Adaora gained a 2:1 in Law from Essex University and then did an LLM in public international law at LSE.
I studied politics (UK/US), economics, and 20th century history for A levels. I enjoyed them but was keen to pick a new (non-school) subject for my degree. I always had an interest in law and while I was at school I did some work experience in a high street firm that specialised in immigration and criminal law. But it seemed that I might end up doing the same thing over and over. I knew then that whatever career I chose it had to offer variety.
I heard that Essex University had a good
law department, and it had
I enjoyed studying law there. In three years we covered so many
different aspects; I knew that, as a career, the law would offer
the right mixture of variety and challenge.
To begin with I thought I would become a criminal law barrister. But life as a barrister was all too last minute for me and I couldn't be certain of getting a pupillage.
While at university I developed an
interest in public international law
In fact I was so interested that at the end of my degree I went on
to do an LLM at LSE. I soon found that not many firms specialise in
public international law. But a bit of digging and studying of the
league tables unearthed the fact that it was an area of law that
Freshfields covered - so I applied.
My interview went better than I
thought...
And Freshfields offered me a training contract. After the LPC I
took 18 months off. For the first year a worked for a media company
and then I spent six months in Egypt in an effort to improve my
Arabic.
So far I've done one seat
I've done six months in corporate doing public and private M&A
work. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I got
involved in the work quickly and there was lots of client contact.
Within two months I was given responsibility for the closing of a
share sale.
I've just started on my second
seat
I'm doing three months in dispute resolution with the
international arbitration group. This will be all about clients
experiencing difficulties in some far-flung places and looking to
bi-lateral investment treaties to help them. Should be
interesting.
