Social Mobility Day - 12 June 2025
Shifting Mindsets in the Legal Sector
As we mark Social Mobility Day 2025, We are proud to contribute to the conversation as people who have benefited from this year’s theme of #ShiftingMindsets.
By Shadnay Ngari, Solicitor Apprentice at Eversheds Sutherland
I’m currently training as a Solicitor Apprentice, a relatively new alternative route to qualification that allows individuals to work, earn a wage, and learn on the job while completing our academic and professional training. This route has opened doors that, a decade ago, might have felt bolted shut for someone without traditional connections or background.
Social mobility is no longer just about "giving back", it's about rethinking who belongs in law, how we define potential, and the multiple ways people can reach the same goal.
Shifting mindsets to me means:
1. Recognising that excellence can look like resilience, adaptability, and lived experience - not just school/university rankings or family networks.
2. Valuing apprenticeships and alternative pathways on equal footing with traditional routes.
3. Understanding that diversity in background strengthens, not threatens, the future of legal practice.
I believe the solicitor apprentice route is one of the most exciting levers for social mobility in law today. But it requires ongoing support from firms, mentors, and peers to ensure it thrives and becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Social Mobility Day is a reminder that our profession is at its best when it is accessible, open, and ready to evolve. My journey is still unfolding, but I hope it encourages others from all walks of life to consider law as a career and more importantly, to know that they can belong here too.
By Sarah Singh, Co-Chair NLS EDI Committee and Associate Solicitor at Rothera Bray
Social Mobility wasn’t even a phrase I was aware of when I was growing up, the youngest sibling in my working-class family in North London.
I am first in my family to have gone to university. I remember arriving in Manchester aged eighteen and feeling out of my depth, a deep sense of imposter syndrome and a lack of belonging there. It wasn’t the place so much but the people.
I decided to leave and went to work instead, later studying for my LLB at night school while working full time and then completing an LLM in International Human Rights Law followed by the Legal Practice Course LLM in the same way, juggling work alongside caring for my young son. It somehow felt more authentic to me to study this way, despite its challenges, and I am incredibly grateful to the many people who taught me everything I needed to know to get to this point.
The fact that part time study, evening classes, distance learning and apprenticeship options exist creates valuable access routes into the legal profession for people from underrepresented groups. More bursary and scholarship support ensures no one is denied access due to cost alone, particularly where cost of living continues to rise.
When I think back to when I sat my GCSEs and A Levels, there was little to no understanding of the importance of social and professional networks or the difficulties that can be presented by a lack of personal connections. There was also no mentoring support available. It is a good thing that we are now talking openly about social mobility and there are many organisations working to highlight its importance while mitigating against the systemic bias that too often prevents people achieving their full potential for reasons of their social class. There is, however, still much work to do, to remove such barriers altogether and make the sector as diverse as the people it seeks to serve. For those of us who make it, we can find ways to extend the ladder to help someone else up. And if we do this, I am sure that the professions will undoubtedly become better as a result…
Some useful organisations:
· Social Mobility Foundation https://www.socialmobility.org.uk/;
· Aspiring Solicitors https://www.aspiringsolicitors.co.uk/;
· NRG Lawyers https://nrg-lawyers.com/;
· 93% Club - https://www.93percent.club/.
