Meet the Board

Elizabeth Robertson has played a role in many of the most important criminal and regulatory investigations in the U.K. over the last 20 years, giving her significant understanding of the priorities of the U.K. prosecuting authorities such as the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Elizabeth was recognised for supporting and promoting diversity throughout her career. This includes mentoring women across the white collar practice area and investing significant time supporting young professionals. She was also recognised recently by Global Investigations Review for creating diverse teams and her openness about sharing her own experiences.

Elizabeth is the founder of the London Chapter of the Women's White Collar Defense Association, an organisation that promotes diversity in the legal profession, facilitates networking and business development, and provides educational programming, and was, until recently, the London Chapter Leader.

Elizabeth has a strong commitment to pro bono work, particularly in matters regarding women's rights, anti-corruption and immigration and asylum seeking.

After attending the famous Italia Conti School of Dramatic Arts, Andrew enjoyed a successful career working as an actor on stage, television and film.

He then moved behind the camera to found Stock and Bokeh, a film production company specialising in narrative and branded content. Andrew also recently founded sb.inc, a creative agency primarily offering creative marketing solutions to law firms and legal education partners.

Andrew’s core belief is that people don’t remember what they see, they remember how they feel, therefore he is keen to work with PRIME advising on creative execution and driving engagement to highlight and improve access to the legal profession.

Arun is an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He is a PRIME Alumnus, and works alongside other diversity and inclusion programmes targeted at facilitating social mobility in law, including SEO London, Aspiring Solicitors and MyKindaFuture.

Being a PRIME alumnus himself, he recognises the impact that work experience and engagement with law firms can have on young people interested in the legal sector. He feels lucky to have come across PRIME when he did, and credits the programme for playing an instrumental role in securing several training contract offers at major international law firms.

Arun observes, however, that numerous students will not have this 'lucky moment,' and therefore is passionate to ensure that as many young people as possible can gain exposure to the legal field.

Cat is a partner in the disputes team at Freshfields in London. Social mobility is personally very important to Cat. Cat grew up in the Medway Towns in Kent, and for a good chunk of time, Cat’s mum brought her up on her own. Unlike many of her peers, she didn’t go a private school, and she’s the first and only person in her family to go to university. Cat had many experiences along the way where she felt like she didn’t quite fit in, and spent many years disguising her background because she thought that was necessary to progress. But she also benefited hugely (especially within Freshfields) from sponsorship and mentoring, and from being fortunate enough to work with open-minded and mindful colleagues.

As an associate, Cat set-up Freshfields’ Social Mobility Network, and now as a partner she acts as a partner ambassador to the Network’s committee. She was part of the team that set-up the Aspiring Professionals Programme (APP) at Freshfields, in partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation, targeting Year 12 students living in the UK’s social mobility cold spots. Cat is also actively involved in some of the firm’s other social mobility schemes, including the award-winning Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, which was designed to address the disproportionate under-representation of Black and Black mixed-race makes from less privileged backgrounds in large commercial law firms.

Cat is honoured to have the opportunity to bring her personal experiences, partner platform, and energy and passion for social mobility to bear in helping to deliver PRIME’s mission in the coming years.

George is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, practicing corporate law (he primarily acts on transactions involving Financial Sponsors).

George grew up in a single parent family in Cornwall where he attended a comprehensive school in Bude. He is the first member of his family to go to college/university (he attended the University of Birmingham 2006-2009). After university, George trained at Eversheds in Birmingham, before qualifying in the firm’s London office. He has since spent time at White & Case before finding his long-term home at Skadden where he made partner in 2023.

At Skadden George has acted as a member of the Graduate Recruitment Committee and is now Training Principle alongside Danny Tricot (they cover a trainee year group each). Recruitment and pathways to law has always been an area of significant personal interest to George, he has acted as mentor to a number of students over the years from various UK schools and universities and participated in school/college career days to help spread understanding of the profession and routes into it.

George is a partner liaison for Skadden’s Social Mobility Affinity Network and its Neurodiversity and Disability Affinity Network.

Jenny has been with Morton Fraser Lawyers since 2008 and became the chair in 2021. Since taking on this role, Jenny immediately set out to put in to place a vision for a more inclusive industry.

Jenny is an advocate for social inclusion within the Scottish legal sector. She is particularly impassioned about breaking down barriers to social mobility, and the financial and social barriers to gaining a legal education.

At Morton Fraser, we believe that everyone, no matter their background, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or religion, should have the opportunity to reach their full potential in a workplace that is inclusive, respectful and welcoming. We want to create a culture where everyone's unique voice and lived experience are both heard and seen.

We're also passionate about actively addressing underrepresentation and breaking down systemic barriers for those wishing to pursue a career in the legal profession. Our current achievements in this area have included Rare recruitment for trainees from social disadvantaged backgrounds, our PRIME work placements providing wider and fairer access to school pupils interested in a career in law, and our recent participation in the Black Professionals Scotland Programme. We are also a Disability Confident Employer.

Jenny is a partner in our Litigation division, and specialises in personal injury and professional negligence law. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband and two young children.

Katy is the Director of Programmes at The Sutton Trust, an organisation championing social mobility through programmes, research and policy influence. Many member firms run their PRIME work experience using the Sutton Trust’s Pathways to Law Programme, offering the opportunity to explore what entering the legal profession might look like.

Katy started her career in corporate restructuring working for EY, FTI Consulting and HSBC before moving into the not-for-profit sector focused on delivery of youth programmes. Her passion is in equality of access and seeing young people thrive. Previous roles include Director at Education and Employers for the Inspiring the Future programme connecting state schools with volunteers from the world of work and leading programme delivery of the International Citizen Service at VSO. Katy is also a school governor for a primary school in Brighton, a trustee of Brighter Futures Zambia and sits on the RHS Education Committee.

Khasruz Zaman, previously a partner at a leading international law firm, spent over two decades working as a corporate lawyer specialising in M&A in the banking and financial services sector.

Khasruz is passionate about developing and promoting talent from diverse backgrounds and decided to take on a new challenge and signed up for the Now Teach programme – an initiative to encourage professionals to change career and teach in challenging schools in deprived areas.

Khasruz is now teaching Maths at one of the Harris secondary academies in South London. In addition to teaching Maths, Khasruz has taken on additional whole school leadership responsibility for devising and implementing the “Top Talent Programme”, with a view to improving academic outcomes and unlocking the full potential of students from all backgrounds by providing them with more opportunities and experiences to prepare them to succeed in their future careers.

Beyond school, Khasruz has been involved in a range of initiatives to promote diversity and social mobility, including Now Teach campaigns to encourage more professionals to change career to become teachers. He has also been featured in The Lawyer and The Telegraph and has written an article on race and diversity which was published in The Independent.

In his previous career as a corporate lawyer, Khasruz was recognised as a leading M&A practitioner in the banking and financial services sector and his team received multiple awards, including “M&A Team of the Year” and “Deal of the Year” nominations and awards from Legal Business, The Lawyer and European Counsel Awards. He also received a “Rising Star of Legal Services” award from Financial News.

Khasruz was born in Bangladesh and moved to the UK at the age of eight. He went to a comprehensive state school in Smethwick (Birmingham) before going on to study Law at King's College London.

Lucy is an employment lawyer and partner in the Employment and Immigration team at Lewis Silkin. Lucy heads Lewis Silkin’s office in Cardiff and sits on the Firm’s management board as the partner representative for diversity and inclusion, and CSR and sustainability.

Lewis Silkin’s story is a story of social mobility. Lewis Silkin (the man) was born into a family of Jewish Lithuanian refugees. His family was poor but determination and hard work won him a scholarship to Oxford University. The opportunity to study was lost when, due to his social status, his headmaster reputedly advised the University "this boy will not benefit from a university education”. Undeterred, Lewis Silkin worked in the London Docks until he spotted a notice in the window of a firm of solicitors seeking a 'bright lad'. He was appointed as a clerk, eventually becoming an articled clerk and qualifying as a solicitor (going on to represent Peckham in the House of Commons and sit in the House of Lords).

This history is at the core of our culture and our values and it drives our commitment to ensure that access to the legal profession is open and fair and that the profession itself is diverse and socially inclusive.

In 2020, Lewis Silkin welcomes our first legal apprentices (an apprenticeship scheme aimed at those unable to benefit from a university education and running alongside out training contract scheme). Alongside our work with PRIME, we continue to host work experience weeks and open days across our offices and work with both primary and secondary school age children to improve their skills and introduce the possibility of a career in law.

Mary is Transactions Director at Civitas Investment Management where she runs real estate transactions in supported living and healthcare properties.

Before working for Civitas, Mary ran the European transactions team for the office co-working provider, WeWork and prior to moving in house, she was Of Counsel in the real estate department of SJ Berwin/King & Wood Mallesons. There she was responsible for the training and supervision of a junior team as well as a member of the graduate recruitment interviewing panel. This inspired her interest in facilitating social mobility in law for young people.

Mary was brought up in Liverpool where she attended a comprehensive school before going to study French and German at the University of Cambridge. She now lives in North London with her husband and 2 teenage children.

Molly grew up in the Midlands, attended comprehensive schools and was the first person in her family to go to university. As a student, Molly participated in the Sutton Trust Pathways Plus and Rare Recruitment Discuss programmes, which focus on improving social mobility within the legal sector. After completing her training contract, Molly joined the commercial disputes team at Freshfields as an associate in March 2020.

Freshfields is a founder member of PRIME and is proud of its partnerships with social mobility organisations such as Aspiring Solicitors and Rare Recruitment. Freshfields currently uses Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System and has contributed to the development of their new unconscious bias training tool ‘Hemisphere’. In 2020, Freshfields launched the Aspiring Professionals Programme (APP) in partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation, targeting Year 12 students living in the UK’s social mobility cold spots.

Molly sits on Freshfields’ Social Mobility Network committee, mentors students on the Aspiring Solicitors START and APP schemes and supports the firm’s other social mobility schemes, including the award-winning Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, which was designed to address the disproportionate under-representation of black and black mixed-race males from less privileged backgrounds in large commercial law firms.

Molly’s personal experiences have made her passionate about advocating for social mobility and diversity within the legal profession. She looks forward to continuing to work with the PRIME Board to challenge the barriers which prevent less privileged students from accessing and succeeding within the sector.

An Associate at Hogan Lovells in the Intellectual Property team, Muhammad partook in a PRIME programme in 2016, which inspired him to complete his Law degree at SOAS University of London. After graduating, Muhammad worked for another social mobility charity, upReach, and was also appointed to sit on the Inclusion Advisory Board at Southampton Football Club. Upon completion of his degree at SOAS, he was appointed as the first SOAS School of Law Alumnus in Residence, a role created for him to support students at SOAS settle into life at University and with their career choices. Muhammad is a keen advocate for supporting young people and increasing access to opportunities wherever he goes and is a big supporter of Solicitor Apprenticeships.

In January 2022, in the Special Report on Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession by Globe Law and Business, Muhammad authored a chapter titled, “Social Mobility in Law – where’s the equity and justice?” and was subsequently published in April 2022. He is also the Head of Alumni at the Social Mobility Business Partnership, and works with many organisations committed to tackling social mobility and diversity more generally in corporate spaces.

When he’s not busy litigating Patents, or tackling social mobility, you’ll find Muhammad at the Emirates Stadium cheering on his beloved Arsenal or spending time with his family and friends.

Naomi Kellman is Rare’s Senior Manager for Schools and Universities. She joined Rare in 2011 and founded Target Oxbridge, a programme that has helped over 300 Black African and Caribbean students secure Oxbridge offers. Naomi spent 2012 – 2015 working on education policy at the Department for Education and the Treasury. She has co-founded the BAME Fast Stream Network and the Oxford Black Alumni Network and has made appearances on national news channels to discuss diversity in education and recruitment. She is a member of the Foundation Oxford Advisory Group and the University of Oxford History Faculty’s External Advisory Panel.

Sharon has worked in the legal industry as a corporate finance lawyer and knowledge professional for 30 years, principally in private practice at global law firms.

Sharon has provided pro bono legal advice throughout her career advising POhWER (a charity providing advice, support and advocacy to people experiencing disability, vulnerability and social exclusion) and Help for Heroes (a charity providing physical, mental and financial support to UK veterans and their families). Sharon also visits local secondary schools giving talks about studying law and pursuing a legal career. Sharon mentors young people in their career journeys from school, through university and in finding work. She has been appointed as a Newnham Associate supporting students in their career path.

As the granddaughter of a coal miner on her father’s side and German Jewish refugees on her mother’s, Sharon is a passionate and dedicated advocate for social mobility and diversity. Having worked as Pro bono corporate governance adviser to PRIME Commitment for a few years, she is really excited to have the opportunity to work with the PRIME Board to continue the work to break down barriers that may prevent those from lower socio-economic backgrounds from securing training contracts or other roles in the legal sector.

Steph Lartey is a qualified lawyer and Legal Product Consultant specialising in legal technology, AI adoption, and innovative workflow solutions for law firms. She previously trained and qualified at White & Case LLP before moving into legal tech, where she now helps legal teams integrate AI-powered tools to improve efficiency, compliance, and delivery. Her experience spans sustainable finance, cross-border regulatory implementation, and leading legal innovation projects within FTSE 100 and global environments.

Steph began her legal journey through RARE Recruitment, a flagship social mobility initiative that introduced her to White & Case and laid the foundation for her legal career. This early experience shaped her deep commitment to improving access to opportunity for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.

In 2020, Steph co-founded Doceo, a social enterprise that has supported over 4,000 students through employability programmes, leadership training and AI-driven skills development. As CEO, she has overseen more than £100,000 in diversified funding, forged multi-year partnerships with organisations including EY, IBM, and White & Case, and led the organisation’s scale from a single online pilot to three flagship programmes delivered across the UK. Her leadership extends to strengthening organisational governance, embedding AI governance frameworks, and ensuring robust transparency and accountability in delivery.

A recognised communicator and educator, Steph has spoken at national conferences including the Black Counsel Forum 2024, and regularly trains legal professionals on Sustainability, AI, legal tech, and innovation. She has built an engaged online audience of over 7,000 professionals by sharing insights on law, technology, education, and social mobility. She has also been shortlisted for multiple industry awards, including the UK Diversity Legal Awards and the Women & Diversity in Law Awards, recognising her dedication to advancing equity and inclusion.

Steph is a 2025 UN Women UK Delegate, further reflecting her commitment to gender equality and social impact. She brings to the Board a blend of legal expertise, governance experience, and a long-standing passion for widening participation. She is dedicated to creating pathways for young people from all backgrounds and supporting organisations that seek to remove barriers and expand access to STEM and professional careers.

Tim Smith was born and raised in Northampton, attending local comprehensive schools followed by a law degree at Nottingham University before returning to Northampton and training with a local firm there. After two years working in Peterborough after qualification he joined the firm now known as Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in 1996 and has been a partner since 2001. He specialises in planning and environmental work.

Tim was firmwide Graduate Recruitment partner at BCLP for 6 years and since 2014 has co-headed the firm’s Social Inclusivity & Ethnicity group. BCLP is a long-term supporter of PRIME, delivering sessions to students through its Career Kickstart (or “CKS”) programme. In this time the firm has developed a CKS alumni network and has had the pleasure of seeing several CKS alumni prosper at University before going on to secure training contracts at BCLP or at other leading law firms.

Tim chaired the Advisory Board to PRIME from 2020. In addition to his work with PRIME he is a Trustee of both The Bridge Group and the Aspiring Solicitors Foundation, as well as being a member of the Working Party supporting the City of London’s Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce promoting greater diversity at senior levels within the financial and professional services sectors.

Outside of the legal day job Tim was appointed as a part-time Tribunal Judge in 2013 and as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2019, sitting in the Queen’s Bench Division. He is a Guide on the Judicial Office’s outreach programme for those interested in applying for judicial appointment and was a Law Society member of the working group that created the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) course. He is also a Council member of the civil liberties and human rights charity JUSTICE having been a member of two JUSTICE Working Parties reporting on judicial diversity.