Starring the ‘vlawgers’ and legal influencers bringing life to the law
The world of social media has risen to prominence in recent years.
We’ve seen a slew of solicitors and barristers dabble in vlogging (or ‘vlawging’ as we like to refer to it at Legal Cheek) as well as share photos, videos, messages and memes online.
Below we profile, in alphabetical order, the ten best legal social media users of 2020.
The winner will be announced at the Legal Cheek Awards 2020, an invite-only virtual event taking place this week, on the evening of Thursday 26 March.
The judging panel included Rob Rinder, aka Judge Rinder, criminal barrister and TV personality, Joanna Hardy, criminal barrister at Red Lion Chambers and last year’s winner Angelica Olawepo, a law student at LSE.
The FleekTalks
YouTuber, LSE student and future White & Case trainee solicitor Ali Obeid
Ali Obeid is the face behind The FleekTalks, a YouTube channel on which he shares his experiences in life and the law. “I want to build bridges between disadvantaged students and prestigious institutions, in my own unique way,” he writes on his page.
The future White & Case trainee may only just be completing his LSE politics degree but he’s already begun posting legal content to his channel. He recently posted a vid revealing how to secure a vac scheme “the easy way”. His down to earth and likeable persona are a hit with his 1,800 subscribers*.
Alongside his YouTube content (which has over 102,000 views by the way) Obeid has an Instagram “news page” on which he shares stories touching on themes ranging from racism to feminism.
Carpool Caselaw
Wilberforce and Landmark barrister dad and daughter duo
Wilberforce Chambers‘ Jonathan Seitler QC and his daughter, Miriam Seitler, a barrister at Landmark Chambers, have taken inspiration from ‘Carpool Karaoke’, a segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and film themselves talking law on the way to work in ‘Carpool Caselaw’.
The Seitlers, who are property law specialists, discuss the recent Court of Appeal case University of London v Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited in one video. Check out some of the dad and daughter barrister duo’s other vids (spoiler: there’s no singing).
Chrissie Wolfe (Law and Broader)
Vlogger and Irwin Mitchell personal injury associate
Irwin Mitchell personal injury associate Chrissie Wolfe regularly posts about her lifestyle and law on YouTube channel ‘Law and Broader’. She’s got 3,800 subscribers and over 131,000 views.
On the ‘Law’, the junior lawyer has vlogged about how she rebounded from scoring “poor” A-Level grades, dished the down-low on billable time recording and most recently, discussed how the coronavirus is impacting her life as a litigator in a daily video “diary” series.
The ‘Broader’ bits see the Birmingham-based solicitor venture away from careers advice and vlog about fashion and beauty. Check out her Insta page for a snapshot of her glam legal life.
Elena Handtrack
Cambridge University law student and YouTuber
University of Cambridge’s Elena Handtrack offers viewers a glimpse into the life of a busy law student on her YouTube channel. The second year student is closing in on 30,000 subscribers and her videos have had over two million views.
She’s covered all sorts of legal content: a ‘study with me’, a law school lookbook, a note-taking vid, a ‘WIMB’ (what’s in my bag (law school edition) for the unacquainted) and how her uni law ball went down.
In one video we learn that she begins every day at 5am(!), manages to squeeze in a quick study-sesh as part of her morning routine before she heads off to lectures.
Eloise Skinner
Mental health and wellbeing advocate, yogi, Pilates instructor, ballerina and Instagram influencer
Cambridge University triple-first grad Eloise Skinner is an associate in the London office of US firm Cleary Gottlieb. She’s on a mission to make space for wellbeing within corporate law.
She’s a fitness instructor, a qualified Pilates, yoga and meditation teacher, and a trained Mental Health First Aider. She’s also trained as a monk for a year as part of a programme run by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Skinner, a tax law specialist, is an active Instagrammer (quite literally) and regularly posts pics of her flexing and stretching in various ballet and yoga poses to her page where she has 2,300 followers.
Eve Cornwell
YouTuber and Linklaters trainee solicitor
Eve Cornwell is known to the masses for many things: her popular YouTube channel which has amassed a loyal following of 278,000 subscribers with a staggering 20 million views, and, of course, her die-hard commitment to all-things coffee — did you know she founded her very own coffee club last year?
The Bristol University law grad turned magic circle rookie regularly updates fans on her legal exploits. She’s let us in to life at Linklaters in an “unfiltered” tour of the London office and told us about her busy lifestyle in another vlog. In another standout social media moment the vlogger went viral after posting a pic of her bumping into none other than Lady Hale on the Tube.
Gordon Chung
LinkedIn influencer and future Baker McKenzie trainee solicitor
Gordon Chung is a legal LinkedIn influencer — he’s closing in on 10,000 followers on the professional networking site. He bagged a training contract offer with international law firm Baker McKenzie and since then has made it his mission to help others achieve similar successes through the sharing of his very candid careers advice.
In one post, Chung, who completed his LLB at City University of Hong Kong before undertaking a masters in corporate law at the University of Cambridge, recalls being rejected 35 times in a single application round and as a result, reached out to over 50 lawyers he’d never actually met for application tips.
The trainee-to-be has also built up a presence on YouTube, with his growing channel ‘The Struggling Lawyer’ enjoying over 1,750 subscribers and just under 21,000 views.
Ibz Mo
Cambridge University grad turned law student vlogger and diversity advocate
Rising star Ibrahim Mohammed, known as Ibz Mo, is another legally-minded vlogger on our radar. The YouTube sensation has stacked up 122,000 subscribers on the video sharing site as well as almost 11 million views.
Mo graduated recently from Cambridge University where he studied human, social and political sciences and has since enrolled on the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) at BPP University Law School, Cambridge.
He came from humble beginnings: born and raised by a single parent in Hackney, East London, where he was state-school educated. He turned his life around after scoring shaky GCSE grades — 2 B’s, 3 C’s and 2 D’s — by achieving A*A*A at A-Level and going on to become the first in his family to go to uni. The British Pakistani runs his own private tuition business and is passionate about diversity, inclusion and promoting access to education.
Shoosmiths’ Instagram-Live Q&A
Law firm opens up to students from all universities with Instagram live Q&A
Shoosmiths‘ Instagram-Live Q&A is streamed through the firm’s Instagram Story. It’s hosted by the firm’s graduate recruitment manager Samantha Hope.
Following in the footsteps of its Facebook live feature, where it all began, viewers can pick up all-important training contract tips from the Insta version as well as learn more about the firm.
They’re also able to leave questions in the comments to be answered by Hope (who is often joined by a senior guest) live. It’s a great way for potential Shoosmiths applicants to interact with the graduate recruitment team if they’re unable to meet them in person.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s SQE-focused video series
Regulator explains the new super-exam
Much uncertainty still abounds the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), due to come into force from autumn next year. But the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s SQE-focused video series is one way the regulator is hoping to dispel doubts.
The series features 15 (and counting) webinars lasting around half an hour each on topics of concern to students. These include qualifying work experience (above), potential SQE cost, assessment methodology and specification. There’s also a video on the recent SQE 1 pilot findings.
*All figures are up to date at the time of writing.
The winner of the ‘Best Use of Social Media 2020’ award will be decided by an independent judging panel, made up of Rob Rinder, aka Judge Rinder (English criminal barrister and TV personality), Joanna Hardy (Red Lion Chambers criminal barrister) and Angelica Olawepo (LSE law student and last year’s ‘Best Use of Social Media 2019’ award winner).