The future is bright for competition champion Charley-Anne

A University of Buckingham student who wants to teach and inspire others has been named the winner in a competition to find the nation’s brightest Future Legal Mind.

Law student Charley-Anne Gordon was one of hundreds of students and legal trainees across the UK who entered the annual Future Legal Mind Award this year. Now in its fifth year, the competition is run by National Accident Helpline to find the greatest legal talents of tomorrow.

In the essay and video which she submitted to the judging panel, 21-year-old Charley-Anne – who is in the final year of her Law degree – talked about her ambitions to become a leading legal academic.

She recently began volunteering with Citizens Advice so she could help people, and she hopes one day to write her own legal textbooks tailored to the different ways in which students learn.

Charley-Anne said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be named 2019’s Future Legal Mind.

“My career ambition is to teach future generations of lawyers and inspire them with my passion for law. Campaigning for change is also very important to me and, as a disabled lawyer, I want to use my research as an academic to help break down barriers for disabled people entering the workplace.

“I’ve always wanted to show potential law students that the law is for everyone – all you need is a passion for the subject and the rest will follow – and being named Future Legal Mind 2019 proves this.”

The Future Legal Mind judging panel were impressed by Charley-Anne’s legal aspirations and her desire to use her legal training to benefit others.

Tom Fitzgerald, Managing Director of National Accident Helpline, said: “We received some excellent submissions from legal students and trainees this year. Charley-Anne’s particularly stood out to us because her passion and determination was so clear.

“Her ambition to teach and inspire others, while calling for change which will benefit society, is very admirable and she is a very worthy winner.

“I hope that the prize package will help give a boost to Charley-Anne’s burgeoning career as a legal academic and we wish her the best of luck for the future.”

Charley-Anne will receive valuable mentoring and networking opportunities and a fund of £2,000.

She will meet with a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice and receive mentoring advice from experienced lawyers within the National Accident Helpline team.

She will also star in a showcase film highlighting her skills.