A day in the life of a Charity & Education Officer

Hello, my name is Rachael Barthel and I am the Leeds Junior Lawyers Division (LJLD) Charity and Education Officer. I have held this position for the last two years after joining the committee in January 2024 whilst working as a Trainee Solicitor at Clarion, Leeds. I am coming to the end of my second year on the LJLD Committee (Committee) and also work as a Court of Protection Solicitor at Weightmans LLP.

What does your role require you to do?

My role includes working with our chosen charity of the year, last year this was the wonderful Candlelighters and this year it is the inspiration charity of The Ella Dawson Foundation. Every year, the Committee makes nominations for LJLD’s charity of the year and our members vote as to which charity they would like to raise funds in support of.

My role also includes planning and running educational events for our members. I work with many law firms and other organisations such as motivational speakers and financial advisors to put these events on. This year has included Mental Health May Talks on Financial Wellbeing for Junior Lawyers, working with LegalTech and Knights on AI in the legal industry and Top Costing Tips for Junior Litigators. We tailor our events so there is something for everyone.

My role includes liaising with the charity of the year as to how LJLD can best support them, arranging charity talks so our members can learn more about the charity of the year and arranging raffle prizes for our Annual Summer BBQ and Annual Winter Ball. This includes building relationships with local businesses and pulling out raffle tickets / shouting prizes at our wonderful events!

I do this alongside my role as a Court of Protection Solicitor, assisting individuals who have lost capacity to manage their property and financial affairs.

What made you get involved with the LJLD Committee?

I attended LJLD’s Financial Wellbeing Talk in 2023 which was being held at the Firm I currently worked at. I got to speaking to some of the wonderful LJLD members and the Committee members, everyone was so friendly. I asked questions about applying to be on the committee and decided to go for it (thinking I wouldn’t be successful!). I knew the Charity and Education Role would be perfect for me, as I love charity work, giving back to the community and helping others in the legal careers too. I was surprised when I got on to the Committee, two years has flown by and it has helped me grow my network and has been very fulfilling.