Corporate partner. Award-winning cyclist. Reluctant rule-breaker. Charlotte Higgins might describe herself as “ordinary” – but the story of how she balanced a legal career with breaking national and world track cycling records is anything but. Russ Thompson sat down with Charlotte for unLTD’s Inside Track series to discover how a routine-loving corporate lawyer became one of South Yorkshire’s most inspiring dual-career professionals.
In 2015, Charlotte Higgins had no plans to become a national champion cyclist. In fact, she had no plans to take on a velodrome at all.
“I had no desire to ride the track. None. My husband had done a session at Derby Arena and loved it. He said I should give it a go. I told him I wasn’t riding a fixed gear bike. No brakes? No way,” she laughs.
But she did try it. And ‘like a duck to water’ is perhaps putting it lightly: by 2018, Charlotte had broken a British national record that had stood for 22 years. “It snowballed. I got accredited to ride the track, did a few public sessions, and a coach at Derby thought I had potential. Six months later, we broke a national record. That was the start of it all.”
What started as a hobby became something much bigger — and much harder to fit around a demanding legal career. Her journey to partner at Taylor & Emmet was not straightforward, and Charlotte is candid about the challenges she faced earlier in her legal life.
“The traditional path in law wasn’t open to me. I was a paralegal for six years, and the route to qualification wasn’t straightforward. I didn’t get a training contract handed on a plate — it didn’t come easy. When I was 14 or 15, there were teachers who told me that I wasn't clever enough to be a solicitor. I later went to Nottingham Law School, which at the time was the best law school outside London, and I achieved a First Class Law Degree and a Distinction in the Legal Practice Course. That made me even more determined.”
Determination is a thread that runs through her story. And it usually pays off. After rising through the ranks, she became a corporate partner at longstanding Sheffield firm Taylor & Emmet in 2022 — brought in by Rob Moore, Head of Business Legal Services, to help grow the commercial team.
“I told Rob at the time, this move had to be my last. I wasn’t going to jump firms again. So I needed to know they were okay with my cycling. He said they were. HR said the same. Within a week of joining, I got flowers and champagne for winning the national champs. That told me everything I needed to know — they were happy with it.”
Under Charlotte’s leadership, the corporate team has grown from two lawyers to five plus support staff. Team turnover has practically quadrupled and they’re now handling some of the biggest deals in the firm’s history.
“We’re very busy right now. It’s not just more work – it’s better quality work. And that attracts even more of the same. It becomes a cycle.”
The word “cycle” feels apt. Because every Saturday, at 5am, Charlotte is up and on the road to Derby for two hours of intense track training. Sundays are spent on endurance rides. And the rest of the week is slotted around the demands of high-performance sport and high-stakes commercial law.
“Time management doesn’t faze me. I like routine. I’m very regimented. If I say I’ll do something, it gets done. My calendar is colour-coded; my training diary gives me a compliance score. If it isn’t green, I’m not happy,” she says with a grin.
Obsessive, perhaps, but it clearly pays dividends. Charlotte has now won 30 national and world titles combined. Her next target? “40 by 40.” She turns 40 in October 2026 so the work is cut out clearly.
“It’s ambitious, but it keeps me focused. This year is a big one. We’re targeting the world record again in my age category. I’ve broken it unofficially, but to make it official I need to do it at the Worlds. The conditions need to be right, I need to be right. Everything has to align.”
That pressure can be intense. “Give me a multimillion transaction and I won’t bat an eyelid. But put me on a start line for the pursuit, and I’m falling to pieces. It’s a different kind of stress.”
She may be process-driven, but there's also a deeply human side to Charlotte's story. In the interview, she opens up about the more difficult side of elite sport, especially the behaviour of some fellow competitors.
“Some of the people I race against haven’t always been nice. After the 2024 Nationals, I wasn’t in a great headspace. I told my husband I was done. But then I thought, no. I’ve earned my place here. I’m not letting anyone else decide that for me.”
It’s a response that echoes her early experiences in law. Her first job was tough. The hours were brutal. The treatment wasn’t always fair.
“But here I am,” she says. “I think it’s important people see that you can come from a completely ordinary background and still get where you want to go. I’m the first lawyer in my family, and now a world champion cyclist too.”
So, what fuels this relentless drive? In part, a persistent, deeply-embedded desire to prove people wrong. In part, an unshakeable commitment to seeing things through.
“I don’t like missing training. I don’t like missing deadlines. I do what I say I’ll do. And I think that sets a tone for the team. They see how I handle negotiations, even when the other side try to talk down to us. We don’t take any rubbish. But we’re fair – that’s just as important.”
Charlotte’s team is now predominantly female – something she says brings added strength.
“They know my story. They know I started as a paralegal. They see the work I put in. I think it motivates them. And I always say, you’re only as good as your team. We’ve got a great one.”
And what happens after 40?
“No idea. I said this year would be my last. But I’ve already signed up for next year. I’ll stop when I stop winning,” she answers, only half-joking.
In the meantime, Charlotte is also planning her next career steps. “I’ve told the firm I aspire to be Head of Corporate, as my ultimate goal is to run the team.”
Until that point, she’ll continue to do what she’s always done: stick to the plan, follow the process, show up.
“I like the training more than the racing. Racing is stressful. Training is routine. It gives me structure. It clears my head. It makes everything else manageable.”
As the interview winds down, we arrive at an important question: what law would she pass, if she could? “Something about motorway lanes. If you’re not using lane one or two, and you’re just sitting in lane four, there should be some sort of punishment.”
Spoken like someone who knows the value of staying in lane – but isn’t afraid to accelerate past when it matters most.
