Tell us a bit about your background.

“I come from an agricultural background, growing up on my family farm in Devon. I enjoyed getting stuck in on the farm, but for a few reasons it wasn’t my ideal career path. I therefore took every opportunity I could while at school to find out about different career routes to determine what felt right to me.

There were a number of other factors that I considered before I settled on choosing a career in law, and I would encourage anyone reading this to think about what they want from a future career.”

Why did you apply to your Sutton Trust programme?

“I had a good inclination that I wanted to go into higher education. In year 10, I secured a work experience placement at a university, working with their legal department. I assisted with a variety of matters during my time in the team. During my time there I was asked to share my thoughts on the different matters and consistently came to the same conclusions as others in the team. This made me think a career in law was something worth exploring further.

While completing my A-levels I had a part-time job and a colleague told me about the Pathways to Law programme, aimed at students from widening participation programmes to help them enter the legal profession. I looked into it and saw I had one day left to apply, so I got onto it straight away!

At the time a degree was the main way to get into law – solicitor apprenticeships were still in their infancy at that time, but they’re more widespread now. I am a little envious of the opportunities available to people looking to start their legal career now, however there are still benefits of completing a traditional degree as it can open a variety of doors for you if you later decide that law isn’t for you.”

What was the best part about your programme?

“There are many highlights to pick from, but one that stands out in particular is the trip to London which was really enjoyable. We came up to visit law firms, heard from barristers, and practiced our advocacy skills in a mock trial. It was a great opportunity.

The Warwick residential was fantastic too – it was a great chance to get involved with mooting competitions, negotiation, and networking with solicitors, academics, and barristers. Plus, meeting students doing Pathways to Law in other parts of the country was great – it brought it all very neatly together and made us feel like a really cohesive group.”

What did you do after Pathways?

“I finished Pathways to Law and applied to the University of Exeter to study an LLB (Bachelor of Laws).

I became a Student Ambassador at Exeter – leading campus tours, talking to prospective students, helping at event days. Early on I was invited to meet with the university’s VP Education and have a conversation regarding how the university could improve. I shared that, as a first-generation student from a state school background, there could be more resources to help students in my position make the transition. One of the university lecturers at the meeting was already running a similar programme for medical students, so I reached out to her, and we set up the Law Breakfast Group. This was open to any student, but particularly pushing for those from widening participation backgrounds to come along. We’d meet and share our feedback from our assignments so we could all learn together, and practice skills such as negotiation and public speaking which students from more advantageous backgrounds may have already experienced. For the students in the group our grades visibly improved – people were going from 2:2s to 2:1s or Firsts within the year. It was also fantastic from a mental health perspective, helping myself and my peers combat feelings of imposter syndrome as our confidence grew.

I also came back and helped as a mentor on the Pathways to Law programme. It was great to be in that position as a Pathways alum to support younger students who were having the same experience, helping them to grow as students themselves. Kate, the Pathways coordinator at Exeter, was fantastic at identifying things for mentors to support students with so you’d know where your help was needed.

I also began mentoring A level students through Causeway Education and have now been doing this for five years. Each mentor is assigned a handful of students from a variety of backgrounds and we mentor them from late summer to January, to help with their applications to university. During this time you can build a really good relationship with your mentees and it is great to see their personal statements take shape. Each year I have been blown away by the experiences of my mentees, and it shows the wide array of opportunities available now. For example, a number of firms have virtual internships which can be completed online in your own time – which definitely help to stand out on a university application!”

What have you been doing since university?

“I graduated in 2020 – not a great year! In light of the pandemic I decided not to defer my LPC for a year and gain some practical legal experience instead.

I started at a top 100 law firm in their Exeter office, working in the general office team helping ensure things ran smoothly while the pandemic required the lawyers to work from home. I worked with that firm for six months before joining a firm based outside of Exeter as a conveyancing paralegal. I worked full-time for a further six months before starting my LPC, continuing to work part-time while studying – which was interesting to say the least as an LPC is very full-on! Working alongside the LPC was a challenge, but as the course was intended to be focused on building the skills required to work as a solicitor my experience as a paralegal was certainly beneficial.

I finished the LPC and secured a training contract at Michelmores. They offered me the training contract on the same day I got my final LPC result! I started there in September 2022 and am currently in the third seat of my training contract. Michelmores takes corporate social responsibility very seriously – ask anyone here what their favourite thing about working here is and they’ll say our culture. As a firm we do some work with Visionpath, going into local schools and sharing advice concerning career opportunities and the skills to succeed. We get fantastic engagement from schools and it’s great to be able to give students that insight at a time when they’re thinking seriously about what they’re going to do after school. I was invited to work on a podcast to promote this work – interviewing other colleagues who had delivered these sessions and encouraging others at the firm to get involved. This has allowed a number of colleagues to share fantastic stories from their time volunteering on this programme and helped to encourage others to do the same.”

Any final reflections?

“I firmly believe that once you’ve climbed the ladder, it’s about putting down other ladders for other people. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the incoming pool of solicitors and barristers especially through programmes like the Sutton Trust – we need more of these kinds of opportunities for students to realise their potential. Without the Sutton Trust or Pathways, lots of students just wouldn’t be in as a strong a position to apply, or worse, would be unaware of the opportunities available to them. These programmes show people the options so they can make an informed choice about what they want to do.”

If, like Matthew, you’d like to share your story with us – just get in touch with the alumni team via [email protected].

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