My legal life: Sam John, Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice

I wanted to be a lawyer from a young age, although I had no actual experience in law until I attended college and studied law at A-level. I remember being told by family that being a lawyer would be a good career choice. I soon realised that it was one of my better subjects and something that I was interested in learning.

I attended Swansea University where I obtained my law degree. I then stayed on at Swansea University for a fourth year, during which I completed the Legal Practice Course. Following this, I gained a job as a clinical negligence paralegal for a local health board. This was a temporary position, so I continued applying for other paralegal roles and training contracts.

After a month in my temporary role, I was offered a position as a personal injury paralegal at Slater and Gordon Lawyers in Cardiff. I really enjoyed my time at Slater and Gordon but already knew that family law was the area I really wanted to specialise in. At the time, Slater and Gordon did not have a family department in Cardiff. I was also very eager to obtain a training contract, and was concerned that this would not happen due to the amount of competition in larger firms.

'You are usually helping people during a highly emotional period of their lives. I had also seen members of my own family going through a divorce, and I therefore knew how difficult that period can be'

After working as a paralegal in Slater and Gordon for just under 12 months, I was successful in gaining a paralegal position in the family department of Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice. After six months, I was lucky enough to be offered a training contract. I qualified as a solicitor in July 2017 before being promoted to associate in November 2019. I have now worked at Wendy Hopkins for just under seven years, specialising in all aspects of family law, including divorce and dissolution, matrimonial finances, cohabitee disputes, prenuptial and cohabitation agreements, private children matters and injunctions.

I wanted to specialise in family because I felt like it would be one of the more rewarding areas of law. You are usually helping people during a highly emotional period of their lives. I had also seen members of my own family going through a divorce, and I therefore knew how difficult that period can be. It can often be hard not to take the work home with you, but it is also very rewarding when you get a good outcome for your clients.

I have been a proud member of the Law Society’s LGBT+ Lawyers Committee since October 2021. Before applying for this position, I had been providing legal advice on a pro bono basis to LGBTQ+ people in Cardiff through the Cardiff LGBTQ+ Law Clinic. This is something which I continue to do, alongside my role in the committee. Through the clinic, I have been able to advise people in unhappy relationships about how to legally end them and also deal with the issues that follow on from separation, such as dividing up their finances and agreeing on child arrangements.

I have also advised victims of domestic violence and on matters concerning surrogacy. Being able to provide advice on a pro bono basis through the clinic is something which I find hugely rewarding. I give advice to people who desperately need it, but may otherwise have to go without, due to them not having the means to pay for legal advice.

In my capacity as a member of the committee, I am in a group with other members following up on the findings of the Law Society’s ‘Pride in the Law’ report. This report provides the results of the 2021 LGBT+ solicitors’ survey, which legal professionals and colleagues who consider themselves allies to the LGBT+ community were invited to take part in last year, to provide their experiences of being LGBT+ or an ally in the legal sector. My group and I will be arranging roundtables with individuals and firms to explore the issues identified in the report in more detail, and this will hopefully enable us to produce recommendations and/or action points for firms to implement. I am very passionate about creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession and hope to be able to play my part.