Social mobility stories - Jo Farmer

It’s great to be here! I’ve shared quite a bit about this on social media before, but to give you some context: I grew up in Darlington in the northeast of England. My mum had me when she was 17, and I was raised by my grandparents in a traditional, terraced house - very much like something you'd see on Coronation Street. The relevance of that is that none of my family had gone to university; my grandad worked in a factory. When I was around 8, we moved into a council house.

I was quite academic, and while I had a really loving upbringing with plenty of encouragement from an early age, it was clear to me that prospects in Darlington were limited. I saw the financial struggles my mum faced, and in hindsight, I can see that it was the promise of financial security that a career in law offered that drew me in.

It wasn’t a particular court case or a moment of realisation that I wanted to be a justice warrior, nor did I have an epiphany about becoming a business lawyer. I’ll admit, and I used to be embarrassed about this, but I used to watch LA Law. The power suits, the bright lights of the big city, the way that the characters confidently and eloquently talked about their clients and cases –I had seen nothing like it growing up in Darlington, and I loved it all.

I did well in my GCSEs and then went on to sixth form, where I had an excellent tutor who I think saw some potential in me. They encouraged me to attend a fully funded short residential course at Cambridge University. At the time, I didn’t realise it was part of a social mobility programme, but looking back, it was mind-blowing. I stayed at Downing College, and it was a trial week studying law, which I really enjoyed. It made me realise that I wanted to go to university, but it also highlighted how out of place I felt, not just because of social mobility but also because of the regional element. I got gently teased by a few students for having what they thought was a strong Geordie accent. It was actually more of a Yorkshire accent, although admittedly quite pronounced at the time.

I loved the Cambridge experience, but ultimately I decided to accept an offer from the University of Nottingham. I just felt less out of place there, whether that was because of my regional accent and how Cambridge students had made me feel about that, or maybe it was my perception of a less elite atmosphere at Nottingham. Whilst still a beautiful university campus, Nottingham just felt more down to earth than the steepled hallowed architecture of Cambridge. Another way of looking at it is that Nottingham made me feel less like a Northern social mobility statistic.

Would I feel like that now? I don’t know. I don’t know how much of that perception was real, or how much of it was in my 17 year old mind. I know Cambridge and Oxford have made strides in recent years to improve accessibility and inclusion, offering social mobility programmes since the 1990s. And I didn’t realise in 1992 that there were colleges like Lucy Cavendish at Cambridge, where over 90% of the students come from state education. So it might be that I would feel differently if I were to be applying now. And I’ve since done an executive leadership course at Cambridge Judge Business school (part of Cambridge University), and I did get a kick out of realising that I ended up going there, just later in my career.

I loved my time in Nottingham. It was a very happy period of my life, where I met my husband and best friends. I graduated in 1996, during a different economic climate. There were many more training contract positions available then, and it was significantly easier to secure one compared to today.

Back in the 90s, I had a full, means-tested grant, and there were no tuition fees. This, combined with a student loan and working during the summer holidays, meant I graduated with a small amount of debt - nothing compared to the debt many students face now. This is something that really troubles me. If I were to go back in time, I’d hope I’d still have the confidence to take on that debt because university was such an important and happy chapter of my life, but I don’t know if I would have the courage to take on that amount of debt now, given my background.

I secured a training contract at Edge Ellison (now Squire Patton Boggs) whilst still at university. I went straight from law school to my training contract, and my first seat was in Advertising and Media - a seat that I ended up qualifying into.

I hadn’t really thought about it before that point. In fact, I didn’t even know what it was! Honestly, I’m not sure I’d be offered a training contract as swiftly and easily now, given the process that students have to go through. I was so naïve at the time, and I didn’t have a real understanding of what a commercial law firm did. I had a basic idea, but nowhere near the level of knowledge you’d expect from students today who have to demonstrate commercial awareness. Back then, there were far more job opportunities, so the reality is that the bar was probably a bit lower at that time.

When I applied for training contracts, the focus was more on whether you were an interesting person, whether your grades were acceptable, and whether you seemed ‘good enough’ to invest in. Today, the competition is much tougher, so candidates need to demonstrate more than just academic success.

You really have to show what you’re doing outside your studies and prove you’re a well-rounded individual. You also need a solid understanding of what the law firm does and how it differentiates itself from other law firms.

When I first entered a law firm, I only had a vague idea from what I’d learned at university but I had virtually no awareness of what a commercial law firm did.

I qualified in 1999, specialising in non-contentious IP and commercial law, primarily working within the advertising industry. This involved dealing with contracts for advertising agencies, ranging from agreements with their clients to celebrity endorsements. One of the highlights of my first year was negotiating a contract with Kylie Minogue on the other side! Advertising law was great fun, especially if you hadn’t been exposed to law before. The work is easy to understand because it’s everywhere – on billboards, in the Tube, on TV – and it’s fast paced and exciting to see something you’ve been involved in out in the world.

I absolutely loved it. I stayed in advertising law until I was 3 years qualified, at which point my husband and I decided to take some time out. We both gave up our jobs and went travelling for our honeymoon, spending a long time exploring Asia, Australia, and South America. I also worked in Sydney at Baker McKenzie for a short period during our travels.

When we returned in 2004, I wrote directly to Brinsley Dresden and a few other firms. Lewis Silkin had built a great reputation for advertising law, so I knew it was the place to be. I vividly remember sitting in an internet café (which dates me, doesn’t it?) when I got a reply from Brinsley inviting me for a coffee. The rest, as they say, is history! I joined Lewis Silkin as an Associate in 2004 and became a Partner in 2008.

One thing I always say is that I never set out with the goal of becoming a Partner. I often tell Associates that it’s perfectly fine not to have a fixed career path - in fact, it can be a good thing not to have a pre-determined idea of where you're heading. It’s great to have aims, objectives, and things that inspire you, but it’s completely okay if you don’t know what the next stage will look like.

At one point, I thought I might go in-house, as it really appealed to me. In-house lawyers are much closer to the business, they hear the strategy, and they get to see things through from start to finish. In private practice, you don’t always have that complete picture. And there are so many cool in-house jobs these days – over 30% of qualified solicitors are now in-house.

I did have a few opportunities to take in-house roles throughout my career, but I came to the realisation that I understood why I was in private practice and why I enjoyed it so much. For me, what I love about my job is the entrepreneurial side of it. In private practice, you’re not just focused on the content of the legal work; you’re also thinking about how to bring in more work, grow your clients, how to use technology to streamline processes, how to train the next generation…. In other words, your job is not just providing legal advice –you are in the business of providing legal services. Thats always appealed to me, and I know that has kept me interested and fulfilled in private practice

Your career is certainly not linear. Law is often perceived as a highly hierarchical profession, with a clear progression from Paralegal or Trainee Solicitor to Partner or Managing Partner. However, there can be a significant gap between qualifying and reaching a Senior Associate level, and during that time, you need to find things that keep you motivated and engaged. It can’t always be about chasing the next title or milestone. For me, I focused on more fundamental aspects, such as whether I was still learning, whether clients were coming to me directly because they trusted me, or whether I felt confident in presenting a particular area of law to clients. I think it’s crucial to prioritise these things.

There have been so many! You need mentors and sponsors in your career. I was lucky in my first seat on my training contract. My supervisor was a partner named Robert Wegenek, who took me under his wing from day one. I think he recognised that I came from a different background. He wasn’t from an “elite” background either, and perhaps that, combined with me showing my determination made him more willing to help. He guided me through the “politics” of life in private practice. At the time, I was very young, a bit naïve, and hadn’t had any experience in office environments. Nobody in my family had worked in an office, so I was keen to learn but had never sat around a table discussing business with businesspeople before. It just wasn’t part of my upbringing. It wasn’t a disadvantage, though, because I had people like Robert looking out for me early on, probably “smoothing out my edges” more than I realised at the time. They introduced me to people, gave me opportunities, and offered valuable advice outside of meetings, helping me recognise where I needed to develop, in a pretty gentle way. I feel extraordinarily lucky when I remember how many people gave their time generously to me like that.

Since joining Lewis Silkin, I’ve had even more opportunities, especially with people like Roger Alexander, who was the Senior Partner and later Chair of the Partnership. He wasn’t a Founding Partner, but he’d been around since the 1960s and had incredible knowledge of advertising law. He also knew all of the ‘movers and shakers’ in the industry. The opportunities he gave me were mind-blowing. He’d take Lucy Lewis, Paul Rajput and I along to meetings when we were all 3 or 4 years qualified and let us lead them. We were like his proteges. He would introduce us to key people, and give us a lot of responsibility, even at such a junior level. At the time, it felt exciting, but now I look back and realise just how much he was helping us to progress.

This topic is incredibly important to me and its something I am committed to improving, in any way I can. It matters to me that we’re doing everything we can to ensure people from all walks of life have equal opportunities to progress in a legal career. Ensuring equality of opportunity means actively reaching out, understanding the barriers people face, and providing the right support.

From another perspective, I believe that fostering diversity of thought in our business is crucial. Having people from different backgrounds, with a range of diverse experiences, enriches our work and drives innovation.

I mentor someone through our Internal Social Mobility Mentoring Programme, and we were recently discussing the challenges people face when they’re from disadvantaged backgrounds - having to overcome the lack of resources, inconsistent teaching, and sometimes inadequate schooling. Getting better grades, securing a place at a good university, and eventually a training contract and qualification involves a lot of resilience and hard work.

Moreover, these experiences often teach skills like tenacity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the ability to engage with people from all sorts of backgrounds. These are qualities that, unknowingly, can become someone's superpower. People from less privileged backgrounds often bring a fresh perspective and the resilience to be really transformative for our business. So focussing on improving social mobility is not just the right thing to do; it’s also beneficial for our business to ensure we have these individuals on board.
As a law firm, we’re in a listening business, where understanding and empathising with clients is key. Whether you’re in a client-facing role or not, the ability to adjust your approach and connect with people, based on who they are, is an essential part of becoming a great lawyer.

Firstly, it's completely normal. The reassurance I’d give is that I experience imposter syndrome too. I step into the office lift, look out the window, and it sometimes feels like I’m in an episode of LA Law! Now, I might not be wearing 80’s shoulder pads, but I definitely don’t always feel like the person people might see me as.

I don’t advise trying to get rid of imposter syndrome entirely. Sometimes, it's about reframing it. In my case, I remind myself that it's completely natural to feel like, “Wow, this is a big job” - because it is. That doesn’t mean letting it hold you back.

Acknowledge it, but reassure yourself that it’s part of the process, and take stock of the evidence around you to remind yourself that you truly deserve to be here. People from less privileged backgrounds are not always the best at giving ourselves credit or acknowledging our achievements. We’ve often set our sights on getting A grades, pushing forward without pausing to reflect on what we've achieved. We also don’t feel like we’re allowed to fail – we’ve come so far, we know that our families are proud of us for breaking through barriers, and we’ve probably got a mountain of student debt to show for how far we have come – and that sometimes makes us feel like we can’t take our foot off the gas. There is this constant push to move on to the next thing, achieve the next milestone (especially early on in our career), and this can prevent us from taking a moment to acknowledge our progress.

This drive can be our superpower – it’s the mental toughness and resilience that inspires us to reach for the stars. But it can also have a downside – it sometimes leads us to downplay our successes, making us believe we’re not good enough - and that’s where imposter syndrome can take hold. And this is why I think imposter syndrome is something that is experienced acutely in some people who come from a less privileged background. But in reality, we should be more confident because we’ve achieved everything against the odds!

Whenever I mentor someone struggling with imposter syndrome, we go through each stage of their journey. There’s always a wealth of evidence to prove they deserve their place. Reflect on that - you’re doing great, and you’ve earned it.

Definitely, the lack of grading once we enter the workplace is something we're not used to. I'm also not sure we've been taught to feel comfortable seeking feedback in a professional context. When people give feedback, we might focus on the areas that aren’t perfect, but it often takes a moment of reflection to realise that the feedback is well-intentioned and designed to help us grow.

Ultimately, with imposter syndrome, you can’t entirely get rid of it. It serves a purpose, and when experienced in small doses, it can be helpful in encouraging reflection or pushing you to ensure you've done everything you can.

To conclude, it would be wonderful to hear your advice for a student just beginning their journey towards a career in law.

This is advice you'll hear repeatedly, but it’s crucial to stay focused and avoid sending out generic applications to hundreds of firms. It’s noticeable when applications are not tailored. You need to be strategic, create a targeted list of firms, and invest time in crafting individual applications for each one.

If you reach the interview stage, congratulations! However, it’s important to recognise that you won’t receive interview invitations from every firm you apply to. Understand that rejection is part of the journey, and it’s something we’re not always accustomed to, especially if we’ve been used to being rewarded for hard work. But not getting an interview isn’t failure - it’s simply part of the process.

Once you’re at the interview stage, it's expected that you’ve thoroughly researched the firm, the people you’re meeting, and even the firm’s competitors. Interviewers aren’t expecting you to be the finished article, but they want to see that you have a genuine interest in the legal business. Go beyond the basics - look into the work they do, who their competitors are, any unique aspects of their recent growth, or current news stories that may be impacting their practice. Demonstrating curiosity beyond the surface will set you apart.

Above all - keep going! You are unlikely to succeed in getting your first choice place immediately. That is to be expected, and rejection is not failure. Failure would be not showing up to try again (and again, and again) until you get there. Good luck!