Philip Steventon

Philip Steventon is an aspiring solicitor currently working as a paralegal as part of a corporate commercial team, whilst also assisting with extra Private Client tasks. Previously, he worked in Civil Litigation, Commercial Property and Employment teams.

In his free time, he enjoys videogaming, gardening, kickboxing, reading, cooking and baking. Alongside his career, he also creates content as well as writing blog posts to raise awareness and promote neurodiversity in the workplace.

What does being neurodivergent mean to you?

Being neurodivergent means I’m different, I’m unique, and I’m interesting. I can’t be like everyone else in the world, and I don’t want to. I can’t not be who I am, so why not be proud of it! It means I’m free to find my own way in my life and in my work and not feel like I’m constrained to anyone who’s come before me or their journey.

I’m able to see, understand, interact with and experience the world differently to my peers, so I have a unique perspective of the world and I can bring that different perspective to work and life to help those around me. It means, alongside my goal of becoming a solicitor, I have another purpose in building a community where neurodivergent and neurotypical persons can complement, support, encourage and champion each other on our journeys and where neurodiversity is normalised in work and in life.

When did you discover that you were neurodivergent?

The diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome came when I was very young, I think about 6 or 7. This was after my parents were told when I attended nursery school that I was “highly intelligent but difficult to handle!” (Nice to see things haven’t changed there!).

I was able to understand a bit better in my teenage years that there were challenges that I faced that my peers and friends didn’t have to, such as thinking outside the box, correctly interpreting information, feelings and emotions, connecting with people, making friends and reading between the lines. It meant English was difficult, but I was fine with analytical subjects like Maths and Sciences.

But it wasn’t until my mid-late 20s that I was able to understand it on an even deeper level and embrace that it is a part of who I am and be confident enough to be proud about it. I was able to learn so many views and perspectives from so many different people in the online legal community and online neurodiversity and autism communities and be able to augment my own knowledge and awareness of who I am, what I can bring, and what challenges I can encounter.

This has been a real journey of parts – a journey of discovery, a journey of acceptance, and a journey of deep understanding of who I am.

Do you believe there is enough awareness of what being a neurodivergent individual encompasses and the importance of early diagnosis?

There has certainly been more visible work done to promote awareness of what being a neurodivergent individual means thanks to the work done by a number of neurodivergent voices on social media, such as Instagram and LinkedIn. I’m really happy to be playing a small part in contributing to that wherever I am able to.

There can always be more awareness and acceptance of neurodivergent workers. It starts with individuals such as employers, recruiters and university tutors listening to us, learning from us about our challenges and strengths and what we need to help us be at our best, and making us a part of their journey of growth and that of the company too.

My belief is that the sooner a diagnosis is received, the sooner conversations can be had with employers about what the individual’s strengths and challenges are and what they need from the employer or school/university in terms of support. I feel that schools, universities and employers can and should support students and employees who feel they are experiencing more challenges than their peers with open and honest disclosure conversations and support if they want to go further and seek a diagnosis to further help them understand themselves. Having that early support in place means the individual can say with confidence later down the line what works best for them and what they need to perform at their best. This means their confidence rises because they are able to do what they can do best because there have been those who have supported them to remove an obstacle for themselves.

We are hearing from a number of brilliant neurodivergent students, employees and employers about their experiences, what helps them, what they need, and how they work best. I hope they continue because we need more unique and varied voices in the legal community. Sharing those experiences means the rest of the community is more aware that there are neurodivergent individuals who are brilliant at what they do and are creating new paths for future neurodivergent lawyers, legal professionals, and allies sharing and amplifying those voices will help us share our own stories and will bring us to a much wider audience in the legal community.

Did you disclose your neurodivergence on your application forms for the jobs that you have had in the past and/or for training contracts?

It has only been quite recently, over the last few years or so, that I’ve felt confident in disclosing on application forms, on online portal forms, and in interviews, that I am autistic. Previously, and I must admit rather ignorantly, I didn’t disclose it because I didn’t want there to be any part of me laid out on applications that might give employers/TC providers a reason to not consider me as a candidate, or that might give my potential colleagues a reason to treat me any differently or worse because I just so happened to be different.

I realised that by not being totally open about who I am, I made things harder for myself at some workplaces because I didn’t disclose that I learn differently and benefit from a bit extra support that my colleagues don’t need. If I had done so earlier, perhaps my journey through work and life might have been different as there might have been that support and understanding and acceptance. But who’s to say!

But I’m also aware that disclosing my truth can open me up to ignorance, prejudice and discrimination, whether it’s from a workplace, a recruiter, a colleague or a manager. It’s always a risk, and it’s a risk that sadly I’ve been caught out by. At the first workplace that took me on after I disclosed that I am autistic, I experienced bullying and harassment from colleagues, and would regularly come into work scared of what could happen on that day and would arrive home after work very distressed. I am not satisfied that my concerns were taken seriously either, which compounded the poor experience that I had. Furthermore, a recruiter told me to hide the fact that I am autistic so that it would give future employers one less reason to not employ me, and this was after I had spent so long becoming comfortable with being different and unique that I was told to “mask” myself and undo all the hard work I had put into my own journey of growth and acceptance.

Happily, these were just a couple of stray instances and I’m now in a workplace that supports me to do my best in the way I know how and is patient with me whilst I learn, develop and train. So, it is important to remember that there are more workplaces and people out there who want to learn and support you than there are those who want to make your life miserable.

Do you believe neurodivergent individuals are prejudiced when applying for training contracts? If so, how?

I think there are certainly aspects of the TC application process where neurodivergent individuals can struggle to show their best selves. I speak from experience of applying for TCs for 7 years or so.

I don’t think there are enough points in the TC application process that give me the opportunity to show my best self. The language in the online application isn’t always clear so I can sometimes struggle to fully understand what is expected of me. In interviews, I can sometimes struggle with looking people in the eye because it can feel intense and quite intimate, like the idea that you’re looking into someone’s soul, which can overwhelm me and cause me to get flustered, but I am told that I come across as “shy”.

In the more social activities, I can take a bit more time to get warmed up to people, be they partners, HR staff, current trainees, or the rest of my cohort, and so assessors will say that I’m “shy” again.

Yet I know I can do the work to a high standard that my colleagues and clients are happy with, and that’s why I am following the CILEX route to qualification because it is the more accessible route for me to take to qualify. It clearly shows the competencies I need to meet to be a competent lawyer, and it gives me the chance to show my best self and show my learning and training journey.

It is important to understand that a TC isn’t the only route to qualification, and lawyers who qualify via a different route to the TC should never be seen as “lesser” because they haven’t trodden the most well-trodden path like everyone else. Instead, they have taken a path that allows them to learn, train and develop in the way that is best for them and that they have been empowered to follow that route in order to become the best version of themselves.

Do you believe that there is a tendency among employers to view neurodivergent individuals in terms of impairment instead of individuals that think differently?

Yes, and this comes down to a lack of awareness and education, or at worst downright ignorance and prejudice and it is something that I have all too often experienced (see above).

Whilst technically autism is seen as a disability, I really don’t like the word because it gives the impression that we are broken. I believe this is because of the social view of disability in that because of how society is right now regarding accessing services and going through life and the world, autistic people who experience it different are tended to be seen as “impaired” or “disabled”.

Think of it this way. If someone in a wheelchair wants to go to a restaurant for lunch, they get the same experience in that restaurant as someone who is able-bodied. They find a table, be seated, order food and drink, enjoy that food and drink, pay for their food and drink, share a bit of chit chat with the staff, and then carry on with their day, exactly how an able-bodied person would.

But the thing that impairs a person in a wheelchair from having that experience could be, say, the lack of accessibility (a ramp). Without that accessibility, the person in a wheelchair is disabled from having that restaurant experience.

Same as with autistic individuals/workers/lawyers. It is our environment and the lack of accessibility and support that makes us disabled, so being able to recognise that neurodivergent individuals can get the same things out of work as our neurotypical colleagues (good work, good training, belonging, good pay, fulfilment, a community etc) means that employers can hopefully better understand what we need in order to do well and to get what we need out of work, same as our colleagues.

Have you felt comfortable informing your colleagues of your neurodivergence?

More recently, yes. That’s as a result of further education into what it means to be neurodivergent and being able to speak about the strengths and challenges in a much more positive light rather than speaking about it as a hindrance.

I want to believe that it makes me unique and interesting, and that I have a different perspective and skills that an employer can make use of in the day-to- day operations of their business.

Don’t get me wrong, I still get anxious about things like “am I good enough” if I’m struggling at a piece of work or if it turns out I’ve misunderstood something and gone off on a complete tangent, and I think a lot of that is as a result of the profession in general being a bit slow to appreciate and accept that autistic lawyers need a bit more support from time to time. Also, myself having such high expectations of myself as a result of how I interpret the members of the profession to be (high achievers, exceptional workers, self-starters etc) as well as my experiences of work up to this point.

Also, I was recruited to my latest role as a result of being so open about it and making it a part of my online personal brand, so I didn’t have to have any conversations with anyone about it because my colleagues and my manager were all aware.

Tell us about your working day. How do you adapt your working practices to meet your needs?

I am a paralegal working on a number of corporate and commercial matters, as well as supporting other heads of department on some Private Client tasks too.

In a typical day, the tasks I would do would tend to be drafting Share Purchase Agreements and the ancillary documents that push a transaction forward, Shareholder Agreements, Terms of Business, individual clauses on existing documents, and any other ad hoc task that needs to be done.

Some of these matters I work on come in with a clear deadline date in mind, some are “it gets done when it gets done right”, and one or two are “we need this done today!”.

Corporate is a new area for me as I’ve only been working in this area since January 2021, so there is a real learning journey to go along with it. I’ve been able to work for a range of brilliant individuals and small businesses, and the staff where I am working right now have been supportive of my learning and training and are patient as I learn in the way that works best for me.

I’m also glad to be getting a bit of practice in with some Private Client tasks like drafting Wills and LPAs and I am grateful to my manager and the Head of PC for letting me learn and assist on a few tasks.

It is important for me to have a plan in what I do each day and each week as I am working for a lot of clients at this moment. So, I make sure to have as much of a structure in place each day as I can so that I can put my focus into the priorities for that way and across the week. Though of course if we get work coming in that needs to be completed on the same day, that has to take priority. It can throw me off structure, which happens even though I don’t always deal with it as well as I’d like to, but it has to be done. It’s a learning journey and I’m happy to be working with colleagues and a manager who expect me to work my hardest, but don’t leave me to drown if I feel I’m getting overwhelmed.

If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?

A few points stick out for me:

When studying, don’t look at law as a subject in isolation, because if you look closer, you’ll see that it is hugely pervasive, across both the social and commercial spheres, and the impact that your work as a lawyer can have on people can be huge. Whether this is helping someone be more informed about their rights in employment or helping someone to sell their business so they can retire, or to help someone make sure their final wishes are recorded and are carried out. So don’t forget to have an open mind here.

Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and branch out a bit. You are entitled to look at other things other than law. You’re human after all and have your own interests and hobbies and will have things that you want to try out too. So, give them a go. You might surprise yourself!

Remember to take care of yourself and be patient with yourself. You are doing great, you are working hard, but don’t let it come at a cost of your own health and wellness. You’re not responsible for the state of the world right now so don’t feel like you have to carry the weight of it on your shoulders.

Be absolutely sure of what you want out of work and life, whether it’s the kinds of clients you want to work for, the kind of office you want to work in, and the people you want to work with. A question you should ask yourself is “where is the value in work for you? The people you work with? Or the people you do work for?”

It’s good to have an open mind and to want to experience as much as you want and can, but don’t forget to set boundaries for yourself. Whether they are personal or work boundaries, so that you don’t find yourself in bad situations or so that you can take time for yourself and what is important to you.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

The profession wants people like us; people who can add real value to the profession with our perspectives, our expertise, our different ways of thinking and approaching our work, with our real capacity for empathy. The fact that we don’t prejudice, and that the profession as a whole can learn from us and move even further forward with its goal of becoming a truly diverse, inclusive and accessible profession.

Don’t be afraid to show your whole self, your unique and interesting self.

You’ll bring a huge amount of good to yourself because you’re open about who you are, what you can do, what you need, and that openness will make things a lot easier for you and will open up many doors for you.

You’ll also bring a huge amount of good to others around you because they’ll take inspiration from you to be open about who they are and will be able to learn a lot from you and from your perspective too.

---

© Neurodiversity in Law & Philip Steventon

May 2021.

All opinions are of the individuals and not of Neurodiversity in Law.