From left: Toby Seth, Pocklington School headmaster, David Strachan, Schofield Sweeney LLP, Jodie Hill, Thrive Law and Trevor Loten, president of the Old Pocklingtonian Association.
TOP lawyers shared their insights at the latest event to be held by Pocklington School Foundation's Careers and Business Network in Leeds recently.
Hosted at the city centre offices of Schofield Sweeney LLP, the guest speakers for the evening were former students of Pocklington School, Jodie Hill and David Strachan.
Jodie trained as a barrister and then cross qualified to become a solicitor. Having specialised in employment law and mental health from a very early stage in her career, Jodie launched Thrive Law in March last year and is leading a national campaign to make Mental Health First Aiders compulsory in the workplace.
The event was attended by a mix of former and current students, plus parents and governors of the independent school in Pocklington.
Headmaster Toby Seth hosted a Q&A session with the speakers, who spoke of the reasons they chose to work in the legal profession and the challenges and opportunities they had encountered.
David shared with guests his insights into the many aspects of working in corporate law, and the satisfaction derived from helping businesses, and their owners, grow and develop over the years. Jodie gave a candid account of the personal challenges she had faced working in the legal profession, how she overcame those challenges to launch her own successful law firm and how she is determined to make her national campaign a success.
Mr Seth commented: "Two aspects of the Careers and Business Network offer me enormous encouragement. First, the chances to meet and network with Old Pocklingtonians (OPs) and their associates offer our students incredible opportunities to further their own knowledge and preparation for life beyond Pocklington.
"Second, it is inspirational to hear about the work of OPs who celebrate and continue to live up to our own core values of courage, truth and trust."
The PSF Careers and Business Network is open to everyone in the wider Pocklington School community, including current and former parents, Old Pocklingtonians, current and former staff and supporters. Its aims are to help each other thrive in a highly competitive world and, by working together, to help inspire our students, and each other, for life.