AWARDS IN CONVERSATION WITH ... THE WINNERS OF THE 2022 BLS AWARDS
We got in touch with winners from this year’s Birmingham Law Society Awards and asked them a few questions about winning their award, their work, their goals and their experiences. The first four of these chats feature below - look out for conversations with more winners in future issues. Is there anyone that you would like to thank who has been instrumental in your success? Three people from my early days. John Penn Partner with Rotherham & Co who gave me a start in the profession as an articled clerk in 1980 when there was a global recession and opportunities were scare. John Aucott former Senior Partner at Edge & Ellison who recruited me in 1988; was an excellent mentor and encouraged me in all my adventures in the profession. And my late mother Joan who was a force of nature and always taught me to reach for the sky
JAYNE WILLETTS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD How have you celebrated your win? With a few glasses of Camel Valley Rose sparkling wine all the way from Cornwall so no wine miles. It was the tipple of choice at the 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall
AMELIA BAUER
TRAINEE SOLICITOR OF THE YEAR How have you celebrated your win? Unlike the awards night itself, my celebration was a low-key affair involving a Chinese takeaway and bottle of champagne! Is there anyone that you would like to thank who has been instrumental in your success? I would like to thank all of my seat managers (Claire France, Beulah Allaway, Kaleigh Grainger and Sarah Huntbach) during my training contract who have helped to shape who I am as a solicitor with their guidance and support, and have taught me so many valuable lessons. I especially would not have won this award without the encouragement of my training contract appraiser Lisa Whitehouse. Also a shout out to my family and friends who have never faltered in their support and belief in me. If you had to make an elevator/ twitter pitch about your day to day role what would it be? I am a healthcare regulatory solicitor. I 20
If you had to make an elevator/ twitter pitch about your day to day role what would it be? I am in the fortunate position of not having any staff to supervise or partners to report to so I am very much master of my own destiny and operate in a similar way to a barrister. My clients range from large international and national law firms to high street firms to individual solicitors. On a daily basis I could be
drafting a submission to the SRA or advising in conference or appearing as an advocate in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Every day is different depending on the needs of my clients but every day I am guaranteed to learn something new. What has the pandemic taught you? That nothing beats meeting clients and professional colleagues face to face. Anything else is second best. If you could create one new law, what would it be? Confine the influence of the media to reporting the hard facts and exclude the media’s never ending personal and political commentary on every situation. Members of the public need to be left to form their own conclusions, not be led by the nose. What one thing do you think lawyers need to do to be better? Be proud of yourself and your profession and dress more smartly. Lawyers need to act and look like professionals.
chose to qualify into this area of law as it is so varied, fascinating and challenging. My primary focus is on contentious and non-contentious healthcare regulatory matters including registration issues with the CQC, compliance advice, factual accuracy challenges, regulatory enforcement work, and public inquiries. What has the pandemic taught you? As much as having quiet downtime is good, suddenly being confined at home made me regret the times I had said no to some social events and not made the most of my free time. Now that we are all returning to normality, I’m making sure I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way (be that work-related, meeting up with friends I’ve not seen for years, travelling, or trying a new hobby). If you could create one new law what would it be? I have long held the belief that families should have automatic non-means tested legal aid funding for representation at inquests into state-related deaths
equivalent to that of the state bodies, public authorities and corporate bodies that are legally represented. What one thing do you think lawyers need to do to be better? Lawyers could be doing more pro bono work. Alongside my day-to-day role I am the Vice Chair of the Birmingham Law Society’s Pro Bono Committee. We are currently looking to have more lawyers on our committee so do get in touch if you are interested in getting involved! birminghamlawsociety.co.uk
