Wedlake Bell's first female senior partner warns against paying too much heed to careers advice
Kim Lalli is head of both the real estate group and the India group at Wedlake Bell and was recently appointed to senior partner.
What was your route into the profession?
Having obtained my LLB, I took too much heed of careers advice which led me to believe that as a woman (and particularly one of Asian origin), I would struggle to make it in the legal profession. At that time, I wasn’t as confident as I am these days, and assumed that the senior careers adviser I was speaking to had more experience of the world than I did (a mistaken assumption, since from day one, in each of the law firms I have worked at, I never suffered from discrimination of any kind—perhaps I have been more fortunate than others, but I like to think not). So my route into the profession consisted of becoming an insurance claims adjuster in a shipping company, moving to become a paralegal at the law firm which advised them, and then qualifying as a solicitor there, with a lot of encouragement from the partners to do so.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
There have been no particularly remarkable challenges, but I do think that as women, we often assume that our hard work and dedication will be noticed automatically, and we don’t bang on the door as much as we should for the next step up in our career.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
There are a lot of people who have inspired me, but my strongest role model was (and is) Sophie Hamilton of Forsters, who, sadly, passed away a few years ago, far too early.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
I think I would have enjoyed a career in the Foreign Service...but I guess that, by being an ambassador for Wedlake Bell (as are each of my colleagues), I get a little taste of that!
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
This is the most difficult of your questions! I am an avid reader, and have read John Mortimer’s Rumpole books and each of John Grisham’s novels, but if I can include TV in fiction, then I would go for Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife—a tough external persona, with good judgment and seemingly always in control, but who is much more caring and sensitive under the surface than she appears at times.
What change would you make to the profession?
It’s a great profession, intellectually challenging and rewarding, and with great people—we should try to remember whenever we can, however, that those working their way up through the ranks would like (and deserve) a work/life balance. It isn’t possible all of the time, due to transactional demands, but we should try to make it possible when we can.
How do you relax?
In no particular order of priority, I like spending time with friends, travelling, walking, reading and cooking.
