Sir Andrew McFarlane
(Judge)
Sir Andrew has stated the following on why he chose to be a Champion for LWC:
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‘As President, I am particularly aware of the difficulties that young care leavers experience, I am therefore particularly keen to encourage those who wish to practice law by supporting LWC in its work.'
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Sir Andrew McFarlane is the current President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice. Sir Andrew was called to the Bar in 1977 and practised in chambers in Birmingham until 1993 when he moved to a specialist family law chambers in London. He appeared at all levels of court including the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights. He was appointed as a QC in 1998. In April 2005 he was appointed to the High Court, Family Division and was, for five years, the Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midland Circuit. He was the legal member of the Government ‘Family Justice Review’ Panel. In July 2011 he was appointed to be a Lord Justice of Appeal sitting full time in the Court of Appeal in London.
On 28 July 2018 Sir Andrew succeeded Sir James Munby as President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice. Together with the late David Hershman he is the co-author of a loose-leaf legal text book entitled “Children: Law and Practice”. In addition, he has contributed to other publications and lectured throughout the UK and abroad. Sir Andrew has been a trustee of YoungMinds (the national young person’s mental health charity) and is Patron of HOPE Family Centre (Bromyard).
In addition to being Chancellor of the Diocese of Exeter, Sir Andrew was Chair of the Church of England Clergy Discipline Commission and President of Clergy Discipline Tribunals for five years until 2019. He has been a native of Herefordshire and Worcestershire for over 20 years.
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We are honoured at LWC to have Sir Andrew believe in us and champion care-experienced young people in legal careers.
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More about Sir Andrew here.
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Joanna Hughes MBE
Co-CEO of City Century
​Joanna Hughes MBE is a force of nature in the legal professional and champion for widening access and diversity in the legal profession, specifically through legal apprenticeships. With over 25 years’ experience as a solicitor in a major international law firm, she now works as a consultant specialising in solicitor apprenticeships and career development in law.
Joanna is the Co-CEO of the multi-award winning collaboration of 50+ City of London law firms called 'City Century', which works to greatly increase the number of solicitor apprenticeship opportunities available in the City of London.
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Joanna is widely recognised for her advocacy on social mobility, helping shape pathways into legal careers and supporting emerging talent, especially for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and care-experienced students.
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Joanna is both a mentor and champion for the work of Lawyers Who Care and since coming on board our Mentorship Programme she has helped deliver both workshops and events tailored to championing care-experienced talent into legal careers.
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More on Joanna's Work here
Oliver Conway
(Solicitor)
Oliver Conway is a neurodivergent solicitor specialising in complex family matters at Oliver Fisher Solicitors in London.
Before the Law Oliver worked with young people in Art and Music, putting on gigs, exhibitions and not getting enough sleep.
Oliver has spent the last decade supporting vulnerable people in the family court, challenging decisions of local authorities and still not getting enough sleep!
Oliver was recognised for his work at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2021 and 2024. He lives in West London with his cat Mici and is on Twitter far too much.
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On why he is a Champion for LWC:
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"Lawyers Who Care is a fantastic organisation because it recognises the talents, resilience and potential of care experienced young people. We need far more people with lived experiences in the Law.
I am only in the Law because my parents ran a legal aid law firm!
Without family and connections it is very difficult for people to gain entry to the legal world, this must change if we are to have the best people working in the Law.
I hope in 10 years time we have a new generation of care experienced lawyers and I cannot wait to see what brilliance LWC will help those lawyers achieve!"
Amanda Meusz
(Barrister at Garden Court Chambers)
Amanda's practice relates to all areas of the law relating to children, including serious non-accidental injury (NAI) cases, the death of a child, fabricated or induced illness (FII), child sexual abuse, medical treatment of children and deprivation of liberty (DoL) cases, as well as disputes relating to the provision of services to children and young people. Amanda has considerable experience in representing parents and children who have been the victims of trauma, parents and children with mental health or neurodevelopmental difficulties and learning disabilities. Amanda has developed an innovative a trauma informed approach to representation of vulnerable clients in proceedings and the aftermath of proceedings. In 2022 Amanda was shortlisted for Family Law Junior of the Year.
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We've chosen Amanda to be a Champion for us because she lives her advocacy for care-experienced people and trauma-informed practices in the law. She has adopted a trauma-informed practice herself and trains our mentors with us for our mandatory Trauma-Informed course. Amanda is also a passionate mentor and is always seeking new opportunities to help care-experienced people.
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Quote from Amanda on why she is a Champion for LWC:
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"Throughout my career, I have advocated for fair access to justice and representation of care experienced parents and their children. I grew up in a single-parent household, with little money and was the first person in my family to obtain any qualifications. I am acutely aware of the structural inequalities, prejudice and of feeling like an outsider in an alien system that prevents individuals from even considering this profession. I am very aware of the even greater challenges for a care-experienced person and want in some way to bring about change. It is an honour to be a Champion for this fabulous organisation and to now advocate for the inclusion of those who have experienced the care system into the profession. Our legal system will be immeasurably improved by harnessing the lived experience and wisdom of more care-experienced individuals. I hope to nurture and support any care experienced young person who wants to become a lawyer, and to walk alongside them in their journey."
