Next 100 Voices
spotlight on women leaders in law
To celebrate International Women’s Month, we’re proud to be releasing five films from our Next 100 Voices project, and this is the first.
We begin with our Disability Voices film, centring the leadership, expertise, and lived experience of women whose voices too often go unheard. This powerful short film amplifies stories of resilience, advocacy, and change, challenging exclusion and redefining representation.
Next 100 Voices was created to ensure women from diverse backgrounds are not just included in history, but are shaping its future. This film is a vital reminder that disability justice is women’s justice.
Series sponsor CBRE is championing leaders to encourage the next generation of disabled women to pursue their ambitions. In this series on disability, five women with disabilities from across industries share how they got to where they are now, what they are doing to change their fields, and the lessons they can offer the next generation.
Voice No.1: Fiona Hewitt
Fiona is a Partner at Constantine Law, an accredited mediator, and a top employment and disputes lawyer with more than 23 years of expertise. She is an expert in complicated employment problems such restrictive covenants, partnership disputes, and corporate restructuring. She is also quite interested in disability discrimination, especially when it comes to PTSD and disfigurement.
Fiona is a strong supporter of inclusion in addition to her work as a lawyer. She is an Ambassador for Changing Faces, UK, a Committee Member of the Law Society’s Disabled Solicitors’ Network, and was a finalist for Disputes Lawyer of the Year at the 2023 Women and Diversity in Law Awards.
This first movie is about Fiona’s leadership and dedication to making the legal profession more open to everyone. It sets the tone for the voices we’ll be sharing all month.
Voice No.2: Sian Churchill
Sian is a Senior Associate Solicitor and Head of the Child Care Team at Crane & Staples. A Resolution-accredited specialist in private and public law children’s matters, she leads complex care cases and is deeply committed to child protection work.
Her excellence has been widely recognised. In 2022, she was part of the team that won the LexisNexis Family Law Award for Case of the Year. In 2023, she received the Hertfordshire Law Society Client Care Award, and in 2025 she was shortlisted for Resolution Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year.
Alongside her legal leadership, Sian speaks openly about living and working with invisible disabilities, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She shares the realities of chronic illness, workplace adjustments, and the importance of having honest conversations about disability within the legal sector.
Her story challenges assumptions about what leadership looks like, and calls for a more inclusive profession.
Voice No.3: Placida Ojinnaka
Placida is a board-level management professional with extensive experience across complex legal and healthcare environments. A qualified lawyer (non-practising solicitor) and social worker, she has built a portfolio career spanning local and central government, healthcare regulation, patient safety, education, disability accessibility, and racial justice.
Her work centres on protecting the public, strengthening professional standards, and maintaining confidence in regulatory systems. She serves in a number of governance and regulatory roles, including with The Law Society, Black Solicitors Network, and Association of Child Psychotherapists, alongside healthcare and patient safety bodies such as Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Placida brings a powerful intersectional lens to disability, mental health, racial justice and equity. Her leadership is rooted in fairness, inclusion and human rights, and in mentoring the next generation of legal professionals to flourish.
Her film reflects on governance, public protection, lived experience and the importance of representation at decision-making tables.
Voice No.4: Mary Prior
A leading criminal silk and Head of 36 Crime, Mary has built a remarkable career advocating in the most serious and complex cases. Her work is defined by a deep commitment to representing the most vulnerable, including individuals with autism, ADHD, and personality disorders, and ensuring their voices are properly heard within the justice system.
Alongside her practice, Mary has played a major leadership role across the profession, including as Chair of the Criminal Bar Association and as a Bencher at Gray’s Inn, while championing inclusion and social mobility at the Bar.
Her film reflects on advocacy, vulnerability, and the responsibility of the legal system to adapt to those it serves.
Voice No.5: Alex Wilson
Alex is Senior Director and Head of Strategy – International Advisory Legal at CBRE, with a career spanning private practice and senior in-house leadership across Europe. Alongside her role at CBRE, she serves as a Council Member at The Law Society, representing disabled solicitors and championing greater inclusion across the profession.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2016, Alex brings a powerful and deeply personal perspective to disability in the legal sector. Her experience has shaped not only her career path but also her approach to leadership, grounded in authenticity, resilience, and a commitment to challenging assumptions.
Through her work, Alex highlights a critical issue: the legal profession must move beyond stereotypes and assumptions about people with disabilities. Her message is clear: inclusion starts by asking questions, not making assumptions about others.
Her film reflects on identity, representation, and the importance of creating a profession that truly reflects the diversity of the society it serves.
Next 100 Years and series sponsor, Irwin Mitchell, are championing those in positions of leadership to encourage the next generation of aspiring lawyers to pursue their ambitions.
In this series of Next 100 Voices, 10 emerging leaders in law from minority backgrounds and a cross-section of the profession – private practice, in-house, the Bar and the judiciary – share how they got to where they are now, what they are doing to change their area of the profession, and what lessons they can give to the next generation.
Voice No.1: Abimbola Johnson
Abimbola Johnson is a criminal defence barrister at 25 Bedford Row with a focus on serious crime, professional discipline and inquiry work.
Last year, the National Police Chief’s Council enlisted Abimbola to chair a new independent scrutiny and oversight board to help tackle the lower levels of confidence between Black and minority ethnic groups, and the police.
Voice No.2: Ariel White-Tsimikalis
Ariel White-Tsimikalis is a partner in Goodwin Proctor’s Technology and Life Sciences group and Capital Markets practice.
As one of only a handful of black female partners at a top law firm in the UK, Ariel is passionate about contributing to a stronger pipeline of diverse lawyers in the legal profession and is therefore particularly active in the Diversity & Inclusion space both within her firm and externally as well as part of her broader ESG practice.
Voice No.3: Master Victoria McCloud
Master Victoria McCloud is a Master of the the Senior Courts, Queen’s Bench Division.
Victoria, a British judge, is the most senior public figure to have transitioned from male to female. In 2010 she became a Queen’s Bench Master, the youngest person ever to do so and only the second woman.
Victoria McCloud, a Master of the Senior Courts, Queen’s Bench Division, shares her story as a rising leader in law. Victoria, a British judge, is the most senior public figure to have transitioned from male to female. In 2010 she became a Queen’s Bench Master, the youngest person ever to do so and only the second woman.
Voice No.4: Leena Savjani
Leena Savjani is a partner at Irwin Mitchell specialising in medical negligence claims, an area in which she has specialised exclusively since qualification.
Leena was awarded Solicitor of the Year in the 2021 Inspirational Women In Law Awards. She set up a race diversity group at the firm’s Manchester office which has since grown into Irwin Mitchell’s national race diversity group which she co-leads. Her “Let’s Talk About Race” project has created a safe environment for colleagues to talk about race issues and driven change across the business.
Voice No.5: Christina Warner
Christina Warner is a family law, human rights and animal protection barrister at Goldsmith Chambers.
She often represents individuals who form part of alternative family structures, promoting their rights and those of their children as well as better visibility of the community before the family courts. Christina also works to raise awareness of social mobility and access to justice for those of marginalised and disenfranchised communities, in particular those of the LGBT and Spanish-speaking communities in London. Coming from a working-class, low-income, mixed heritage background, the topic of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession is one particularly close to Christina’s heart. In 2021, Christina was diagnosed with Stargardt disease (juvenile macular degeneration), a genetic condition that causes progressive sight loss and, in some cases, blindness.
Voice No.6: Marcia Longdon
Marcia Longdon is a partner at Kingsley Napley in the immigration team.
She joined this team in January 2014, having pactised in the area of immigration, nationality and European law since 1998. Marcia’s experience spans over 20 years in the industry. She has become a leading expert on corporate immigration covering mergers and acquisitions and continues to be listed in Who’s Who Legal as a Thought Leader in Corporate Immigration. a genetic condition that causes progressive sight loss and, in some cases, blindness.
Voice No.7: Millicent Grant KC (Hon)
Millicent Grant KC (Hon) is former CILEX President.
Millicent qualified as an Associate of the institute in 1978 and was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute in 1991, studying at evening classes and by distance learning to complete her qualification. In the intervening years she gained fee earning experience in many areas of law, in particular debt collection, insolvency and commercial litigation.
Millicent has worked as a chartered legal executive in the private, corporate in house and public sectors. The majority of work as a chartered legal executive in the private and corporate in house sectors was commercial litigation and contract work in the financial sector.
Voice No.8: Caroline Harrison KC
Caroline Harrison KC is a high ranking silk specialising in clinical negligence and medical law; complex personal injury litigation; related professional indemnity insurance; and health and safety claims.
The majority of Caroline’s work involves very complex medical or legal issues.
Voice No.9: Lubna Shuja
Lubna Shuja is the 178th person, first Asian, first Muslim and seventh female president of the Law Society of England and Wales.
She qualified as a solicitor in 1992. She is a sole practitioner at Legal Swan Solicitors in Birmingham, a firm she set up in 2007, where she now specialises in professional discipline and regulation. She has experience in dealing with family law, conveyancing, personal injury claims, wills and probate, and litigation. Prior to 2007, Lubna worked in a high street firm in West Yorkshire for 14 years undertaking litigation and personal injury work. She is also a mediator (CEDR accredited) conducting civil and family mediations.
Voice No.10: Landé Belo
Landé specialises in employment and labour law, providing tailored legal advice within a global framework. She has extensive experience in managing complex multi-jurisdictional projects and heading up global in-house teams of labour lawyers and ER professionals across a variety of industry sectors. Her focus is on developing and implementing strategy and practices, advising on structure and management techniques to improve efficiency and accountability and in recent times, she has also become involved in driving global diversity and inclusion initiatives.
