Kent alumna Melanie Christodoulou has been named Junior Lawyer of the Year in the Kent Law Society Awards 2017.
Melanie graduated from Kent Law School in 2012 with a first class honours degree in Law and now works as a Private Trusts and Estates Solicitor at Furley Page in Canterbury where she specialises in Lasting Powers of Attorney, Will drafting, administration of estates and trust creation and administration.
Melanie was one of only four solicitors in Kent shortlisted for the annual award which seeks to recognise the contribution (paid or unpaid) made by lawyers to their local community over the previous year. Nominees were judged in a number of areas, including notable achievements, innovation and creativity, and the highest standards of professionalism. The award was presented at Kent Law Society’s annual dinner in Maidstone by Nick Paterno, Managing Partner of the award sponsor McBrides Chartered Accountants.
While a student at Kent Law School, Melanie worked as a volunteer receptionist at Kent Law Clinic and was the Commercial Awareness Officer for Kent Student Law Society, one of seven student societies at the Law School. Since graduating she has continued to remain involved with the Law School and now comes back each year to talk to law students about the importance of developing and demonstrating commercial awareness. She also provides ‘mock’ interviews, is a volunteer adviser for the Law Clinic, and is an active member of the Law School’s Professional Mentoring Scheme, providing personalised advice and guidance to students seeking to pursue a legal career. Melanie also recently instigated a mentoring initiative for Greek speaking students at Kent to help highlight how Greek language skills could be of benefit in future legal careers.
The Law School’s Employability and Career Development Officer Jayne Instone said: ‘Melanie makes a significant and very valued contribution to the careers and employability support offered to law students at Kent. She works closely with Kent Student Law Society to organise an annual mock interview competition for students and is currently mentoring five law students in our Professional Mentoring Scheme. She has always been willing to contribute her time and we are delighted to see her win this award.’
Melanie said: ‘I am extremely grateful for the award and look forward to continuing my work and assistance to the Kent Law School students.’
Melanie is one of a number of Kent alumni who have contributed their career story to the Law School’s collection of online alumni profiles. You can also learn more about Melanie’s current role at Furley Page on their website.
The prestigious annual Junior Lawyer of the Year Award was previously won in 2014 by another Kent Law School alumna (and Furley Page solicitor), Alexandra Gordon. A full list of previous winners is available on the Kent Law Society website.