Periodically, we hear stories from the people behind the law degrees at 145-year-old, South Yorkshire-based law firm, Banner Jones. Most recently, we spoke to Chartered Legal Executive Sara Patel about her unconventional route into employment law, how she became a qualified lawyer on the job – and why her career turned out nothing like Suits.
Hi Sara – can you start by telling us what led you to a career in law?
I always had an interest in law – my pop was a police officer, and I grew up watching countless episodes of The Bill. I’m from a family of grafters, so I think that’s where my work ethic comes from. I went to a strict Church of England school in Lancashire, which had a very academic focus – if you weren’t heading to university, they weren’t really interested in you.
Despite my early interest in law, I had an unsupportive A-Level teacher who told me I’d never make it as a barrister which really knocked my confidence. I remember at the time comparing myself to my best friend who knew exactly what she wanted to do and went on to qualify as a solicitor in family law.
I thought my legal ambitions were over, so I switched to history and politics – hoping that a more ‘general’ degree would buy me some time to figure out what I wanted to do. Then I remember seeing an opportunity to move to Hong Kong for a year to teach English to primary school kids. I mentioned it in passing to my parents and was surprised when they encouraged me to defer my place at university and move across the world at 17.
That time away gave me space to reflect, and I realised I wasn’t excited about my degree. I decided to switch to psychology, and after four years of studying in Manchester, I completed a master’s in forensic psychology. I’m still really interested in criminal behaviour – my bookshelf at home has some pretty disturbing books on it - but I’m not sure I’d have the stamina for it as a career.
So why did you end up moving to Sheffield?
For a boy! I moved here in 2013 because my partner at the time studied here. I got a role in HR at the University of Sheffield. I loved my time there, but deep down I knew I still wanted to be in law.
I applied for all kinds of legal jobs – literally had a spreadsheet of them – but I was either overqualified or had the wrong kind of experience. I knew I just needed to get my foot in the door of a law firm and prove I was a hard worker.
Eventually, I landed a job here at Banner Jones as a paralegal in employment law. I have to admit, I had this idea that being a paralegal might be a bit like being Rachel Zane in Suits – but disappointingly there’s no Harvey Specter and no Mike Ross!
By this point, I was in another relationship, and for years I felt like I’d only stayed in Sheffield for other people. But two years ago, I bought my own place and qualified as a lawyer – both decisions I made for myself. Now, I can confidently say I love Sheffield for Sheffield!
You qualified as a lawyer through the CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) route – can you explain what that involved?
CILEX is an alternative qualification route that allows you to specialise in a particular area of law from the outset, so you can gain work experience and study at the same time. Unlike the traditional solicitor route, where you train as a generalist and typically specialise after qualification.
I was lucky in that Banner Jones offered to fund my CILEX training. It was tough working full-time and studying, but it meant I didn’t rack up the debt that many traditional law students do.
How did it feel when you finally qualified?
Truth be told, I was a bit worried about qualifying. Paralegals are often underestimated – by opponents in particular – as there often seems to be a perception of less knowledge or experience than someone qualified. I’d been running my own cases for a while, so it felt good to challenge these preconceptions and hold my own.
Now I’m qualified, the expectations are higher but it’s nice to have the qualification to back it all up. Because I came into law later in life, I was surrounded by younger newly qualified lawyers. But I had over a decade of experience by the time I qualified, so I brought something different to the table.
I was never really motivated by titles – I just wanted people to recognise that I knew my stuff. That means more to me than any qualification.
Your route into law has been anything but traditional. Do you feel your experiences in other areas have helped in your current role?
Definitely. My psychology background has been invaluable. I work with lots of clients who have complex needs. Understanding human behaviour, mental health conditions and conflict resolution tactics is a huge advantage in employment law.
My previous experience in HR gave me an insight into how employment law overlaps with HR as we often work with HR directors and managers. It meant that by the time I moved into employment law, I already understood many of the challenges businesses face when managing staff.
What does your role at Banner Jones involve now?
No day is the same – one day I could be speaking with a HR Director reassuring them on an employee matter - the next I could be attending a preliminary hearing for an unfair dismissal claim.
My psychology background definitely helps when it comes to understanding the human side of the legal issues we deal with. I’ve dealt with a lot of cases where the employees have disabilities such as autism, ADHD or anxiety. I’ve also had people come specifically to me with race discrimination cases because I’m Indian, and they’ve said that they feel I might understand their situation better.
As a business we are keen to develop our employment law client-base in Sheffield, so I’ve been going to lots of networking events and making new connections in the city. Many businesses only come to us when they’re facing a tribunal claim. We want to encourage businesses to be proactive rather than reactive and obtain legal advice sooner. Ensuring they have contracts and policies in place which are legally compliant can also help prevent the cost of defending a claim.
What’s next for you?
I’m just enjoying being in a job I love. It’s taken me a while to get here, but I feel lucky to do what I do, and I want to encourage others to see that there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ route into law. It’s not always about going to university straight from school – there are different paths, and CILEX can be a great option.
Finally – Suits or real-life employment law?
Oh, definitely real life. I do love a good legal drama, though.
