Fact file:
Name: Kelly Griffiths
Job: Family law solicitor at Allington Hughes Law
Born: Wrexham
Lives: Wrexham
Education: Darland High School, Yale College, Liverpool John Moores University and College of Law (Christleton)
Family: Me and my puppy
My working day normally starts around 7am, when I take my 10-month-old puppy Bailey for a morning walk. Once we’re home, I get ready for work whilst Bailey eats his breakfast. I’m not far from the offices and so when I’m not in court I get into work for around 8.15am to catch up on my emails before the working day gets into full swing.
My days vary depending on what is happening on cases.
However, I’m usually in court for one to two days per week on average, representing parents who have either social services involvement with their family in care proceedings or who are unable to agree on child arrangements in private law children matters.
The rest of my time I balance between our Wrexham and Chester offices, meeting with clients, meeting with social services legal teams and working on my files.
I also hold a free advice drop-in clinic during the first Friday of every month at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Ellesmere Port, which the community there benefit from, if they have a quick family law legal query to ask.
When I get the chance, on my lunch I’ll usually go into Chester to do a bit of shopping or go out for lunch with my work colleagues, to local eateries such as Las Iguanas and the Church in Chester.
The nature of our work can be quite exhausting and so it’s nice to get out of the office when we can to have some down time and team building.
I usually finish work at around 5.30pm and if I haven’t got any events on with the Cheshire and North Wales Junior Lawyers Division, I head to my parents’ house to collect Bailey and go home for another walk.
By the evening, Bailey is usually shattered and so I can sit down and watch my favourite car crash television for an hour or two.
On days where I do have some free time, I enjoy running and taking part in half marathons with my friends and family.
I also chair the Cheshire and North Wales Junior Lawyers Division, which is a local group of around 40 young lawyers who get together on a bi-monthly basis to socialise, hold educational events and have a general catch up.
As the chair of the group, I oversee and help plan the committee year, which runs until February 2017, together with 10 other junior lawyers, who are also from various local firms.
We have a close working relationship with the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society and the University of Law in Chester and so I also attend many events held by them.
I love working with charities, in particular the Share Shop in Chester and Cancer Research UK.
The share shop is relatively new, having opened in December 2015, and it allows members of the public to make donations to local homeless people, to include a ‘suspended coffee’ which a homeless person can pick up at any time and the public can donate funds to help the charity towards their purchase of a supported property for homeless people in Chester.
Whenever I do my weekly shop, I put a few items which I think will be useful to the homeless in Chester, such as toothbrushes, gloves etc into my trolley and take them over to the share shop as often as I can.
The Junior Lawyers Division and Law Society’s charity of the year is Cancer Research UK and so far we have raised nearly £1,500 for them.
We have a joint target of £5,000 for the year and have lots of events planned to help us reach it.
Our next event is a charity barbecue at the University of Law in Christleton on July 9 from 2.30pm-6pm, all are welcome including the general public and can RSVP to Alumni-Chester@law.ac.uk.
What do you wear to do your job? A suit, always.
What is the favourite part of your job? Attending court, representing vulnerable clients and working with members of the public.
What is the least favourite part of your job? Working five days a week!
What would be your dream job if you weren’t doing what you do now? Working with animals.
How do you relax when you are not working? Dog walks with my puppy Bailey, spending time with friends and shopping!
What is your favourite film? Bridesmaids.
What is your favourite book? The Art of Persuasion.
What is your favourite song? At Last (Beyonce version).
If a film was made of your life, who would you like to play you? Blake Lively. I look nothing like her but I love her sense of humour.
Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? I waited on Michael Owen once whilst working in a restaurant.
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