BUBBLY, EFFERVESCENT, RAZOR SHARP, REFRESHING - WITH OOMPH AND A REAL PUNCH

BUBBLY, EFFERVESCENT, RAZOR SHARP, REFRESHING - WITH OOMPH AND A REAL PUNCH

Words to describe the delicious kiwi cocktail I recently had one (or two) of at Agora, the new - and very justifiably hyped - Greek restaurant in Borough Market, owned by David Carter of Manteca fame.

But also words that equally describe the person I was interviewing on the occasion in question - Joanna Hughes.

Most interviews these days happen over Zoom but when Jo and I were setting up our meeting, we both enthusiastically agreed to do it ‘IRL’. This summed Jo up for me - if she is going to do something then she is all in, 110%, no shortcuts.

Jo is every bit as bubbly and effervescent as the aforementioned cocktail. Her enthusiasm for everything she does is hard to contain and thoroughly infectious.

Jo originally studied Law and French Law at the University of Birmingham and when she and her fellow students were all applying for training contracts at law firms, it was during the 1992 recession and, therefore, not an easy task. But taking the easy way is not Jo’s style and, armed with her razor sharp brain and a First Class Honours degree, she had several offers to choose between and decided upon Allen & Overy LLP.

Had Law always been a vocational calling for Jo?

She smiles at that, answering that it really wasn’t. She went to a school where there was little if any career advice and her parents couldn’t really guide her .It was a case of if you were smart, you studied Medicine or Law. It was as simple as that.

But in her usual way of throwing herself totally into something, she can genuinely look back now and feel happy with that somewhat ill informed decision.

“Law is satisfying. Lawyers are interesting. You can do good with Law. I’ve had a really blessed career in the profession and I feel lucky I chose it - albeit somewhat randomly.”

The luck actually lies with our profession who have benefitted immeasurably from Jo’s contributions, not just as a practising solicitor (which she was with Allen & Overy for over 25 years) but with her current work in expanding entry in unparalleled ways. Jo stopped working as a solicitor in December 2021 and is now a full-time advocate for the apprenticeship route into the profession.

What triggered the shift for her?

“With lived experience of social mobility, I have always been very passionate about increasing as much as possible socio-economic diversity within the profession. Back in the day, in ‘Big Law’, that meant outreach to schools, raising aspirations, mentoring - yes, these are valuable but I cared about more permanent roles and actual jobs for people from low income backgrounds. I did some research into the solicitor apprenticeship route and how to target high achievers from these backgrounds and spoke to Allen & Overy about whether they would be interested in being the first Magic Circle firm to introduce such apprenticeships.”

“Law is satisfying. Lawyers are interesting. You can do good with Law. I’ve had a really blessed career in the profession and I feel lucky I chose it - albeit somewhat randomly.”

Jo’s enthusiasm and refreshing way of looking at things meant it was a yes from the senior partners and she co-led the introduction of the Allen & Overy Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme. Jo was also working with the City of London Corporation’s Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce and looking at how changes for the better could be made through collaboration. She decided to leave Allen & Overy and go and try and persuade those City law firms that didn’t already have solicitor apprentices to open up to apprenticeship schemes. It was at this point that Jo met Patrick McCann who is Chair of the City

of London Law Society (CLLS) Training Committee. It was to become a marriage every bit as potent as that kiwi cocktail. Again, Patrick loved Jo’s refreshing thinking and gave her a place on the Committee so that they could work together to increase the number of solicitor apprenticeships throughout City law firms. In December 2022 they carried out their first workshop which 50 law firms attended. And City Century was born - a scheme which has gone from strength to strength and which currently has over-achieved its original goal of taking on over 100 apprentices in the City each and every year.

While City Century, as a CLLS platformed collaboration, is all about roles in the City of London, Jo feels it is really important that her work involving legal apprenticeships should not just be focussed on London and so she has a number of nationwide advocacy roles. She is on the UCAS Apprenticeship Stakeholder Group and spoke at the UCAS Teacher and Advisor Conference in February to raise awareness of apprenticeships with teachers across the country. She has a role with The Sutton Trust Apprenticeship Stakeholder Group where, among lots of other things, Jo is helping them find solicitor apprentice mentors. She is a Founding Member of the 93%

Professionals, the professional arm of the 93% Club. Jo is a judge in the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards and a Patron of the sister organisation, the Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance. She is also a judge in the UK Social Mobility Awards - and she says it was this organisation that was one of the initial prompts for her to give up her day job in favour of apprenticeship advocacy; the work they were doing made Jo think perhaps she should dedicate more of her own life to improving socio-economic diversity in the City. The rest is history.

While Jo is doing amazing work at getting young people from lower income families into the Law, there is definitely an issue to consider about how out of place some of them may feel trying to make their way in a world that is inhabited with people very different from themselves. We asked Jo whether her work stops at helping in getting a foot in the door or does it go further?

“It is really important to me that both on a structural level and a one to one level, we remain very invested in the apprentices after they get their roles. They are going to need support and not be made to feel that they have to assimilate with the dominant culture of City Law.”

City Century has all sorts of schemes in place to make sure this support is there and, on a personal level, Jo is constantly meeting with the apprentices to help them however she can. For example, she is very closely associated with the Black Apprentice Network and working with them is another example of her ongoing connection and relationships with the apprentices. Jo recognises that because the number of apprentice cohorts is (currently) smaller than interns, the responsibility to introduce them to each other in order that they do not feel isolated lies with people like her. And it’s a responsibility she takes on fully.

Jo urges apprentices not to feel they should be like everyone else around them but rather to embrace and celebrate their differences even down to accent. She says there is much more awareness about accent bias now and says she herself lost her original Suffolk twang in order to fit in - albeit not consciously. She has faith this will not happen with Gen Z.

Jo is full of praise for the apprentices who are now qualified solicitors and cites them as some of the smartest lawyers around - maybe because of how hard they have had to work to get to where they are and so do not take anything for granted. Grateful for the opportunities they have been given that they did not expect, they seem determined to pay it back (and forward) in huge measures. Jo specifically mentions Holly Moore, the first ever in-house apprentice who qualified with ITV and is now a Brand Protection lawyer who has always been a huge advocate for the apprenticeship schemes and was one of the people who first inspired Jo herself to do the work she is now doing.

Jo says she still gets emotional thinking about the time she stepped on stage at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster in front of 1000 students at the first big City Century in-person event to talk to them about apprenticeships; mainly year 12 pupils, they were a beautifully diverse crowd and were there with open minds and hearts about what was possible for them. To be a part of making those dreams real is what gets Jo out of bed every day. Looking forward, she says that she would love to one day see at least 50% of new intakes to be apprentices (it is currently typically around 10%). And with the positive reaction that firms and partners are having to apprentices, that seems a very doable goal. Indeed, one law firm have said they would actually like it to be 100%.

What is it about apprentices that seems to make them more attractive than graduates?

“They work unbelievably hard. To get through the process and achieve one of the ‘gold tickets’ they need to be incredibly high achieving not just in IQ but EQ and CQ. By the time they qualify they have so much experience. They are simply brilliant!”

On top of everything else, Jo was recently admitted as a Liveryman of the City of London Solicitors’ Company and she says she was made to feel very welcome by the then Master, Sarah de Gay, who stressed how unimportant Jo’s background was and what really matters is how valuable the work she is doing with apprentices is for the profession. Work that has been recognised by the Department for Education too with a Highly Commended Apprentice Champion of the Year Award in the 2023 National Apprenticeship Awards.

When Jo isn’t working or parenting her four sons she loves to read (especially non-fiction; she had ‘How To Argue With A Racist’ by Adam Rutherford with her when we met), go to the theatre (her most recent favourite play was ‘Harry Clarke’, the one man show with Billy Crudup) - and to exercise. Her latest go to work out is boxing - and, according to her trainer, she really does pack a mean punch. Boxing completely fits into her mindset of challenging gender bias.

What advice would she give apprentices starting out?

“Stay true to yourself. Never feel you need to change. Develop and grow but still be you always. And grab every single opportunity you are given; life is short.”

Lessons not just valid for apprentices, but for all of us. 

“Stay true to yourself. Never feel you need to change. Develop and grow but still be you always. And grab every single opportunity you are given; life is short.”