Modern Law Magazine Issue 66

INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
A Leader
Of Today
And
Tomorrow
President of the Leeds Law Society, Shanika Varga-Haynes,
shares her story of her path to becoming one the youngest,
and the very first person of colour, to hold the positions of President.
She shares the ups and downs of her journey, her critical work to
provide a safe and supportive space for lawyers, and the lasting
legacy she would like to leave after her presidential term.
Could you share some pivotal
moments or experiences from your
early career that shaped your path
to becoming the President of the
Leeds Law Society?
I can pinpoint it to a few moments.
I was a fairly junior solicitor, and I
took on a case that had very serious
allegations of domestic abuse. The man
accused of domestic abuse decided
to send me death threats, harass me,
and he was quite aggressive and was
generally unpleasant. This went on for
a period of about 18 to 20 months and
then just as that case ended, one of
my favourite clients died by suicide.
From that moment, I decided I did not
want to practice law anymore. I then
went through a difficult period where
I really did not want to be in the legal
profession if it was going to be that bad
that quickly. Following these events,
I got some counselling through my
firm, and decided not to make any rash
decisions about leaving law. So, when
I came back with a fresh perspective
after my counselling, I realised I wasn’t
the only person who had gone through
something like that, especially in family
law. It occurred to me that there wasn’t
enough support or preparation in family
law and criminal law, which have to deal
with very high conflict and stressful
situations. As a profession, we need
to do better and do more to prepare
lawyers for these, unfortunately,
inevitable circumstances.
I looked at different ways I could make
a difference in supporting lawyers that
had gone through what I had, but it
was difficult as I felt like I have never
had a voice for a cause. The Law Society
was a place I could see myself having
“It started off as a
mission to improve
wellbeing and
then it developed
into wanting to
improve diversity
and inclusion in the
profession.”
“Trusting and listening to my burning
desire to make things different, rather than
talking myself out of it like I would have
done before.”
a platform. I was put in touch with a
member of the board and met up with
them, and the rest is history. I did a
couple of years as director, and now I
am in my Presidential year. If it wasn’t
for those two defining moments in my
early career, I don’t think I would have
had the realisation that there was so
much change that was needed, and I
believe I wouldn’t be in the position I
am now.
It started off as a mission to improve
wellbeing and then it developed into
wanting to improve diversity and
inclusion in the profession. There are so
many gaps, and so many areas where
we could be doing better, and that is
what has led me to where I am today.
What made you decide to put
yourself forward for president,
and how did you prepare yourself
for the responsibilities of being
president?
In terms of leadership, I never really
saw anyone who looked like me, and
I felt like I had no one to look up to.
If you look at the legal profession you
can see there are noticeably more
men than women however, in family
law there is a larger female presence
than other sectors of law. This isn’t
because family law is doing anything
specifically to attract more women,
it just so happens that more women
chose this area. Law isn’t racially
diverse either. I am the first person in
the 150 years of The Leeds Law Society
to hold the position of President who
is not white, which is crazy to think
about in a multicultural city like Leeds.
Whilst I don’t feel like the lack of
diversity was something that deterred
me from a career in law, I have met
people where it has. I was at a school
recently talking with young students
about being a lawyer, and one student
said to me “I didn’t realise I could be
a lawyer,” and I asked why, and they
said, “Because lawyers don’t look like
me on T.V.”. It got me thinking that if I
thought about the lack of diversity and
representation in the legal industry
when I was younger it might have put
me off and I might have ended up
doing something completely different.
In terms of preparation, I sat on the
board for a couple of years which gave
me a good insight into how everything
worked and how it runs. Over COVID,
there were conversations about getting
some different perspectives in, and
some “younger blood” to come and do
the role. So, we changed the structure
to where there would be two Vice
Presidents at once to make it easier
for us who were less established in our
careers to be able to juggle a leadership
role and grow our careers. My two years
as vice president really helped as well.
It created a soft landing into the role
of President, as by the time I took the
position as President I had learned the
ropes, knew what I needed to do, and
was able to essentially hit the ground
running.
How has your experience as
a dark-skinned Asian woman
shaped your time as president?
It has given me a different focus. When
I started talking about how I felt, and
other people shared the same feelings
as me, I realised there must be so many
of us holding onto these feelings.
There is a universal sense of not being
understood.
So, my focus really did change from
solely being about wellbeing to include
raising the visibility of diverse leaders
and improve the general diversity of
our profession. I recognise that I am in
a very privileged position, and I don’t
want to waste that, and because of
that I say “Yes” to as many things that I
possibly can. By saying yes, I get to be
involved with projects, go to places, and
be in rooms where you don’t tend to
see people who look like me.
I was adopted from Sri Lanka at 10
days old by my parents, who are both
White British, and my up bring has been
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