Emily Garfoot, qualified Costs Lawyer at Irwin Mitchell

Emily explains how, as a non-law graduate, she studied the ACLT qualification to become a qualified Costs Lawyer.

I had always had an interest in law but at eighteen years old, I was still undecided on what career path I wanted to take. Therefore, I chose to study History at university as this was something I had a passion in but would also offer a lot of transferable skills into whatever career I later chose. 

Following my graduation, I worked for a company dealing with pensions in their compliance department, writing reports. Although I did learn a lot of skills in this job, this was not something that offered much career progression and I was still drawn to a career in law. 

Therefore, I had a look and saw a job advertised for a Trainee Law Costs Draftsman in the Irwin Mitchell Costs Management Team. To be truthful, I had no idea what this was so did what most probably would and had a google! I decided to apply for the job and due to my transferable skills and experience, I was offered the job. 

As part of my career development, my line manager discussed whether I would like to apply for the ACLT qualification through the sponsorship scheme that Irwin Mitchell offered and I started the course in September 2017. 

Due to my background not being in Law and my degree being in History, I found the course to be really helpful as along with the costs modules and case law we learnt, it also provided modules on other areas of law outside of costs which helped with my overall understanding and knowledge. 

I became a fully qualified Costs Lawyer in 2020 and continued to develop my skills and became a Costs Team Leader in 2022.