Unseated

Sport became Cameron’s anchor during unstable years. As a talented rugby player, he joined a local club and eventually became a Young Rugby Ambassador. Through that role, he began advocating for youth players at the national level, working with the RFU and leading conversations about equality and inclusion. Despite setbacks, including having to leave college due to financial hardship and rejections from pupillage applications, Cameron persisted. Through Bridging the Bar, he finally found mentorship, confidence, and opportunity, leading to a pupillage starting this October, with ambitions to specialise in sports law.

His disrupted path has shaped his belief that “the system doesn’t account for people who’ve had bumps along the road.” He is driven not just by a desire to succeed, but by a deep understanding of what is at stake when voices go unheard. “There are so many people who could be really excellent barristers,” he says, “but the profession is missing out.”

Balancing full-time work with part-time legal studies during the pandemic, Chloe self-funded her Bar course over two and a half years. “It was hard,” she says, but resilience became her currency in a system that often overlooks talent from non-traditional paths. Despite early rejections and moments of self-doubt, Chloe found new footing through Bridging the Bar, a mentoring programme that helped her understand the unspoken codes of a profession steeped in privilege and tradition.

Her research into race and gender disparities at the Bar has not only fueled her advocacy, but underscored her own significance: “Statistically, I won’t make it, but if I let that consume me, I’ll never see the change.” Chloe’s community, from neighbours to mentors, has been vital to her progress, offering encouragement, insight, and practical support at every step. “I’m not where I am without the people around me,” she says.

Now a Bar student Gemma is also CEO of Lawyers Who Care, an organisation, which she helped launch. It connects care-experienced aspiring lawyers with mentors from top firms and chambers, all trained in trauma-informed practice. “There’s a real stigma in the legal world around being care-experienced,” she says. “But I’ve never hidden that part of me. It’s made me who I am.”

Her work champions the belief that care-experienced individuals bring unique insight and value to the legal profession, perspectives the system too often overlooks. Gemma plans to become a family barrister, reshaping the justice system with compassion, advocacy, and reform.

Her route into law wasn’t conventional. Growing up in care and moving through 17 different placements disrupted more than Maleekah’s education; it fractured her sense of identity and esteem. “It sometimes feels like the odds are stacked against you, especially when you don’t have anyone to show you the ropes,” she reflects. But it didn’t stop her.

Now training for the Bar and a proud member of Lawyers Who Care Maleekah campaigns for change, She’s is a leading voice calling for care experience to be recognised as a protected characteristic, and she’s helping to shape a more inclusive and trauma-informed legal profession. Her dream is to become a barrister who not only represents, but truly understands. “I just want to be a really competent and impactful barrister,” she says. "When the legal profession truly reflects the society it serves, it becomes more just and effective.”

Facing language barriers, PTSD, and the isolation of navigating British academia as a refugee, Omar fought to reclaim his legal ambitions. His turning point came through a volunteer placement at Support Through Court, where he is now Service Manager for the Liverpool branch, leading the country’s top-performing office. In guiding others through the UK’s daunting civil and family court systems, Omar has found purpose: “We make a change in people’s lives. I found that I can do something, I can help.”

Now a British citizen, father, and community leader, Omar’s journey continues with hope. His experiences have deepened his calling to serve the vulnerable. With dreams of returning to Syria one day, he balances ambition with care for his family. “I’m a dad now,” he says, “and to be a good dad you have to think about your children, not just yourself.”

Defying expectations, he flourished at school, earning top GCSEs and going on to become head boy. With a flair for performing arts, the stage became a place of expression and strength, sharpening the confidence and communication skills that would one day serve his legal ambitions.

His journey—from arriving in the UK alone, to thriving in care, excelling at school, and earning a law degree—has been defined by self-belief and a refusal to be limited by circumstance. Now a member of Lawyers Who Care, he is completing his masters degree, he’s working as an immigration officer, a role which allows him the opportunity to utilise his lived experience while developing his advocacy skills, something he believes will make him a stronger, more compassionate lawyer. His outlook is not only relentlessly positive, but quietly powerful, and focused on the change he’s determined to create. “I’ve been through a lot,” he reflects, “but I’ve always believed there’s something better ahead.”