Barrister,
3 Temple Gardens, Founder, Cake & Counsel
Ruth is a criminal barrister based in London, with a varied practice spanning the courts. Ruth is also on the CPS and SFO Panels for counsel as well as instructed in private reviews.
Passionate and highly active in outreach and social justice, Ruth is the founder of Cake & Counsel, Co-Head of the Education Team for Urban Lawyers, an Advisory Board Member for the Non-Russell Group lawyers and volunteers at various other charities and organisations passionate about bettering access, diversity and social mobility. She is also currently an Equality and Diversity Officer for her chambers, on the Race Working Group for the Bar Council and has more than 12 personal mentees whom she meets with quarterly.
Appreciative of the challenges in studying and qualifying into the legal field, Ruth established ‘Cake and Counsel’ to provide a platform for networking and to support the well-being of aspiring lawyers. Cake & Counsel’s annual flagship “Inclusion Networking” event in collaboration with QMBS and KCL universities have seen record numbers of practitioners attend to share their advice and network with aspiring lawyers, who often leave with mentorship or work experience.
Recognising the unique disparities and issues faced by such intersections of women entering and remaining in the legal field, Ruth is especially keen on supporting and empowering women from Black and other diverse backgrounds and trying to assist in levelling the starting points and the playing field.
Ruth has been recognised for her work in pursuing the above through the following: Shortlisted for Mentor of the Year for the Women in Law Awards (2020); Shortlisted as Future Leader for Diversity and Inclusion in the Chambers UK Bar Awards (2020); Finalist for the ‘Rising Star: Chambers’ award at the Diversity Legal Awards (2019) and is currently a finalist in the Professional Services category (Legal and Accounting) at the Black Talent Awards (2022).
Aside from work, Ruth enjoys travelling, cooking, gardening, various sports and is heavily involved in youth groups and Pathfinders at her church.