Hey everyone! I’m Sijal, your friendly neighbourhood LawTech Junior Editor at SCL Student Bytes.
Who I am
I’m a recent English and French Law graduate from the University of Kent and Panthéon Sorbonne, currently completing an LLM LPC (Solicitors) at BPP Law School.
As cliché as it sounds, I’ve always wanted to be a solicitor (yes we’ve all heard that one before). However, my desire to pursue a career in commercial law came after I shadowed a commercial solicitor at a young age. Honestly, what’s not to love about collaborating with colleagues on high profile cases in a fast-paced environment to help clients attain their commercial goals? My legal experience thereafter varied from major international law firms, such as Eversheds Sutherland, to local legal charities, such as the BPP Pro Bono Clinic. My experience also spans over 3 different countries and 5 different legal systems in which I operated using 4 different languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish).
As a tech enthusiast, I’ve been blown away by how disruptive modern technology has been on the legal profession. Whether it is the increasing number of legal tech platforms, point solutions or incubators, technology is undoubtedly changing the way solicitors operate and deliver legal services to clients. My interest in this field led me to enrol and excel in modules such as Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law at Kent and Legal Technology, Innovation and Design at BPP. While I thoroughly enjoyed these modules, they left me wondering about the price we are paying in this increasingly open and digital world – the fact that our privacy seems to be eroding before our very eyes. This is why I chose to investigate the matter further in my LLM dissertation, in which I suggest serval reforms to privacy laws in the UK.
Apart from that, I have many other non-legal interests. For instance, I’m fascinated by freediving. I recently completed my AIDA 2 freediving certification by holding my breath for over three minutes and diving twenty metres. Furthermore, I'm incredibly interested and involved in community service. For example, I volunteered 900 hours last year in service of the Kent Student Union. Lastly, in case my picture didn’t already give it away, I'm a massive Marvel fan.
What I do at SCL Student Bytes
As your SCL Student Bytes LawTech Junior Editor, I manage, support and proof-read the work of contributors to our LawTech stream. I also work with the LawTech team on developing a pipeline of new content that sets the direction of our LawTech coverage. Furthermore, apart from occasionally producing articles of my own, I am responsible for the development of the LawTech component of our new (and awesome) Learn Series.
If you have any ideas or would like to get involved with SCL Student Bytes, please contact me at editors@bytes.scl.org, or fill out this form, or head over to our ‘Contribute’ page for more details!
