This year's theme for International Women's Day set by UNESCO is "Invest in women, Accelerate progress."
As part of the celebration of women's achievements and the continuous effort to seek gender equality, we wanted to share some stories from a couple of the many remarkable women who make up Baker & Partners. We know that our people are what make us great and it is through empowering all employees that real change for good will happen.
Discover Associate Nia Statham's legal journey and the women who have inspired her along the way.
1. What's your career journey been like so far?
As a teenager, I was an avid reader of nineteenth and early twentieth century literature, which led me to complete an English Literature degree that blended components of philosophy and politics with economics. I loved these books for their promotion of important societal issues which are still relevant today, so a career in law seemed like a sensible way to participate in that ongoing advocacy. It also trained me to see the bigger picture and to think outside the box when needing to be creative with my literary arguments.
Between completing the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course, I worked for the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (which is a similar creature to the Department of Justice in the United States) before later securing a training contract with the London branch of global US law firm, Morgan Lewis. I undertook training rotations in employment, antitrust (where I was seconded to Brussels) and banking & finance, before being offered early admission to practise law in the antitrust team. As an antitrust lawyer, my practice was primarily focused on behavioural and regulatory investigations, but has since evolved to encompass fraud, asset recovery and insolvency. My career has taken me all over the world, including New Zealand, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.
2. Have you experienced any challenges throughout your career?
In terms of challenges, I recall being told once before qualifying that I would never be able to travel again once admitted in England & Wales. I've worked in four countries so far, and sometimes overcoming challenges can simply boil down to ignoring people who try to convince you that certain limitations exist.
I've also been uncompromising in my commitment to both the profession and my happiness in it. Although finding that balance is always ongoing, it is absolutely achievable. As our vocational interests mature and our personal values crystalise – building a legal practice whilst staying totally true to ourselves isn't always easy. They say you have to make a place for yourself at the table, but I would argue the first step is finding the right table to join. Being honest with both yourself, and as an officer of the Court, not undermining the value of your time and skill, and having the courage to be your authentic self around others and in the market, have all helped me find the people I want to share the table with – and I couldn't be in better company.
3. What are your future goals?
As lawyers, we play a critical role in helping the Court to uphold the rule of law. This is a corner stone of our open democracy and so for me, being a litigator is actually a guardianship role. Think of justice as a blind woman waiting at the side of the road: she trusts us implicitly to help her cross safely through the traffic of facts and law before her, to reach a just and equitable determination on the other side.
My goal is to help her cross safely each and every time.
I also recognise that this is a unique moment for the Cayman Islands. Regulation of digital assets and artificial intelligence is either evolving or embryonic, it is (at the time of writing) the jurisdiction of choice for crypto fund incorporation and has recently been removed from the Grey List by the Financial Action Task Force. I hope that by having the opportunity to participate in discussions which matter to me on issues relating to digital assets and automation (whilst being able to offer perspectives from the vantage point of fraud, asset recovery and regulation) that I'm able to constructively contribute to the jurisdiction's development in this area.
4. Best advice you have ever been given?
The following quote, which I came across recently and is inscribed on a park bench in Central Park, New York City, resounded with me the most: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice" (by Theodore Parker). In other words, it can just take time for the right things to eventually happen.
5. Name a woman who has inspired you.
Most recently, Racheal Muldoon, whose fearlessness and intellect in the new and emerging technologies space makes her a truly pioneering lawyer. As a Tier 1 ranked Leading Junior Barrister, Racheal's work has, and continues to have, significant implications for consumers and retail investors alike in the digital asset space. She has acted for the Securities Commission of the Bahamas following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX; is (at the time of writing) acting on the World's single highest value intellectual property claim concerning cryptoassets; and was sole counsel in a case which established a precedent for the first proprietary injunction to be granted over NFTs.
Phenomenal accomplishments by anyone's standards, but particularly for a woman in law.
Additionally, and in what has proven to be a unique opportunity, I trained and qualified into a team (and with a firm) which benefited from a predominantly female weighted leadership. Whilst at Morgan Lewis, both my managing partner, Frances Murphy, and (then) counsel (now partner) Joanna Christoforou, instilled in me the gold standards of legal practice. It wasn't just the care and attention to detail that went into everything we produced, or the sincere mentorship I received, or the compassionate leadership which they both consistently delivered, that made the experience so inspiring and formative: it was also their courage to rely on, and trust in, their wealth of knowledge and experience which led them to pursue some very bold legal strategies. Their confidence as practitioners resulted in the team securing some landmark achievements in UK competition law, and those lessons will stay with me always.
And last but not least, I have to mention my "Nain" (grandmother), who grew up rurally and in acute poverty during the early twentieth century. With the encouragement of her brother (emphasis on the undeniable importance of male allies here) she won a scholarship to read history at a University, which unusually for its time, accepted female students. She was the first member of our family to ever receive a formal higher-education and she was the first to enter a profession. Equal and universal access to opportunity can be transformative for women, their families and for the generations that follow them, but it cannot always be achieved alone. That's why I'm grateful to them both for the privileges that I enjoy today.
6.And to end, what's something people wouldn't know about you?
Despite being only 5 foot and 2 inches, I once tried to rescue someone from a bear whilst camping in Lake Tahoe, California. We all walked away from the incident safely, including the bear.
To find out more about Nia and her work read her profile or visit her LinkedIn profile.
Discover more stories celebrating the incredible women at Baker & Partners.
