18 St John Street Family Law barristers Soria Kajue and Olivia Edwards attended the recent Urban Lawyers North ‘Diversity and Inclusion at the Bar’ event bringing together a wide range of people to discuss life at the bar.
The audience consisted of many students from different cultural backgrounds who struggle to obtain relevant experience and mentoring due to not having the right connections.
Soria and Olivia were delighted to discuss their own experiences at the bar and commented “All the students were so lovely, genuine inquisitive and really wanted help and direction. Urban Lawyers and the local Urban Lawyers North are tackling the problems these students face head on and through their work chambers and solicitors are joining forces to offer the guidance, support and experience required to carve out a career in the law.”
Urban Lawyers is a long established charity founded by Dr Tunde Okewale MBE, Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. The charity works to makes the law (in its academic, practical and career contexts) more accessible to marginalised groups in society. Urban Lawyers main passion is to provide inspiration and education to all who have or will encounter the legal profession. One of their key goals is to expose students to the legal profession in a way they may not otherwise be able to.
They are passionate about improving social mobility and diversity in a profession that has historically been limited.
“Urban Lawyers focuses on educating young people from underrepresented backgrounds about their legal rights as well as tackling the diversity issues within the legal profession by providing workshops, mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities. We engage with our members through meetings, university societies and through our social media presence.“
Head of Chambers Richard Chapman QC said “It is absolutely essential the bar continues to support initiatives such as Urban Lawyers. 18 St John Street Chambers is hugely proud of our diverse membership and our inclusive nature. It is one of the key building blocks that makes us the friendly and family oriented set of chambers we are.”
For further information about Urban Lawyers https://urbanlawyers.co.uk/about-us/ or Urban Lawyers North https://www.linkedin.com/company/urban-lawyers-north/ please follow the links and please support the great work they are doing.
Or you can contact contact Soria Kajue and Olivia Edwards via Chambers Director James Parks.
