You qualified as a solicitor and then didn’t take the conventional route. Why not?
I’d worked pro bono for years before I qualified, and access to justice was always the point for me rather than a nice addition to it. I’m also a career changer, so I came into law with a working life already behind me — marketing, management, communications, running small businesses, helping my ex-husband build his counselling practice. The idea of putting all of that down and starting at the bottom of somebody else’s ladder didn’t appeal. Neither did the prospect of being four or five years into a legal career and wishing I’d done something else.
There was a particular moment when it shifted from an idea to a decision. It was realising that my legal training and passing the SQE weren’t the whole of what I had to offer — that I could create opportunities for myself and for the people around me, and that I should trust that instinct rather than being led by what everyone else aspires to.
What from that earlier career actually turns out to matter in a fitness-to-practise hearing?
Clarity, mostly. Across everything I’ve done, the thread has been being able to see what needs to be achieved and find a logical route to getting there. I’m neurodivergent, and my brain is both hyper-organised and quite creative — both are useful as a lawyer and especially as an advocate.
People think advocacy is performance. Some of it is. But most of the job is preparation: organising information and ideas until they’re clear, and then being able to articulate them in a way that actually means something to the person listening.
Why fitness to practise specifically?
Two reasons. I wanted to focus on advocacy, and FTP gave me the chance to develop and learn far faster than the traditional route would have.
But the real reason is that affordable access to advice and representation for registrants essentially doesn’t exist. If you’re not covered by an insurer or a union, facing that process alone is daunting to say the least. And we know anecdotally that unrepresented registrants get worse outcomes. Not being able to afford support shouldn’t be a barrier to a fair hearing.
How do you make it affordable and still sustainable?
That was the whole challenge — cheap enough to actually reach people, sustainable enough that it isn’t a hobby project.
We started out working completely pro bono, and I paid the bills doing legal education work with university partners, giving law students practical training and work experience. It didn’t cover everything, but it was a start. Then the demand from registrants turned out to be far bigger than we’d ever imagined, and we had to think seriously about the future — charging a realistic amount for the work we do, so we can operate properly, keep costs low, and still take on pro bono cases where the case is compelling and the risk of injustice is too high.
We’ve recently split the organisation. Sequentus Education focuses on legal education and our work with universities and training providers on a not-for-profit basis. Sequentus Legal Services delivers the legal work, on fixed fees — so once we know what’s involved, registrants know what they’ll pay, and that we won’t come back asking for more unless the case goes to a hearing and they want us to represent them there. The plan is that revenue from the education side funds grants for registrants who fall outside the paid model altogether.
You also provide free counselling to clients. How did that come about?
It was always the intention. Litigation anxiety is real, and in professional discipline it’s heightened, because it isn’t only someone’s livelihood at stake — it’s their professional identity, and often their personal identity too. That strikes at the core of most people. Facing all of that without support is close to impossible.
So since last year we’ve had a mental health team providing one-to-one counselling to all our clients, free of charge, with no referral and no waiting list. It’s entirely separate from the legal team. My ex being a counsellor certainly shaped the thinking, and mental health has always mattered to me personally. But it’s also simply good practice: a client who is supported is more resilient and better able to give us proper instructions. That’s a significant win for everybody.
You’ve said you’re always direct with clients. How does that sit alongside all of that?
A client comes to you for your professional judgement. Water it down and you’re doing them a disservice. They need to know where they stand and what the difficulties in their case are — not false hope.
The kindness is in the clarity, not in the advice. Explaining concepts in straightforward terms helps enormously, as does talking through the practical implications. It builds trust. And then you can put real options on the table, ones the client actually understands, so that they can make decisions about how they instruct us and what’s genuinely going to produce the best outcome for them.
Is there a case that stays with you?
Every case that reaches an outcome is a reminder, honestly. But this year we concluded two that had each been running for nearly ten years. Bringing sense and order to them and closing them with no case to answer and no charges found proven really highlighted why this matters. Those clients had been to hell and back. Making sure their hearing was fair, and having it end with no adverse findings, was immense.
It isn’t only about acquittals, either. A lot of clients fear the worst, so a caution order or a short suspension can come as an enormous relief.
Clients often email after a hearing concludes. I know those words are heartfelt, and there are moments where an email like that can make me quite emotional — because this isn’t just a job.
Who is Sequentus genuinely the right fit for — and who isn’t it for?
Regulatory processes move at a glacial pace. Clients need to trust that we’re working behind the scenes to progress things as fast as we can, while being constrained by the regulator. We’re not always available to talk through every aspect of a case every week, and some things simply need to run their course until there’s a point where we can intervene and take meaningful action.
We’re a small team. If someone is expecting the service of a large, expensive firm, that isn’t us. Our fees are far lower than traditional firms, but the service is no less professional — everyone here works hard on our clients’ behalf. We’ve grown exceptionally over the last eighteen months, and occasionally clients do need to bear with us. It’s never because we’ve forgotten about them. I ask everyone in the team to approach clients the way I do, recognising that they’re usually very worried and need reassurance.
Where do you want Sequentus to be in three years?
The honest answer is more of the same, for more clients — an outstanding service at prices that stay affordable.
I’d also love to see some of my junior colleagues move into senior roles, partly so that I can find some kind of work-life balance. We tend to recruit from within the cohorts of students I’ve trained over longer periods, so it’s a circular economy: the more time I spend training students, the wider the talent pool I get to choose from, and they already understand what we do and are bought into how we do it.
I have a fantastic team around me. So: more of the same, done well — until the next idea.
