STRIVING FOR SOCIETAL CHANGE

What does a modern-day lawyer look like in your mind? Intimidating and fierce or relaxed and approachable? Do they strive for financial gain or societal justice?

I can’t say I had thought about it a great deal myself, but after sitting down with Gina Samuel-Richards I was pleasantly surprised and inspired for good s I arrived at the newly appointed Leicestershire Law Society President Gina Samuel-Richards’ city centre offices I immediately felt at ease. As someone who always gets a tiny bit nervous with a certain pressure ahead of meeting a magazine cover interviewee, it was a nice feeling. Plus, I’d parked in the wrong car park and she at once made me feel like my mix up and therefore my slightly flustered manner was in no way a problem!

Once I was in the right parking spot, I opened by asking her how she feels about gracing our cover. Her coy laughter at the thought is immediate, followed by a humble explanation that the limelight isn’t her typical or favoured spot, nor is it in her comfort zone.

It’s important to add here that she’s not saying any of this for me to bump up her ego either. It seems to be as simple as an honest confession and one that consequently has me feeling as though there’s a nice familiarity about being in her company.

THE BEGINNING

When I ask her to ‘start at the beginning’, she really does. Starting from her very first inclination towards law. She tells me,” No one but me expected me to be a lawyer. Many of family members worked in service of some kind, but none in law. At nine years old I loved to watch cheesy law shows like LA Law, and I remember thinking, ‘I want to be on the side of the good guys.’

“When I told my family it’s what I wanted to do they just didn’t see it – not until much later on at least. They understood it when, as I grew, they saw I could put forward a good argument! And, when I started to do well academically.”

BREAKING BARRIERS

The next few years brought full days and nights studying, volunteering and… a baby. “I was newly graduated and had a newborn baby. I moved back to Leicester to have the support of my family. Becoming a mother didn’t stop me from doing anything at all. Under a Labour government and with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister I was able to work, volunteer and raise my child.”

Which of course, is absolutely as it should be.

Taking her baby along to council meetings, to offices

“A stronger society all starts

with the foundations of family, doesn’t it?” and voluntary groups, some might call her a trailblazer as a working mother breaking the barriers. But for Gina, it’s just how she’s always done things: without barriers.

Working her way through a couple of firms, learning the trade and honing where her strengths were, Gina found family law to be her calling. “A stronger society all starts with the foundations of family, doesn’t it? If a family dynamic presents itself as stable as it can be, it trickles out and up in my view.”

A MORAL THREAD

It strikes me that it’s this sense of helping to make society better and stronger, by looking after people compassionately when they need it most, when they need a voice, that is the central guide in her career. It seems her goals were never about money but about pushing the boundaries of what a lawyer ‘should’ look like, in addition to simply wanting to help make society a better place.

“When the funding cuts to legal aid happened in 2007 and then again in 2013, the whole system did for me. There were greater injustices for people in society who didn’t have access to legal aid and therefore, the legal system. It particularly affected those in abusive situations.”

Uncomfortable in firms where the company culture didn’t sit right with her own moral compass, Gina changed firms on this conviction a couple of times before realising it was only by starting her own business that things could change.

“There was a period of my career where I was working at firms that weren’t even owned by a lawyer, it was a business from the top down only. The sense of justice and moral compass in the work that we did wasn’t at its heart.”

This is the story here. Her sense of making right the wrong, for everyone, no matter their ‘positioning’. Her sense of fighting for the right corner is what’s carried her through her career – that, and an ability to fight the corner for those who can’t for themselves.

This sense of justice should be there for all lawyers, shouldn’t it? Well, yes, but in reality, it’s not what’s always most important like it is for Gina. Throughout our conversation I can’t count the number of times she mentioned voluntary work, charity aid, and supporting young people and the education sector.

“I believe really strongly in education, and that everyone should have access to it. Being in a position where I can offer something to those who need it, that’s really important to me even outside of my day job!”

Becoming President

“It’s an honour to take the chair of President of Leicestershire Law Society, of course it is. When I was first approached, I knew I wasn’t ready, but, after becoming Vice Deputy President and developing there, as well as growing my own firm, AGR Law, it’s made me feel like I am in a position to enjoy the challenges that it brings.”

When I ask her what the challenges might be, she reveals that much of her fear is similar to us all: “I’m nervous about lots of things, but I also know that I can meet the challenges. Even writing and delivering my first speech feels intimidating!

What can I say that will be of interest to the audience?”

Sounds a bit like Gina might suffer from imposter syndrome, much like so many of us, and when I suggest this, she replies: “Yes, I suppose so. Confidence comes from doing, doesn’t it? I will start believing in my ability in the role when I get on with doing it, I have that belief about myself”.

I believe Gina’s speech will write itself if she simply shares her passions, her experiences and her way of doing things. It’s from doing it her way that’s earned her the respect and reverence that she has, so I have a feeling doing it her way is where she’ll hit and make her mark here.