A FAMILY lawyer has spoken about what motivated her to join the judiciary in the North East.
Nigeria-born Amanda Adeola, a partner in BHP Law’s family law team, was appointed a Chair of the Valuation Tribunal last year.
She has just featured in an episode of the Talking Law podcast with barrister and founder of Women in the Law UK Sally Penni MBE, in which she reveals what drives her professionally.
“As much as we have some incredibly fantastic judges, diversity is lacking,” said Amanda, the daughter of a soldier who fought in the Nigerian Civil War from 1967-70. “We have a lot of women judges, but we don’t have a lot of ethnic minority judges.
“From my recollection we probably have only two ethnic minority judges that I have come across. I did not feel that this was representative of our region. I felt I needed to be part of the change and apply.
“Anybody who wants to give their time to make decisions that affect people’s lives every day should be good enough regardless of their background or ethnicity. That was one of the fuels that kept pushing me to go for it.
“Diversity is extremely important. We are all so different but when we all sit together to make a decision and plan for the future, magic happens. That is what I see as diversity.
“You can’t marginalise people because they are not from a ‘decent’ background. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can come to the table just as you are and bring everything that comes with it.”
Women in the Law UK is a networking organisation aiming to encourage, inspire and support the next generation of lawyers and women in business.
BHP Law is a full-service law firm with offices in Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Teesside and Tynemouth. Amanda works extensively in private law matters such as divorce, finance, separation, pre- and post-nuptial agreements and private law children matters.
A keen advocate, representing clients at court in most proceedings, she remains passionate about her area of law and her work as part of the Resolution First for Family Law Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
In the podcast, Amanda also provides advice for aspiring lawyers. She said: “Don’t rush. Set yourself your own goals. If it is what you really want, you will stay the course and not give up no matter how hard it is. It took me about three years to get a training contract. I never gave up.”
She also said that the COVID-19 pandemic had changed the profession and working practices which could benefit women.
“The new flexible working arrangements are a positive,” she said. “A lot of women were impacted before COVID trying to juggle family life as well as working. We all have no choice now and everybody sees that it works.
“I can’t see a reason why we can’t move forward in that sense post COVID. You can still keep in touch without physically being in the office. The age of having bums on seats has really gone now and we need to think about the future. That’s what progressive firms are and should be looking at.”
Amanda’s podcast is available at: https://talkinglaw.libsyn.com.