"Through joining Council, I learned that my legal skills are superpowers"

Between 2017 and 2024 I worked as a consultant solicitor at various finance firms. My contracts varied in duration from four to 16 months. I deliberately sought out part-time roles so I could have one day a week in my art studio.

My dream was to find a 50/50 balance of law and art, but I have a young family and bills are real! The struggling artist environment is the most uncreative space I've ever been in. I’ve learnt that I need to feel financially secure to be creative. I’m so grateful to my legal career for the security it provides.

Last year, I had to sacrifice my creative day for a full-time role working in-house. The market for consultant solicitors has changed in recent times with fewer freelance and part-time positions coming up. My legal career is moving in a different direction now, and that’s exciting. I’ve been fortunate to find a new job that I love which makes the compromise worthwhile.

My artistic practice has had to evolve – I'm not creating as much as I'd like, but I try to find the little moments. I’ll sometimes sketch on the train to work and I draw with my children too. They usually scribble over whatever I’m doodling, which teaches me to not get too attached. It’s also a reminder of the playful, childlike nature of art.

I'm grateful I had the time to set things in motion over the past few years. I've created a lot of work and launched a newsletter about creativity and law. I’m in the office three days a week now, so it’s a creative challenge to figure out how I can fit more art in. I’m finding the unknown exciting and I’m intrigued to see how things will develop.

I became a bit of a lone ranger when I was contracting, so I decided to join the Law Society Council to be part of something. As a freelance solicitor I didn't have access to the professional development and networking you get at firms. Council was a good place to get some of that continuity.

I pretty much went from only knowing corporate and finance solicitors to interacting with lawyers in probate, property, criminal and beyond. It was great to expand my network and gain exposure to the wider profession. Joining Council definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Speaking in front of 80 to 100 solicitors is scary – especially when your opinion goes against the consensus. But as a council member, this is what you have to do. During my four years in office, I really found my voice and developed so much confidence. I'd encourage everyone to get involved as it’s so rewarding. But it is a commitment. If anyone thinks they can join and then fade into the background, it’s not going to be for them!

One unexpected insight I gained from joining Council is that my legal skills are superpowers. It opened my eyes to how solicitors and the law are perceived by non-lawyers. If I receive a nasty legal letter, my response is: “bring it on”. But it’s important to remember that these letters can induce anguish and even nightmares for non-lawyers.

Because contract law is my bread and butter, I’ve established myself in the art community as someone who can help with contracts. For a lot of artists contracts are completely alien, so I’m more than happy to share my superpowers when it comes to things like partnerships and exhibition contracts.

My creativity does overlap with my day job – being an artist has made me a better communicator. I was recently writing an e-mail to non-lawyers which had so much text that even I didn’t want to read it! So I incorporated imagery, colour and different fonts to make it engaging. It’s possible to be playful and professional.

I’ve also developed a niche for exhibiting my work in the corporate world. I’ve had exhibitions at Slaughter and May, CMS and PwC. It’s been a great opportunity to talk with professionals about their creativity.

Lawyers can have a mindset where we think we have to have a degree in something to be ‘legitimate’ at it. I was speaking to a solicitor recently who plays guitar, but he was reluctant to call himself a musician. He said he might go back to university one day to study music. There’s a deep-rooted imposter syndrome amongst us where we don’t call ourselves musicians, dancers, painters or whatever because we’re self-taught.

I’ve been a lawyer for 12 years now and I get so much confidence from knowing how to do the job. But my creative side is where I get my excitement in doing things that I’ve never done before. Now I have opportunities to use both sides of my brain, I’m able to show up fully.

Even though I’m currently “all in” on law, I don’t define myself as a solicitor. I used to introduce myself as the ‘creative lawyer’ but now I just tell people I'm an artist. If it comes up, I do say I work as a solicitor – but the way I see it now, law is simply something that I do.