 What made me decide to become a solicitor is a very, very, interesting question 
 because I come from a family of doctors 
 so I was the outlier in the family but I had a really strong sense of right and wrong and justice  
 and I believe very strongly in the legal system 
 I had a slightly unorthodox route to qualification 
 I did my law degree here in the UK and then went back to Nigeria and I did the Nigerian Bar 
 then came back to the UK did the transfer test 
 and was able to reduce my two-year training contract down to just six months 
 because of some of the experience I gained in Nigeria 
 I worked in private practice as a corporate finance lawyer, corporate transactional lawyer 
 I then had my son and moved out to a couple of regional firms 
 And then medicine was still calling out to me, so you know I come from a medical background 
 and I really, really, wanted to have law and medicine meet in some way 
 and so here I am 
 So my team’s involved in a vast number of different legal areas 
 for example cover commercial law, data protection regulatory, medicines act 
 but essentially our company goal is to bring innovative medicines 
 to as many patients who are eligible for them as possible 
 Actually getting the product out to the patient is by far 
 our biggest challenge and my team helps and supports a strategy around that 
 As a team we partner with our business very, very, effectively and that’s really, really, important 
 It’s very important to start with the in-house lawyers because 
 we can build up our own understanding of what the business development might be 
 So it’s not just about the technical 
 side of things and what you can do legally within a legal framework 
 it’s also about actually what the business needs, very strategic and focused 
 So value is very, very, different when you are working in-house 
 because of course we’re not generating fees 
 For my team it’s all about how can we enhance the company’s goals 
 how can we partner with our colleagues to really, really, help them and empower them 
 in reaching their goals? 
 So it’s a different value proposition when you work in-house and industry 
 but at the same time it’s all about enhancing 
 and helping the organisation to move forward 
 Ethics is very, very, important to everyone in the organisation 
  but additional to that of course is being a solicitor and having all the Law Society’s 
 own rules to abide by and integrity lies at the heart of everything we do as lawyers 
 I start at grass roots level so I do a lot of work with schoolchildren 
 On average I do talks to about two thousand schoolchildren every year 
 I talk to them about my career path, my career journey 
 I talk to them about work experience opportunities as well that are available 
 and I try and pair people up and mentor as well 
 Being a solicitor is everything that I do 
 I mean it’s such an important part of my life, it’s all about integrity, it’s all about instilling trust 
 it’s about driving forward initiatives and helping businesses 
 and it means that I can do so much you know within my career as well now of course you know 
 because being a solicitor has led to me becoming a senior business leader as well 
 A tremendous opportunity and it’s at the heart of everything I do 
