and several members of the Bar have given me - I couldn’t have got pupillage without them.
Vithyah is a paralegal at the Infected Blood Inquiry and a LLM candidate in Human Rights Law at the University of Bristol. She will be starting a criminal pupillage in September 2022.
Jumaimah Loonat
Why did I decide to apply for a mentoring scheme and why did I choose CWJ?
A little introduction into my background; I am a final year LLB student at the University of Law in Leeds. I am a female from a minoritised background; Asian to be specific.
CWJ’s mentoring scheme specifically focuses on women from a minority background to give them the support they need. This is the main reason as to why I chose CWJ. I applied directly through their website and I filled in the relevant criteria relating to my needs and aspirations. I highlighted the fact that I wanted to be a criminal barrister and wanted a mentor from a similar background. By the next day, I received an email allocating me to my mentor.
Since the initial email, conversations between me and my mentor have been ongoing. We have held multiple 1-2-1 zoom meetings where my mentor answered any questions I had and gave me relevant advice. Some of the things my mentor has done for me are highlighted below:
Reviewed documents such as CVs and cover letters on which I received feedback and tips to help me improve them
Gave me an insight into the realistic life of a criminal barrister
Facilitated a talk on Times Radio as a way of improving my oral communication
There were a couple of reasons as to why I wanted to partake in a mentoring scheme. Firstly, I had no personal connections to anyone in the legal sector and therefore having a legal professional as a mentor was something I needed to gain a real insight into the life of a barrister. Secondly, my knowledge on the steps to be taken to become a barrister was limited. I had limited information on the application processes.
You may ask why CWJ? I am aware there are plenty of mentoring schemes to choose from but I believe the scheme offered by CWJ was best suited to me. For example, my university do hold mentoring schemes but they are offered much later in the year. Taking part in CWJ’s mentoring scheme has allowed me to have a head start in the knowledge and processes involved to becoming a barrister. This scheme is also offered remotely; this was an advantage for me as I was able to contact my mentor as and when I needed to with no requirements to meet in person. I believe this was beneficial to me as although every university has a careers or employability team which help with queries, they are busy with multiple students.
I would highly recommend getting involved in this mentoring scheme as I believe without it, I would have been left clueless. The mentor I was provided with went above and beyond to meet my needs and I believe so many more students or aspiring lawyers would benefit from this scheme.
Currently, I am much more confident in terms of my legal career and have a clear vision of what path I want to go down. Whilst I was undergoing the mentoring, I was set on doing the BPC and wanted to become a barrister. I even went on to apply for the BPC and got an offer. However, after much reflection and networking with several lawyers, I have decided that the LPC route is the one for me. I am currently in my final semester and in the process of applying for training contracts. Although my mentoring was with a barrister, the advice and skills I have taken away remain invaluable.
Find out more about our mentorship scheme here