Today we’re talking with Kristian Campbell Drummond, Employment Associate at Weightmans LLP and also the Co-Chair of Birmingham Solicitors Group. Kristian shares with us his experience of navigating the legal profession as a Black man, his career trajectory so far, and his hopes for the profession in the future.
“My career in law follows quite a traditional trajectory. I went through school, sixth form, and did my LLB at Nottingham Trent University. I then went on to complete my LPC, and secured a training contract with Weightmans after a successful vacation scheme. During my training years I worked in healthcare, employment, and commercial litigation, but I’ve always found employment law is where I’m most inspired. I love the combination of working directly with people and with large organisations, with typical days ranging from sitting in on a tribunal to giving 1 to 1 advice on an employee. It’s hands on, not transactional, and there’s a really great variety in the workload.
I’ve hit most of the traditional legal milestones in my career pretty smoothly, but the level of diversity I experienced while at university was definitely not mirrored when I entered the workplace. During my LLB I had lots of black peers - but when I entered the legal profession in my first role as a paralegal back in 2018 I realised that that diversity was not reflected in the workplace. I went from one of many black people, to the only one in my building - let alone my team, or even firm.
When you’re in an environment where there aren’t a lot of people that look like you, you find yourself assimilating, and trying to fit in. That’s really difficult. I had always been pretty confident and sure of myself, but I suddenly didn’t feel like that once I hit the workplace. I started overthinking my interactions with others and worrying about what they thought of me. When you’re a black man in law, you have that self doubt inside, and that’s on top of the self-doubt you have when you’re in that training phase of your career. I found myself wondering that if I made an error, would I receive that same leniency that my peers did? It started to feel like I’d got to where I was by mistake and that someone was going to take it away from me. It was a really challenging time which involved a lot of personal growth.
You can’t replace the feeling you get when you see others like you in your field, but I did find that once I was about halfway through my training contract, I started to rebuild that belief that I deserve to be here. Getting involved in lots of societies throughout my city, Birmingham, helped me see that there were others like me out there - though still far from enough. Now, in 2024, after 4 years in practice, I’m starting to see the early shoots coming from DEI initiatives across UK universities and firms. At Weightmans, for example, I’m seeing black juniors come through, and there have also been external hires of senior lawyers from a BAME background. It’s a move in the right direction though I’m determined to be part of the change that sees the legal profession being truly representative of the UK’s legal talent.
Weightmans has been great in terms of pushing forward change. I’ve brought up lots of ideas for inclusion and they’ve been very receptive to new initiatives. We’ve sponsored Birmingham Black Lawyers and there’s been a lot more engagement with our internal DEI committee. I’ve seen that shift internally and externally too, especially across the legal market in Birmingham.
My advice for upcoming lawyers is that change is coming. I think the next 10 years will see a dramatic shift in the way the legal profession looks. If you’re considering entering the profession, start networking now. It’s less about knocking on the right doors but more getting yourself in the right rooms. Show your face, be proud of it, and be visible. I try my best to join networking events and show up on LinkedIn with the hope of increasing Black visibility across law so that those juniors see themselves represented. I want people to see that there are Black people in senior positions - we’re here - you could be too.
Supporting diversity in the legal profession
There are many resources that can support black lawyers and encourage equity in the profession. Here are a few that we recommend:
Black lawyer support:
EDI groups and resources
Awareness content for organisations