Serena Dunleavy 

My name is Serena, I grew up in Leeds and I went to a state school. I attended university in Manchester and studied a law degree. I always knew that my long-term aspiration was to become a Barrister and as a result I continued immediately onto postgraduate study of LLM Legal Practice at the Bar in Manchester.

After playing a strong game of resilience, I completed the Bar Training Course and was subsequently Called to the Bar in October 2023. I am now an Unregistered Barrister taking part in many mini-pupillages, judicial marshalling schemes and legal work placements. I will be applying for pupillage January 2024 with the intention of obtaining a criminal pupillage. 

During the Bar Training Course, I was fortunate enough to secure a Specialist Investigator and Court Advocate role. In this role I apply to the Magistrates Court for orders and prosecute breaches. This role has improved my advocacy skills and confidence in the courtroom, together with the fact it fills me with a whole sense of contentment to be helping others. I suppose that sums up why I have always aspired to become a Barrister in the first place, beside a strong drive of motivation to uphold fairness and ensure everyone obtains representation and a fair trial. It is fair to say that the Barrister Training Course is an extremely complex course and passing it did not come easy to me. I was studying alone in Manchester, in a studio flat, with an incredible amount of new content to understand. 

I had to start from scratch with this whole process and now when I think back to that time, there was absolutely nothing wrong with starting something from the very beginning. Is that not how everyone begins?     

I would say that my main challenge on the Barrister Training Course was the two centralised examinations set by the BSB, which are Civil and Criminal Litigation. In my mind I thought of them as a test of resilience and strength, a test to see how quick a student can bounce back, accept failure and try again. 

You are at this stage in your education because you ARE good enough and DO have the ability to succeed. 

I wanted to become a part of GenHerPower because when I first begun the Barrister Training Course and process generally, I only ever saw immediate success stories, there was absolutely no mention of any relatable struggle that could help another student and reassure them. For anybody who thinks the Bar is not for them, please watch this video. I will attach the link below. I was directed to this video by His Honour Judge Mushtaq Khokhar, created by The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, which is my Inn of Court, whilst I was marshalling Judge Khokhar for one week at Leeds Crown Court. 

I would like to take this opportunity to mention Judge Khokhar and his incredible journey, I don’t think I will ever forget how inspired I was after hearing his journey, and what a wonderful person he is too. I wish I had seen this at the beginning of my journey, and it is my hope that more individuals see this, so please watch! https://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/news/the-law-is-for-everybody-inspiring-the-next-generation-of-barristers/  

The law is for everybody, if you are faced with a hurdle and it knocks you down, don’t stay down, get back up and go again, this time you are one step closer!

Written by Serena Dunleavy