Humans of Law Flex Legal

Sally Penni MBE is a practicing barrister at Kenworthys Chambers in Manchester, and is a fantastic final guest of our second series of Humans of Law! Sally is also a Bencher at Gray’s Inn, host of the Talking Law podcast, an author, a non-exec director, and the founder of Women in the Law UK. Sally's work both inside and outside of the courtroom often touches on diversity, and much of her life's work to date has been focused on increasing representation within the legal sector.

Sally's wide range of interests and commitment to diversity initiatives makes for engaging discussion with Flex Legal CEO and podcast  host Mary Bonsor. Both are incredibly busy female leaders in the law, and both are driving enormous strides towards a more diverse and representative legal profession.

Mary and Sally begin today's episode with a candid discussion about the practicalities of juggling interests outside of the workplace, before moving onto Sally's interest in "giving back" to the profession. This topic flows into Sally's first ever encounter with a black barrister at the age of 21, and how this informed her passion for widening diversity within the law. Mary and Sally move onto discussion of how early non-legal jobs can impact your legal career, and how sharing stories of legal career challenges might make the industry more appealing to a diverse spread of people. Finally, Mary and Sally tackle the big topics of having side hustles, and where the legal industry might go in the next 5 years.
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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!

Oscar Davies is a practicing barrister at Lamb Chambers, with a broad practice area covering areas such as commercial, employment, property, and much more. Oscar made headlines last year when they became the UK's first barrister to publicly identify as non-binary, and use the gender neutral “Mx” as an honorific at their chambers. Since then, Oscar has become something of an LGBT+ legal icon, and was recently named in the British LGBT Awards as making a Top 10 Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life.

Louise has a thought-provoking discussion with Oscar, which covers Oscar's journey to the Bar, the manic reality of life as a practising barrister, why legal TV shows often aren't the best representation of legal work, and the steadily improving diversity within the wider legal sector.
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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!

Tom Dunlop is CEO of Summize, a cutting-edge lawtech company specialising in automated contract review. Tom is a fascinating and multi-talented individual, and was a semi-professional badminton player before qualifying as a lawyer and founding legal tech companies. The competitive streak and burning need to win that Tom developed in sport have entirely informed his entrepreneurial mindset. Despite his young age, Tom's determination to to reach continuously greater accomplishments is infectious.

Tom's life and mindset make for insightful discussion on today's Humans of Law episode. He and Louise Anderson discuss Tom's sporting history, and blend it into the lessons that Tom carried into professional life from his badminton days. They then move onto the lightbulb moment that led to Summize being founded, and how Tom keeps the Summize team aligned with the company's mission.
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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!

Dan Kayne is Founder of the O Shaped Lawyer, and General Counsel at Network Rail. Having qualified in private practice with Dechert LLP, Dan eventually made the transition to an in-house role at Network Rail in 2007. Recently, he has attracted significant attention for his work through the O Shaped Lawyer, which he founded in 2019. They are a campaign group, calling for reforms to the training and development of lawyers, in the hopes of creating a more positive and human-centric legal industry.

Dan's work aligns closely with the Humans of Law podcast, and makes for arresting discussion with host Louise Anderson. Together, they explore the life event that personally led Dan to push for change in the legal industry. Dan speaks passionately about the changes he wants to see in the industry, and he and Louise offer an optimistic and hopeful look at the legal industry of the future.
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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!

Kiran Radhakrishnan is the Head of Norton Role Fulbright's Newcastle Hub, and NRF Transform (EMEA). Having qualified with NRF's London Corporate in 2014, Kiran took charge of the Newcastle Hub when it opened in 2016. He later took on additional responsibilities as  NRF Transform's Commercial Director for Europe, Middle East and Asia, where he oversees the Innovation, Legal Design and Legal Technology teams.

Kiran's background makes for captivating discussion with Mary Bonsor, as they both share insights and stories about their lives on the cutting edge of legal innovation. Both want to shape the industry, both have recently launched legal trainee schemes, and both understand the opportunities and challenges presented by a reshaped legal industry.
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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!

Melissa Kelly and Deborah Baxter founded The Modern Family Law Company with the aim of doing things better. Having both worked as solicitors with local authorities, Melissa and Deborah know how psychologically taxing legal work can be. The Modern Family Law Company flipped that script, and aims for better outcomes for legal practitioners and clients alike.

In this episode of Humans of Law, Louise Anderson speaks with Melissa Kelly and Deborah Baxter about their legal backgrounds, the mental health pitfalls of working in the law, and what they're aiming to do differently.

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Humans of Law is a podcast produced by Flex Legal, an award-winning digital platform that connects interim lawyers and paralegals to the clients that need their support. Thanks for listening!