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#hrlacareersday2020 #Panel 1 - Junior Human Rights Lawyers - How to get started! Can& #39;t wait to get their tips!
#hrlacareersday2020 - @aqsawiggingit tip #1 reach out to members of chambers / where you work for the things you want to work on!
@aqsawiggingit you can change your biochem degree to philosophy if you want to!
@aqsawiggingit started @PulseHuman, a human rights website to get the human rights conversation going. Has 200+ writers - open and accessible - no gatekeepers to human rights discussions. Pro tip #2 - contribute to the discussion!
Pro tip #3 from Robyn Taylor of @dpg_law - you don& #39;t necessarily have to have done all these incredible things to do human rights law. You can be a normal person who hasn& #39;t necessarily travelled that much. You don& #39;t have to have wanted to be a human rights lawyer from age 5!
Pro tip #4 from Robyn Taylor of
@dpg_law Before going into corporate law, went to work for a grant-giving organisation. Brilliant experience, worked in the communities and heard stories from people on the ground.
@dpg_law Before going into corporate law, went to work for a grant-giving organisation. Brilliant experience, worked in the communities and heard stories from people on the ground.
Ended up doing tons of pro bono work while doing corporate law. Became adept at PIP assessments, ended up talking to the pro bono lead, who put her in touch with a human rights lawyer @dpg_law who spoke to her about a human rights career.
Pro tip #5 - Benson Egwuonwu - how to balance pro bono and commercial law - "discipline and late nights". "The more you do something and the more committed you are to doing something, the easier it is."
Pro tip #5 - Benson Egwuonwu - doing human rights law gets easier - you know where to look and you know how to go about research.
Pro tip #6 - Preetika Mathur from @DoughtyStreet - "human rights permeates across almost everything - in employment work there are human rights dimensions to the discrimination work".
Pro tip #7 from @aqsawiggingit you might start in an area as your bread and butter practice, e.g. criminal work, benefits, immigration, and then you get more to grips with the human rights aspects over time, and can specialise. It& #39;s a long game!
#hrlacareersday2020 How did you figure out your area of practice?
#hrlacareersday2020 @aqsawiggingit: "my litmus test is & #39;what makes me really angry!& #39;" but in the early days of practice so figuring it all out at the moment. Difficult to have an expertise when you& #39;re just out of law school or university.
#hrlacareersday2020 when people refer to "human rights chambers" they tend to mean legally aided work and claimant work and work challenging power structures.
#hrlacareersday2020 Benson Egwuonwu - "you never know what you& #39;re interested in until you try it. I& #39;m interested in privacy and tech. But I got into that through a secondment doing data protection contract advice."
#hrlacareersday2020 Benson Egwuonwu - "I then decided to write about privacy and surveillance writing for @EachOtherUk, and I learnt lots more about it. I then appeared on a documentary about the Met Police& #39;s breach of data protection."
#hrlacareersday2020 Benson Egwuonwu Pro Tip #8: "Use real life opportunities. Find the human rights angle. You& #39;ll be surprised what you& #39;ll find."
#hrlacareersday2020 Pro Tip #9 @aqsawiggingit: "You have to be able to pay your bills first, so focus on what you can do within those bounds. You& #39;ve got to strike the right balance. It shouldn& #39;t be you spend 1/2 your day on paid & 1/2 on pro bono work. I try to do 10 hrs a week "
