What was your route into the profession?
My route into the profession started with LA Law in the 1990s. I didn’t know any lawyers and my family had no connections in the law, so when I decided aged ten that I wanted to be one, it was a bit of a pie-in-the-sky idea.
My family are all from Paisley in Scotland (home of the Paisley snail case, Donoghue v Stevenson). I remember talking about it to my Granda when I first came across it and he convinced me he knew May Donoghue. I’m still not sure whether or not that’s true (my mum is fairly sure it is). I think in another lifetime, he’d have loved to have been a lawyer. In the 1990s he was part of a class action involving workers in Glasgow’s shipyards who had been exposed to asbestos. He was meticulous in reviewing evidence and statements. Very sadly he passed away before the decision in the case—they won—and I wish he’d seen that the fruits of all their labour paid off.
I was very lucky that my school offered A-level law, and once I’d started learning more about it, I was hooked. I then got a place at university to study it at undergraduate level and from then to a training contract with Allen & Overy. If my Granda had been around to see that, he would have burst with pride.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
Before I joined Flex Legal, I’d worked only in large law firms and a division of a FTSE20 company, so adjusting to the pace and intensity of a start-up was a bit of a shock to the system initially. I joined Flex Legal at least partly for that reason though—I wanted to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.
Coupled with that, my youngest daughter had just started primary school after a tumultuous period through COVID, and I remember feeling stretched thinly between those two big changes.
Fortunately, I found myself in a community of parents and carers in similar circumstances and we all pull together to help each other when we can; over the years, I’ve got more comfortable with riding the waves. I don’t tend to aim for work-life balance, because in my experience the two sides of the scales are rarely balanced. Instead, someone told me about the concept of ‘work-life harmony’, and I think that’s a much more realistic thing to aim for.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
This is going to sound a bit cheesy, but I’m now at the stage in my career where my friends are in serious roles and having incredible impact on the organisations and teams they lead, and often also on society in general. I won’t name them here, because they’d be embarrassed I’m sure, but safe to say I look at them and remember where we started out and think: ‘I hope they realise how incredible they are’. They’re at the top of the profession and are really good, kind people. I feel very lucky to know them.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternative career?
In my last year at primary school, I was asked to write a timeline of my future. I saw myself becoming a lawyer at 25 (tick) and writing children’s books, while training horses on the side. The horse notion has long since fallen away, but I still have a bit of an urge to write. I’ve always loved words and stories. When I got married, we asked our wedding guests to each bring us a book they loved instead of a traditional gift. It was fascinating to me to see what people chose and why. I’d love to create something that moves someone enough to want to gift it on to someone else.
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
Probably Perry Mason. I used to watch a lot of Perry Mason with my Granda, and I loved how he seemed to take on clients based largely on curiosity and an insatiable drive for justice. When I was younger, I watched a lot of detective shows—Poirot, Murder She Wrote, Columbo—and I think for a long time I was quite confused between lawyers and crime solvers! I guess at the root of that is that I was interested in finding answers to questions or problems. Perry Mason was always relentless in his pursuit of that.
What change would you make to the profession?
Unsurprisingly, given the role I do now, I think the profession still has a long way to go before it is truly representative of the society it serves. Being representative has many facets to it, of course. Speaking to one I feel best qualified to reflect on, I think the profession needs to work much harder and more intentionally to be open and welcoming to individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds. I grew up in a single-parent, single-income family and was on free school meals at school. I thought, naively, that getting a training contract would mean I’d ‘made it’ and all those feelings of inadequacy would evaporate once I’d got my foot in the door. That’s not how it works, and I think the profession needs to better understand what it’s like to join it from a background like that so that it can ensure the right support and infrastructure is in place to help people succeed and build long, fulfilling careers where they can be themselves.
How do you relax?
I love a Saturday morning reading session with one or both of my daughters. For me, it’s usually about those little things. I’d love to disappear on a weekend yoga retreat every now and then (and am lucky that I can from time to time), but in a typical week, a walk around my local park or watching something snuggled up on the sofa with my kids is just the ticket.
Kate Gaskell is CEO of alternative legal services provider Flex Legal.
.tmb-mov69x69.jpg?sfvrsn=b21f1aaf_1)
.tmb-mov69x69.jpg?sfvrsn=754d0e82_1)
