Sarah is a solicitor with a long experience developing pro-bono work in the UK and East Africa. We had the pleasure of doing an interview with her about her work in the access to justice area, tips and recommendations for students and young lawyers considering working in this field, and her plans to serve as member of the Law Society Council for Women.
A bit more about Sarah:
"Pro-bono work in East Africa and the UK has been a constant part of my life since I joined an LCF student summer team 21 years ago. On that team we spent time in the CLEAR office in Kenya and volunteering in Tanzania and Rwanda. Looking back, I can see how that first experience of supporting people who didn’t have access to justice has shaped my career, and life choices ever since.
I qualified as a solicitor and spent 12 years working as a corporate lawyer. Alongside this I sat on the CLEAR committee for many years which inspired me to help establish a pro-bono clinic at the law firm I was working at in London. In 2015, as a family we moved to Tanzania where I continued to support pro-bono legal clinics and explore alternative models of justice service delivery. This has formed the basis of my PhD in the role of technology to increase access to justice. I now work as an access to justice advisor and still volunteer at a pro bono clinic. I am also a Trustee for the Access to Justice Foundation.
Working in the pro-bono sector brings us close to people at a point of crisis in their lives. As lawyers we can offer our legal skills to bring guidance and hope in these stressful situations. By showing kindness to those in need, speaking up for the vulnerable, and challenging injustice, we are responding to the call to love our neighbour and to help a stranger in crisis. I think this is what Jesus was talking about when he invited us to live His way."
Rivers of Hope in a Dry Land: LCF Access to Justice Review
If you are interested in the topic of Access to Justice, we invite you to access this LCF page, where you`ll find the "Access to Justice Review", a report that looks at the Call to Access to Justice, the present need for such an initiative, and how Christian lawyers – from any stage of their career or practice area – ought to respond.