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Languages and the law - mix and match? What are you passionate about?
Suzanne Todd, Partner - Family Team at Withersworldwide, talks to Legal Women UK about the significance of having a second language and how this positively impacted her legal career.
For me it was always my love of languages at school. But what, if any, impact could that really have on my chosen career as a lawyer, or as someone who grew up in Northern Ireland and went to school between 1984 and 1991?
At school I studied French and Spanish at A level, Latin at GCSE, and took two years of Ancient Greek to avoid studying German! There were no ‘Law with Spanish’ degrees in my day, and I did not like French enough, so I studied a straight law course at the University of Leicester. At the end of my first year, the Erasmus scheme was introduced, with an opportunity to go to Italy or Germany for a year to study. I was successful in my application, and duly went to live in Modena, Italy for a year. Never did I think that 20 years later I would be in the Supreme Court in Rome lecturing in Italian…
I graduated with an LLB (European Community) in 1995 and had not managed to secure a training contract - mostly because I was in Italy, enjoying myself when I should have been making those applications! I did a presentation to the Women Lawyers division at the Law Society approximately ten years ago, and it was only when I looked back that I saw Italy ‘rise above the parapet’ at several key times in my career.
The first of these was in the application process for training contracts. Focusing on recognised firms with fantastic family teams, I applied to Withers, who had just merged with a firm called Mackenzie Mills – all of their lawyers were Italian speakers. Having been invited to interview, my third-round interview consisted of me moving from red public phone box to red public phone box in Nottingham [for the young, there were no mobile phones in those days], and eventually at 4.45pm on a Friday afternoon having an Italian conversation interview with my now CEO. Subsequently holding the training partner role for six years, I know that this is what tipped the balance in my favour and probably got me my job.
Although I did one term of Italian lessons at Kings College in 1999, in reality for approximately eight years I did not speak very much (if any) Italian. The Italian speaking associate in our family team was on honeymoon when an opportunity came up internally to give a presentation on Trusts and Divorce in Italian in Lugano. My immediate thought was “no way!” when asked to sub for her, as I had never learnt to read or write Italian. However, I seized the opportunity with both hands, taking rapid fire Italian lessons and learning the talk I was to give by heart. I then started to attend Italian lessons at Withers on a weekly basis.
Taking this opportunity gave me great internal PR (public relations)– and ultimately proved important in terms of my promotion to partnership the following year. I was made a partner in the days with no business plan or case, so I had no book of contacts and certainly no USP (unique selling point).
The financial crash of 2008/2009 hit, and I returned from my second maternity leave to an extremely bare cupboard of work – it was a scary place. I sat down with a friend who is a business psychologist, and she asked me how others in my industry had made their name. We worked out that I spoke Italian and not many other family lawyers in London did.
By then Withers also had an office in Milan, so I decided to attack my ‘Italian niche’ with military precision. I visited Italy regularly and now have more than 150 family lawyers as contacts up and down the country. I have presented in Italian on subjects ranging from Collaborative Law and Parental Responsibility to Family Law Post-Brexit, as well as creating lots of friendships in Italy. At the same time, I headed up my firm's Special Interest Group (Italy) which opened lots of doors to contacts in the Italian world in London.
With hard work and determination, and a passion for all things Italian, I created a niche for myself on Anglo-Italian family law matters. My aim was to be recognised for this in the legal directories, and it paid off – 'Todd is considered to be a go to practitioner in London for divorces with an Italian theme.’
It goes without saying that I made my husband and two children holiday in Italy every year as well so that I could practise my Italian!
My passion for all things Italian opened so many doors for me, both internally within the firm and externally. It also taught me that in terms of your career you need to have a 'hook', and my connection to Italy provided this for me. It has also helped me connect with clients – I have conducted cases, presentations and mediations in Italian – but also allowed me to understand their culture and history.
Looking back, I really do wish I had done a languages degree rather than a law degree, as it would have been much more helpful to me in my career. And for those who are lucky enough to come from an international family – always make sure that you teach your children your mother tongue – it really is a gift to them.
Suzanne Todd
Partner – Family Team, Withers LLP
President Elect Designate of the International Academy of Family Lawyers
https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/people/suzanne-todd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzannetodd1/
February 2025