On Thursday 27 February 2025, we returned to London for a legal focused breakfast networking event.

The event took place at HubHub co-working space, located just a stone's throw away from St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. We were joined by 40 OKS, current and former parents who all work in the legal sector in a variety of roles. Plenty of networking took place over croissants and mugs of coffee before the main panel discussion started at 8:30am.

The panel discussion was chaired by Lizzie Bird (LN 1989-91). The panellists were:

• Ed Parnell (TR 2006-11) Advertising/Product Legal Counsel at TikTok 

• Jemma Ralph (Current KSC Parent) Co-Head of Privacy Compliance at Slaughter and May

• Henry Pelling (TR 2006-11) Senior Associate, Data Protection and Cyber Security at DLA Piper 

• Robyn Keith (HH 2014-16) Associate, Real Estate Finance at A&O Shearman 

• Keith Bryant (Former KSC Parent), KC and Barrister

The discussion started with Jemma explaining the various routes into law from university, and the benefits and drawbacks of each option. The panel agreed that it was not completely necessary to study law at university, instead, studying a subject you enjoy and then doing a conversion is a good option. Robyn said that she studied English at university, which she had always enjoyed and her degree gave her a range of transferable skills that she finds useful in her day-to-day work. 

Getting into law related jobs is very competitive, and Henry shared his top tips to improve your chances. He stressed the importance of personalising your application and researching each company. Quality over quantity tends to bring better success with applications. Henry also encouraged attendees to take advantage of events offered by big law firms, for example, virtual events and taster days. You can refer to these in your interview and cover letter as it shows that you are actively interested in that company. 

Ed, who has worked for numerous tech companies, spoke about law from an in-house perspective. He said that in-house can be more competitive and demanding, but that he enjoys the variety of tasks that it provides him. 

Keith then spoke about being a barrister and life at the bar. He explained that it is primarily about advocacy and that his role is very flexible in the sense that he does not have targets like the others. The disadvantage, he said, was that you are 'as good as your last case' meaning that reputation is very important and can affect your success. 

The final discussion point was on the use of AI in the legal sector. Robyn said that her workplace have recently introduced AI technology to help employees. She said that it was useful for certain things, but should not be relied on. The panel agreed that law is a relationship and communication business, and that AI cannot replicate that well enough. Ed also added that you shouldn't put all your confidence into AI, as information can be inaccurate if your prompt is not detailed or well written. Henry agreed and said that all information you receive from AI should be verified for accuracy.

Lizzie then invited questions from the audience, which included some insightful questions on work culture, training schemes and solicitor advocates. 

A big thank you to Lizzie, Ed, Jemma, Henry, Robyn and Keith for taking part!

The King's Association hold breakfast networking events in Spring, Summer and Autumn, each time on a different career sector. If you are interested in taking part or hosting the next event at your workplace, please get in touch! community@kings-school.co.uk