What does your job involve?
I represent individuals – often minorities – who have faced discrimination (for example, in employment or housing), and challenging government bodies that have engaged in policies or practices that may be discriminatory or procedurally improper or illegal.
What was your path to your current role?
I did A levels in French, History, Music and AS Latin. Then went to King’s to study French and History, undertook a year abroad in Paris and Quebec. I also studied abroad in Berlin.
I then did my law conversion and Bar course at City University.
Before starting pupillage I worked as a paralegal at a boutique media law firm, and as an intern at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
It hasn't been easy though! I got pupillage on my second year trying (having applied to more than 50). That chambers dissolved before I started pupillage, so I had to get one somewhere else. The chambers where I did pupillage did not take me on as a tenant so then I got tenancy elsewhere. And now I am at Garden Court Chambers.
It has certainly been a rocky ride but I think it has made me a stronger advocate.
Other than the formal qualifications, what do you need for this job?
A lot of grit, resilience and determination!
What's the best thing about your job?
I get to represent people and give them a voice when they can feel voiceless and at sea in the choppy waters of the legal system.
What's the most challenging part of your job?
When you lose multiple cases in a row – keeping good morale and not taking it personally. That will always be tough no matter how thick skinned you are.
What's one thing you wish you knew when starting out?
Everyone is learning on the job, so fake it (well!) until you make it, as everyone does that when they are doing something for the first time.
How have you been able to carve a space for yourself within an traditionally conservative industry?
When I joined the Bar there was no out non-binary people in the industry. I thought either have my identity hidden or be authentic to myself and come out.I came out by writing ‘Mx Oscar Davies’ on the chambers board when I got tenancy.It was the only way I could see myself working in the profession without having to limit myself to what a barrister is supposed to be or look like.
The press saw it as a legal first and that’s when I started my socials @nonbinarybarrister to share resources on trans and non-binary law. I am now writing a book on non-binary legal recognition, and how everyone can benefit if they and the law deconstructed the gender binary.
I won a Legal 500 award this year for being ‘LGBTQ+ Champion’ and was even featured in the Evening Standard Magazine’s Pride Issue, guest edited by Donatella Versace, as a queer ‘unsung hero’. I would never have even thought I would be doing these types of things.
What advice do you have for young queer people interested in going into the legal profession?
It is probably more welcoming than you might expect. There are great organisations like FreeBar or the InterLaw Diversity Forum that really facilitate meeting more senior queer lawyers who may be mentors who can lead you in the right directions.I owe much to my mentors and would in some ways be nowhere without them!
Your work seems like it could get very emotionally taxing. How do you manage to switch off and find balance between your professional and personal life?
I am very lucky to have many supportive friends and family, and a great community around me who supports me as a person and the campaigning work I do.
The culture wars can be invidious and it certainly it helps to avoid reading comments if you release something that may be controversial, or completely avoid social media when there is a pile on from a certain group of people. Hate is tedious, so I try to give the haters as little oxygen as possible. I am all for free speech – of course it is a pillar of democracy – but when people use that as a reason to spout hate, that is just…cringe. I don’t know how else to put it. Get something better to do? Or a hobby that does not involve antagonising people who are not like you?
