At 34-years old, I have six-and-a-half years post qualification experience (PQE), am married with two children under the age of four, and am a department head of a Legal 500-recognised law firm. Sounds like life is pretty plain sailing. Yes, life is pretty good, but the struggle to get to where I am now started almost two decades ago.
My name is Umar Kankiya and I am a senior associate and head of the mental health department at Sternberg Reed Solicitors. I am also a committee member of the Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division (EMLD) at The Law Society of England and Wales. My journey into law started 18 years ago when, on enrolment day at Sir George Monoux College in 2001, I made the decision to switch A Levels from business studies to law. The change was simply because I had got a D at GCSE level and felt it best to do something I would get more enjoyment out of.
My interest in justice and representing the most vulnerable in society was piqued and led to me undertaking an LLB law degree at De Montfort University in Leicester. Between 2003 to 2006 I learnt a great deal, became president of the student law society, but missed out on a 2:1 by just 1%. This was devastating to me and meant that when the time came to apply for training contracts and vacation schemes I received rejection letter after rejection letter. A young black Muslim male trying to break into law with a 2:2 degree was not appealing to most law firms and after completing the compulsory legal practice course (LPC) I ended up parking my legal career for three and a half years.
Before university I was involved with my local, then national Youth Parliament which gave me a great exposure to the world of local and national politics and youth participation. The skills and experiences I gained from this helped to shape who I am today. In 2009 I was finally able to break through with my legal career with a two-week work placement which turned into a paralegal role two months later. Some ten months later I achieved my dream of getting a training contract and on 15 August 2012 I was finally admitted onto the roll of solicitors – up to that point the biggest achievement in my life.
The struggle to get into law was very real. My degree and, to an extent, my ethnicity was a real barrier to achieving my dream. I knew if someone gave me a chance I would be able to show that I am more than a capable addition to the legal profession. This had a huge impact on me mentally. There were times when I seriously considered giving up on entering the profession because no one wanted to give me a chance. What got me through was the support of family and self belief that I could make it.
As a mental health solicitor my role is to represent those who have been detained under the Mental Health Act and my daily work involves looking at challenging the validity of their detention and looking at how best to ensure my clients get the best support possible when they are discharged from hospital. I get a great satisfaction knowing the work I do has a huge difference on someone else’s life; it is something I don’t take lightly.
Being a member of the EMLD and knowing the struggles I went through early in my career, I want to ensure I do everything I can to improve the representation of BAME lawyers in the profession. That involves giving back to the next generation of lawyers, whether that is going back to my old sixth form or university to give talks, offer work experience, or just make myself available to assist with CVs and applications. And with my work around mental health I am keen to ensure we continue to have conversations around wellbeing and create safe open spaces for lawyers to be able to discuss their mental health.
So, yes, life is treating me well, but under my happiness are the true struggles I faced to get to the position now.
How to be more diverse and inclusive
Ethnicity
- Offer more work experience programmes specifically for budding BAME lawyers;
- Increase the number of BAME judges in the senior courts;
- More BAME partners should serve as role models to the next generation;
- Firms should have an open and honest conversation about why there is a lack of diversity in the profession and how best to address it; and
- Firms should look to engage in more local community work. Speak with young people, especially in diverse areas about being a BAME lawyer.
Mental health
- Create an open environment by recognising that in the work place people may be suffering from mental health problems and need support;
- Ensure that there is mental health training for all senior staff;
- Promote the use of mental health champions in the work place;
- Provide mental health days (in lieu of sick leave) and put services in place to assist those who require it; and
- Build in staff away days where possible to bring everyone closer together.
Does Big Law have a problem with ethnic diversity?
- One in five solicitors in England and Wales are from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background. This is up 7% over three years, from 14% in 2014 to 21% in 2017.
- This increase is largely due to the rise in Asian lawyers, up from 9% in 2014 to 14% in 2017. Black lawyers make up 3% of the profession, an increase of 1% since 2014.
- Larger firms (50 plus partners) have a lower proportion of BAME partners (8%) compared to those in sole practice, where more than a third (34%) of partners are BAME.
- Firms practising in private client or criminal law have a higher percentage of BAME lawyers (33% and 37% respectively).
- Firms which undertake mainly corporate work have the lowest proportion of BAME lawyers at just 19%.
- Christians form the largest proportion of all solicitors at 51%. Those who had no religion or belief form the second largest group at 30%.
- The next largest faith group is Muslim up from 5% in 2014 to 8% in 2017.
- The remaining faith groups are 3% for Jewish and Hindu groups, 2% for Sikh, and 1% for Buddhist.
- 17% of lawyers in one partner firms are Muslim, compared to 2% of lawyers in the largest firms of 50 plus partners.