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About Nadine
Who am I?
Hey!
I'm Nadine - commercial lawyer; content creator; mentor; public speaker; choir leader; and business owner. Sounds like a lot, but I enjoy it all!
Accolades aside haha, my greatest strength and overall passion is people. I love meeting new people, building relationships and helping others where I can. I pride myself on my resilience, determination and outgoing nature. I truly believe that I can achieve whatever I put my mind to, I just need to find a way to make it happen, and I will!
In my spare time, you'll find me either spending time with family and friends; eating (because I am a massive foodie) or exploring the world. I'm definitely a "Dora the Explorer", because discovering new cultures and learning new languages/phrases is top tier for me. I didn't quite make 30 countries by 30, but I was not far off at 27.
Proud of my Jamaican heritage, Christian upbringing and ongoing desire to learn. The goal is always to be better than the day before.
My journey
It is the goal of every aspiring solicitor to receive a training contract offer in the first recruitment cycle they apply, but for most that is often not the case.
In my case, it took me five recruitment cycles before I obtained my training contract offer. As painful as that sounds, I am grateful for the legal journey I experienced as I developed a number of qualifies that have benefited me in various areas of my life and I have worked for many companies in a number of different fields which has proven really beneficial when connecting with new people.
Inevitably, my journey has also meant that I've learned a lot about the recruitment cycle and legal profession from the inspirational people I have met along the way. Some have even agreed to be interviewed by me, so feel free to check out my Legal Practice Series on YouTube. Links to the different videos can be ound on the "Legal Profession" page of this website.
If I can help other aspiring solicitors succeed sooner than I did, the journey would have been worth it! Below is a brief timeline of my legal journey...in case you're interested.
- 2011 - 2015: LLB Law with a Year Abroad
- 2015 - 2017: In-house legal assistant role
- 2017 - 2018: Self funded the LLM & LPC
- 2018 - 2019: Private practice paralegal role
- 2020 - 2021: Recruitment process for various firms
- 2021: Training contract offer
- 2022 - 2024: Training contract
- 2024: Qualified lawyer
Why Legally Diverse?
I always knew that all of the information I had learned over the years could not go to waste. As well as building me into the person I am today, I knew that it was going to be important for me to share my experiences so that I could help those that were coming after me.
The legal profession is one of the hardest careers to get into. With countless hoops to jump through and a competitive environment that reflects the disparity between the number of graduates and the number of positions, it soon became clear that not everyone starts or is assessed on the same level planning field.
Legally Diverse is a platform that therefore seeks to encourage, motivate and inform other aspiring solicitors that have doubted their ability to enter and excel within the profession, either because (like me) they did not attend a grammar school or russell group university, or they don't have the privilege of already knowing someone in the profession that they can seek guidance from.
Representation in law matters, and whilst steps are being made to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, so much more needs to be done.
With a view to being the change I want to see, in February 2021 (one month after accepting my training contract offer), Legally Diverse was launched.
Through my social media posts, videos, events and one-to-one mentoring calls, I commit to doing my part.