Anisa Mohamed

Host Organisation: Hopkin Murray Beskine

I recently completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at BPP University  and previously graduated with an LLB from University College London (UCL).

During my undergraduate years, I volunteered and interned with a number of different organisations. As an extra-judicial killings casework intern at Reprieve, I investigated the use of excessive lethal force in the context of British and US operations abroad. I also worked as a welfare benefits paralegal at Community Links where I interviewed and represented clients at tribunals, drafted ESA and PIP appeal casework, made appropriate referrals and contested inequitable legal decisions.

Following the LPC, I worked as a housing paralegal for the Disability Law Service. With over half of people in poverty in the UK having a disability or living in a household with a disabled person, its existence often personified the last legal resort for individuals facing overwhelming hardship. From championing the rights of ordinary citizens to challenging improper decisions of Local Authorities, my time at DLS demonstrated time and again that considerable change is possible.

Above all, these experiences cemented my ambition of entering into social welfare law. They allowed me to truly understand the challenges and systemic injustice that disproportionately affect those who often lack representation.

Injustice was, and still is, rife. From welfare cuts to uninhabitable housing for the poor, from the curtailing of legal aid to the expansion of the ‘gig’ economy. These barriers, for me, often boiled down to a simple lack of access to justice.

I joined Hopkin Murray Beskine Solicitors as a trainee solicitor in January 2022 through the Justice First Fellowship. I hope to be a part of the movement towards providing greater legal safeguards and a reliable and efficient support service for those in need.