Dr Mary Malecka
Barrister
Dr Mary Malecka has had a varied career, initially as a dancer and model for Vogue and Elle before pursuing higher education and becoming a Barrister and Mediator. She is a Governing Bencher of her Inn of Court. Part of Mary’s role is training expert witnesses and preparing factual witnesses for cross examination, including many household names for high profile trials. Mary qualified as a teacher at the University of Leicester. She translated Solzhenitsen’s Candle in the Wind for Flegon Press. She wrote two books for the OECD. Mary has a PhD in the psychology of learning from Nottingham University. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. Mary is also very passionate about volunteering and does Pro Bono legal work. Mary is a Liveryman and Court Assistant of her Livery Company, the Arbitrators.
Tim Grey
Barrister
Tim Grey was called to the Bar in 1999. For the first ten years of his career, he practised in Criminal work before shifting focus to the areas of Contempt, Fraud, Inquests, Regulatory and Disciplinary Law in which he has practised for the last fifteen years. Tim’s practice regularly involves work in first instance tribunals and in appellate proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal. Tim represents doctors, dentists, solicitors, accountants and numerous other professionals in misconduct proceedings and is a legal advisor to a number of Regulators. He sits as a Tribunal judge for the British Horseracing Authority, the RFU, British Cycling, as well as Accountancy Regulators and is Chair of the Independent Decision Making body of the Bar Standards Board, You can ask him about qualifying to be a barrister, the legal profession, different areas of Law and the working life of a barrister.
Gabby Heyns
Masters student/ solicitor in training
Gabby is currently a postgraduate student at the University of Law in London Bloomsbury completing her Masters in Legal Practice combined with the solicitors’ qualifying examinations. Having completed her degree in Law with American studies and achieving a First at Sussex, Gabby has swiftly moved on to the next stages of qualifying as a solicitor. Whilst undertaking her Masters’ Gabby is working part-time at a Modern Slavery and Human Rights consultancy (Ardea International). She has a keen interest in clinical negligence and has plans to complete another Masters in this practice area as well as hoping to gain the Higher Rights of Audience qualification.
Feel free to ask Gabby about the new routes of qualifying as a solicitor and what this entails, or why she changed her original university course from neuroscience to law, including the benefits of completing a foundation year.
James Major
Solicitor and lead for apprenticeships and early careers
James is a Senior Equity Partner at Clyde & Co LLP, a global law firm with headquarters in London and over 60 offices on 6 continents. Following a degree in law and one year at law school, James was a trainee solicitor for 2 years before qualifying as an employment lawyer. He became a partner in 2011 and has over 20 years of experience in advising clients on all aspects of employment law. He specialises in assisting clients with large scale investigations into discrimination and harassment and in complex claims in the Employment Tribunals and the High Court.
For the last 5 years, whilst continuing to advise clients on employment law, he has been Clyde & Co’s Training Principal with responsibility for all early careers populations, including trainees, apprentices and paralegals. You can ask him about the different jobs available in law and routes into them.
Eleanor McChesney
Solicitor
Eleanor is a solicitor at IBB Law. She left Claremont in 2017 after doing A levels in English Lit, History and Philosophy, as well as an EPQ. In 2020, she graduated from King’s College London with a law degree (LLB) and in 2021 she graduated from the University of Law with a diploma in legal practice (LPC). She qualified as a solicitor in September 2023 and currently works in the residential development team at IBB.