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Combining a career in law with raising a young family is not an easy task, but is something that the head of our personal injury department, Anna Rushton, seemingly takes in her stride and which leaves us in awe of her.

In what we imagine many working parents can relate to, here is the story of how Anna got to where she is today and how she manages to juggle the inevitably competing list of demands that are placed on her.

Anna’s take on things

“Being a lawyer while also trying to bring up two young children is demanding and particularly where, like me, you have the added pressure of also having to take on the lion’s share of responsibility in running the family home.”

“To ensure that I can do what I need to do, I prepare and organize my days to be as efficient as I can to try to avoid work time creeping into family time and vice versa. It helps hugely that I work in a firm where the importance of being a parent is recognized and where the managing director, Abid Hussain, bends over backwards to create a working environment that is geared towards helping employees strike the right balance between their work life and their personal life.”

“It is also worth saying that, back in 2018 when I returned from maternity leave after having my second child, I made the conscious decision to work three days a week, but on the proviso that I would make those days count so that going part-time would not impact on my career progression or on the level of service that I could provide to my clients.”

“I am now the head of a rapidly expanding personal injury team, a client care and complaints manager, a human resources and health and safety manager and the lead developer of Step Legal’s risk management and regulatory compliance strategy.”

“I should add that I am also a very content mother and accomplished homemaker, who has two happy children and an extremely grateful partner and co-parent!”

Anna’s route to success

Anna qualified as a solicitor in 2004 and immediately knew that she wanted to specialize in personal injury law, principally because of the difference she could make to the lives of people whose world had been turned upside down by an accident for which they were not to blame.

She learned her craft at a leading law firm in Cheshire, where she quickly gained the experience needed to become recognized as an industry expert and which led to her being admitted as a member to The Law Society’s prestigious Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme.

In 2010 she moved firms and progressed rapidly up the ranks so that, by 2011, not only was she running a full personal injury case load but also assuming the role of an office manager.

In 2015 she gave birth to her first child and, after a short period away on maternity leave, returned to work to assume the role of her then firm’s risk and regulatory compliance officer.

In 2017 she had her second child and it was at this time that she was approached by one of her colleagues who wanted her to join him in launching a new business that was to start out life as a specialist personal injury firm.  That colleague was Abid.

How Anna and Abid met

Anna first came to know Abid when he interviewed her for the job that she moved into in 2010.  He was a director at the time and a leading member of the firm’s personal injury team.

Recalling their first meeting, Anna says:

“Abid was someone that I just instinctively clicked with.  I could tell from the moment that I met him that he had the kind of infectious energy and enthusiasm that would make working with him a joy and such a passion for the law that he would make an excellent mentor.”

And it seems that the feeling was mutual, with Abid adding:

“It was clear to me straightaway that Anna was my type of person.  She was fiercely intelligent, confident but without being brash and so full of ideas and love for what she did that I could see she had the potential to go far. As soon as her interview was over, I pushed my fellow directors to offer her a job and then spent the next eight years doing everything in my power to champion her talents, develop her career and facilitate her in becoming the great lawyer and colleague that she is today.”

“I also had no hesitation in asking her to join me when I set up Step Legal as I trust her judgement implicitly and knew that she would be there to back me and ensure that the venture was a success. She really is an amazing woman and someone that I view as my professional rock, as well as my personal friend.”

What Anna and Abid have achieved to date

Having launched Step Legal in 2019 as a bespoke personal injury practice with just two lawyers, Anna and Abid have worked hard to achieve rapid and impressive growth which means that, just two years later, the firm has evolved into a multifaceted business which also now deals with medical negligence, dental negligence, professional negligence and residential conveyancing and which employs five lawyers, one paralegal and Polish translator, two legal assistants, a legal marketing and PR consultant and a specialist web agency.

While Abid has undoubtedly been the main driver, Anna has been there to support him every step of the way and has been of pivotal importance in helping him to achieve many of the firm’s milestones through the provision of trusted advice, objective guidance and a willingness to turn her hand to whatever has needed to be done to enable the firm to prosper.

Some of her more recent successes have included helping the firm to achieve The Law Society’s Quality Conveyancing Mark, implementing a firm-wide case management system to increase efficiency levels and improve overall client experience, and leading and developing the firm’s risk and compliance policies and procedures.

For further information about Step Legal and its team of talented lawyers like Anna, please contact us on 0800 1956412  or visit our website at: www.steplegal.co.uk