Back on 7th November, Alicia El-Ahmadi attended the Social Justice Law Fair hosted by the City Law School. Various circumstances meant that this has only just been published (!) but it is still super relevant to all those considering working within the social justice realm.

Last year, in November, I travelled to the University of Westminster campus to attend the 2023 Social Justice Law Fair, established and hosted by Karen Doyle, which featured exhibitor stalls, networking opportunities and a more formal panel discussion. I was attending alone as my friends of similar interests were not available, and so (due to nervousness) I skipped the networking and solely attended the talk.

Karen is an immigration rights and anti-racism activist, recently becoming a trainee solicitor, who has dedicated her career to advocacy for those without voices or ones loud enough to be heard. She has experience in challenging deportation attempts and mistreatment of citizens stemming from the Windrush scandal’s failures, as well as fighting for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and their rights against discrimination.

I felt so inspired after attending the event, particularly what I learned from human rights and immigration law barristers speaking there, and hoped that there would be another event like it soon. When City University announced that they would be hosting the 2024 Social Justice Law Fair, it didn’t even occur to me that it was the same event!

It was really nice to see Karen there again, and I introduced myself as one of last year’s attendees. As the exhibition and networking were held in the familiar building of the City Law School, I felt more comfortable to attend the exhibition, walk around and speak to representatives from different organisations, charities, firms and chambers.

As I ate a cupcake or two from the Pro Bono society’s ‘Great Legal Bake’, I waited for the panel talk to start and made some notes on the event. With various sweets, chocolates and goodies handed out, all stalls had welcoming and encouraging representatives who were happy to share their knowledge, experience, leaflets and contact cards. Below are some of the stalls that stood out for me:

Garden Court Chambers

A key voice from the panel at the 2023 event was that of Grace Brown, an expert on immigration law and human rights, and prominent barrister at Garden Court. This year, the set won both the Outstanding in Diversity & Inclusion and the Social Mobility Awards at the 2024 Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards. They stand out to me as somewhere I would love to work, as a chamber that really leads the way in terms of progression and inclusion in the legal world.  

Catch22

I actually completed my City University summer Micro Placement with the non-profit Catch22, who specialise in working with men (aged 18-25) as they leave the prison system. Prison system reform and rehabilitation are areas of great interest to me, and so I found I really enjoyed the work that I was assigned. I met (in person for the first time) and caught up with my host Jody Audley, who is Academic Partnerships lead at Catch, to learn that the literature review I was collaboratively working on has now been published and is being used by staff! In our short chat, she referred me to the careers page and encouraged me to apply for a position after my undergraduate studies. I really value this connection with the organisation and it’s something that may not have progressed had I not attended the Fair!

Law Students for Climate Accountability

My friend and fellow Lawbore journalist, Jennifer, loves everything about environmental law. As she had to run off to a lecture, she asked me to pick her up some extra leaflets and, as soon as I saw this stall, I went over and spoke of her.

It wasn’t an area of practice I felt I was particularly passionate about but, as I learnt of their work, I was increasingly intrigued. As a group of law students who are positive about climate crimes and large-scale environmental damage, they have created a website and organisation and acted as a voice for their cause. Law Students for Climate Accountability have created an official 2024 Scorecard, ranking the ‘Vault 100’ law firms on their level of work on fossil fuel usage in the last 5 years. The student representee, whose name I forgot to catch, mentioned ecocide and the effects of military aggression on the environment; this is where my interest was caught.

The panel

The panel for the 2024 event consisted of Karen as chair along with former University of Westminster student Claudia, who is a paralegal at MTC solicitors, and former Durham University student Katura, who currently works as a billing assistant at the law firm Wilson’s . Karen began with a message of encouragement to anyone who has experienced a struggles in their lives, telling them  to be proud of such experiences and use what they learnt to their advantage. “There’s so much work to do, there’s so much injustice to fight” she said, speaking from the heart and hopefully igniting drive in some listeners. Linking to Karen, Claudia points out;

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have legal experience (…), use whatever skills you have and transfer them. Use what you’ve got”.

 A strong theme threaded throughout the event: that of the importance of experience and how vital it is in shaping a law students’ interests and passions. We, as audience members, were advised by both young women, in an inspirational tone, to “Play the long game” and “Don’t write anything off”. This prompted me to reflect on my own preconceptions and  acknowledge that would dismiss out of hand attending a commercial law event quicker than you could read aloud its’ title. However, as I’m writing this review, I’m realising that I may be only selectively taking advice when it applies to my passions (I can do better). I may attend a new event and absolutely hate it, counting down the minutes until I can leave, or, I may attend and have my eyes opened; discover my absolute fascination with an unexpected branch of the law.

Karen, as she did last year, helpfully shared her LinkedIn and encouraged us to follow her updates on thepage. She reposts and shares events and opportunities constantly and this is such a source of inspiration and motivation for me. I’d like to conclude this piece by saying how much I hope there is a third Social Justice Law Fair! It will be my final one as an undergraduate student but definitely not the last one I’ll attend. I’d like to finish with another quote from Karen, after being asked about the financial aspect of social justice work in comparison to other areas;

“Will you be earning as much in a corporate firm? No. But will you be earning enough to live a good, happy and rewarding life? Yes”.

As I finish this piece, I find myself back on the Lawbore Events Calendar, coming across ‘Discover Opportunities in Government and Politics’. Social justice and advocacy will always be at the core of my career, and I believe I can achieve this best in the area of government. I know that, wherever I find myself, I will carry the experiences from these events with me. I hope to attend many, many more of Karen Doyle’s fairs and would encourage others to do the same.

Alicia describes herself as feeling ‘hopelessly unsure of my passion or purpose all throughout school’, but she has recently found it in international law, relations, politics, and human rights. She’s currently in her 2^nd year, spending lots of time in coffee shops and the law library, starting to brainstorm career paths. She loves writing and jumped at the chance to become a volunteer journalist for Lawbore. She notes that she ‘hopes to do this professionally one day, alongside everything else law related!‘