My legal life: Jan Atkinson, Osbornes Law

‘I should have always been a private client lawyer. It was what I was meant to do,’ Jan Atkinson tells me. Before her career in the law, Jan was a teacher. ‘Law was not available as a subject at the school I went to. We had zero career advice.’ She decided to pick a subject she enjoyed for university. ‘I went to Sheffield University for my first degree. There was a girl on my course who changed to law. I remember thinking I wish I had changed to law, but I didn’t have the gumption to do that.’ 

Jan graduated from university with a history degree. ‘Teaching was something I fell into by default.’ She did a PGCE at King’s College London. Teaching at The Camden School for Girls was ‘quite a baptism of fire’. She then taught at Enfield Chase Girls School in north London. Jan was living in a flat-share and two of her flatmates were doing their bar exams. One of them told her how she could convert from being a teacher to a solicitor. ‘I had to do the CPE [Common Professional Exam] and give up my teaching job.’ 

Jan did her exams at Nottingham Law School, ‘which was called Trent Polytechnic then’. She loved it there. ‘Because I had been a teacher, I could tell from day one how brilliant the lecturers were. They had a very high pass rate. I loved doing the Law Society Finals. I loved all the learning.’

While Jan had started out wanting to do law, ‘I’m glad I did something that was not quite right for me. It’s always made me appreciate what a fabulous career being a solicitor can be. Everyone has ups and downs, but it is a hugely rewarding career. When I was filling in the forms to go to Nottingham to do my law exams, I knew that this was what I should be doing.’

She did her training contract at Attwater and Liell in Harlow. ‘I did private client work there and enjoyed that the most.’ The firm had a big criminal practice. ‘I loved going to court with the barristers. I used to sit behind counsel.’ Jan remembers sitting behind a silk in court who represented two boys. One of the boys later came into her offices and stole her handbag. ‘I was absolutely fuming.’ The boy ended up in prison. ‘His fingerprints were found on a cheque in my cheque book.’

'I’m glad I did something that was not quite right for me. It’s always made me appreciate what a fabulous career being a solicitor can be. When I was filling in the forms to go to Nottingham to do my law exams, I knew that this was what I should be doing'

Jan spent a few years in the City doing commercial property. ‘This was pre-internet, so I didn’t realise private client was an option in the City.’ She loved the two years she spent at Richards Butler. ‘We had a lot of exciting clients and it was all great fun. I had a wonderful boss. It was incredibly good training because the standards were so high.’ Jan ‘never regretted’ her time in the City ‘because it made me a better lawyer’.

After the property market crashed, she was made redundant. She then joined Osbornes Law as a property lawyer. When the solicitor who did private client work left the firm, the opportunity arose to switch specialisms. ‘I took over a tiny department. I was the team. Now we’re a team of 30 people.’

Jan has specialised in private client work for nearly three decades. ‘Because I’ve been doing it for a very long time, I have evolved what I do. When people think of private client, they think of wills, estates, power of attorney and trusts. My team does all of that. I moved into doing slightly more contentious private client work quite a long time ago.’

She does cross-border work and specialises as a court-appointed court administrator. ‘Someone has to administer the estate following a dispute. That requires you to be comfortable with contentious work.’

How have her teaching years shaped her career as a solicitor? ‘Teaching can be pretty demanding. I think history was a good grounding for the law. You have got to be able to take on a lot of facts and apply them.’

Career highlights include ‘building a truly fabulous team of mostly women at Osbornes. They are so lovely and competent. I lead them and I’m proud of them.’ Jan has a case going to trial this autumn. ‘I’m hoping that will be a highlight of my career, but we’ll see.’