Spotlight on dual-qualified partner, Claudia Font, who navigated a move to the UK from Spain

How long have you been at gunnercooke?

Three and a half years

What were your expectations/hopes and dreams when you set out in your career in the law?

To be honest, I didn´t really know. I wanted to help others, and to be able to succeed in assisting clients not only doing what was “legal” but also what was fair. When I decided to study law, my mother said to me “that´s a nice profession and I think you will do it well, but remember that within what is legal in our society, not everything is fair.”

How does working at gunnercooke differ from your previous roles?

Drastically. Working in a traditional law firm rarely allows you to truly enjoy your work, simply because it does not allow you to do it feeling you are free to benefit from other things such as family, your own time, and many other personal concerns we all have.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I moved to the UK five years ago because of my husband´s work. I had to stop my career and close my small boutique I founded in my native Barcelona two years before we moved. At that time, being qualified in a foreign jurisdiction and hardly speaking English, I thought I would not be able to practise in England, and I simply left my career on standby thinking I was doing the right thing putting my family needs before my profession for a period of time. However, two years after we moved and a second baby I joined gunnercooke and three years later, I qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales being dual qualified. Therefore, having been able to adapt myself and my career to the different circumstances that life has brought me is probably what makes me proudest in my career so far.

What challenges do you experience at gunnercooke?

As said before, I am originally from Barcelona, where I practised until 2014 when I moved to the UK with my family. I had all my connections and business network in Spain and none in England. I didn’t have colleagues in other firms so I started from scratch in terms of client portfolio and business plan.  Therefore, building my own business and client portfolio within gunnercooke has probably been the biggest challenge apart from practising in a different jurisdiction using a foreign language.

How do you juggle your job and your family responsibilities?

Apart from learning every day how to fight against ‘mum guilt’ that turns up too often, a wide range of childcare support is crucial when you live abroad and have no family around. The gunnercooke structure plays an important role here, helping us to cope with both work and family.

If you hadn’t been a lawyer, what would you have liked to have been?

I never considered myself being a Doctor because I was not a “scientist student”, but I think that medicine would be another super rewarding profession I would love to practise in a second life.