News - News - Baroness Scotland Shares Childhood Memory

BLD's Black History Month event this year proved inspiring as it sparked memories from the three distinguished speakers, all of whom have made legal history, with around 130 attendees being treated to an insight into their journeys to the top.

The keynote speaker, the Attorney General, the Rt Hon Baroness Scotland of Asthal, recalled when, at the age of six and the 10th of 12 children, her father taught her that you are never too young to challenge something you disagree with. She also spoke of how our history is interwoven with our own parents’ history and their parents’ history.

She looked back on her journey, working at a supermarket for two years along the way, to becoming the youngest QC since William Pitt the Younger in the 1700s and the first female and ethnic minority Attorney General in the office’s 700-year history.

BLD's Black Letter Law 2009 - the biggest ever with 300 pages - was also launched. Baroness Scotland said of the book: "The move towards noting, acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of black and ethnic minority lawyers is crucial. It is crucial because, as the publication says, we have the opportunity to showcase achievement in law and all of the lawyers featured in this year's publication have widened the legal profession, introducing a marvellous diversity, a breadth of focus, a breath of fresh air some would say, that was very much needed." To order your copy follow this link.

Vimal Tilakapala gave the welcome address at the event, hosted by Allen & Overy, and BLD founder and Managing Director Debo Nwauzu outlined the background to Black History Month, founded by Dr Carter Woodson, a Harvard student in 1926. The theme, as always, was BMEs in the Law: Contributions – Past, Present and Future.

Speaker District Judge Ray Singh, the first judge from an ethnic minority on the Welsh Circuit, represented the Past and recounted his days as a taxi-driver in Fiji during an “interview” with barrister and newly-appointed part-time judge Sailesh Mehta.

Trevor James, who made UK history when he became the first black Managing Partner at Morrison and Foerster, represented the Present and reminded everyone of the important role that parents play, urged youngsters to “flood the country with success” and called on lawyers to make time to be a mentor.

The Future part of the event’s theme came in the form of Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s Lawyers students Bilal Hussain and Clive Boakye and Legal Launch Pad participants Shaalini Daya and Sade (Tolulope) Akintunde sharing the experiences they had had on the BLD programmes designed to widen access for ethnic minorities into the legal profession. Shaalini and Sade have both accepted training contracts with Magic Circle firms Clifford Chance and Freshfields respectively, both having also been offered two other contracts after completion of the course.