It feels like a long time ago now (!), but I recall the quality of teaching being very good and enjoying the smaller class sizes. The way the teaching was structured – with a fair amount of independent study – also set me up well for university.
I am an Associate in the Projects and Energy Transition team at Ashurst LLP, based out of our London office. I am currently on secondment to one of our key clients, Great British Energy – Nuclear, an arm’s length body of the UK Government responsible for supporting the UK’s nuclear energy industry.
After leaving College, I studied Law at the University of Warwick where, in my second year, I secured a vacation scheme – a 3-week paid internship – at Ashurst LLP. At the end of the scheme, I was interviewed for a training contract, which I successfully secured.
Securing a training contract was particularly important to me, as it meant my further legal education would be fully funded by my sponsor firm. I graduated from the University of Warwick in 2019 and went on to study the LPC MSc (now replaced by the SQE), which I completed in summer 2020.
In March 2021, I began my training contract at Ashurst LLP. A training contract is a two-year programme during which trainees rotate through four different departments for six months at a time, before applying to qualify as a lawyer into one of them. I spent time in each of the Real Estate, Debt Capital Markets, Projects and Energy Transition and Dispute Resolution teams, before successfully qualifying into the Projects and Energy Transition team. After eight years of study, training, and hard work, I was finally a qualified solicitor!
In my role at Ashurst, I work on large scale renewable energy projects, including solar, wind farms, and energy from waste developments. In recent years, I have also advised the UK Government on carbon capture policy, supporting its efforts to achieve its net zero targets.
Alongside my fee earning work, I have been actively involved in pro bono initiatives with several of my company’s key pro bono partners. This includes working with United Legal Access to support Windrush victims in accessing compensation through the Windrush Compensation Scheme; volunteering with the Schools Consent Project, delivering workshops on sexual consent in secondary schools across the UK; and assisting the National Centre for Domestic Violence to help victims obtain injunctions to keep them safe.
One of the key challenges I have faced is navigating an elite professional environment as a state educated woman from a lower socio economic background, where people with similar backgrounds are not proportionally represented. I channel this experience into my role as Events Coordinator for Ashurst’s Social Mobility Network, where I work to improve access, representation and opportunity within the profession.
My own path into law wasn’t linear. I actually made the decision to restart my A levels entirely, moving from Collyer’s to Reigate College on the day term started and joining “the year below”. At the time, it felt like a step backwards, but in reality, it gave me the confidence, clarity and, quite frankly, the grades I needed to pursue the career I wanted. Taking one step back allowed me to take many more steps forward later on.
I also see this now in my career: some of my colleagues are career changers who qualified later in life, others applied to 20 or more firms before securing a training contract. What matters isn’t how straight the path you take is but that you keep going. Progress isn’t linear!
I wish I’d known that there’s no single “right” route into a successful career – and that taking the scenic route is not only normal, but often valuable. When you’re young, it can feel as though everyone else is moving faster or more smoothly than you are but that’s rarely the full picture.
Millie Gray
Reigate College: 2014-2016
Higher Education: BA Law LLB, Warwick University
Currently: Associate (Projects and Energy Transition), Ashurst LLP
