One Google search of Tunde Okewale MBE, will reveal a plethora of talents. Alongside many high profile awards including an appearance on GQ’s coolest men under 38.5 list and recognition for his charity work, he has a number of legal accolades under his belt. In 2014 he was named as “Diversity Champion” at the Legal Diversity Awards and early in his career he was named the Lawyer Magazine’s “Young Barrister of the Year” as well as being the first winner of Chambers & Partner’s award for making an “Outstanding Contribution to Diversity.” His often exasperated bitmoji appears regularly on his various social media feeds, most often imparting an inspirational quote to his many followers. He has appeared on both Radio 4 and Radio 1 Xtra. 

Tunde is far removed from the image of a stereotypical barrister and the archaic impressions that many get from the profession. British-Nigerian Tunde was brought up in a council estate in Hackney. He has worked extremely hard to get where he is now, working part and full-time jobs alongside his studies. Tunde has worked in Blockbusters and managed two jobs at once, undertaking night-shift work at Sainsbury’s while maintaining a day job at a Solicitors’ firm. As an outdoor clerk, Tunde ensured that he went above and beyond what was expected in order to impress.

Whilst working with a charity supporting young males who had been kicked out of school, Tunde was granted a scholarship to study the BPTC. He now works at Doughty Street, one of the top Chambers in the country. Tunde’s credentials speak for themselves; after only a few years call, he was acting as counsel in high profile murder cases.

Tunde Okewale is also a social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Urban Lawyers, a charity that aims to educate young people about their legal rights and to inspire those from ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds to enter the legal profession. He was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for ‘services to the community and disadvantaged young people’.

Tunde was as impressive in person as on paper. Wearing a tailored coat with fur lapels and a gold signet-like ring, Tunde Okewale is theatrical yet grounded, serious yet funny, and extremely inspiring. 5 minutes after meeting us, he was giving us his opinion on Stormzy’s new album and questioning the world’s obsession with Beyonce.

Tunde guided us through his route to the Bar with the help of 7 pieces of advice with the overall message that, despite barriers, you should never give up. If you have the Bar as your goal, you need to work as hard as you can to get there. There are many things that you can do to make your own success. Tunde didn’t previously know any barristers or legal professionals, however he changed his own luck by asking everyone he met if they knew barristers with whom he could do some work experience. Ultimately, if you don’t ask you don’t get.

On rejection, Tunde was realistic. He said that we are all bound to receive rejections throughout our lives. Rejections will come from romantic conquests, Tinder and Pupillage interview panels…If you want to go to the Bar, keep persisting and improve yourself for your next application.  

An audience member expressed her worries about any preconceptions concerning her natural Afro-Caribbean hair-style at the Bar. Tunde urged her to use her individuality and hypervisibility, even going on to say, ‘Prejudice has enhanced my presence at the Bar’. He conceded that he has used his race and his individuality to become memorable and to stand out however this was accompanied with a caveat that individuality invites criticism and that memorability is not enough. You must also be very good at what you do.

Tunde went on to encourage us to identify our unique selling points and what we would bring to Chambers. Chambers must have a business incentive to hire you. It is a competitive market so you need to work out how you add value. Tunde brought clients to his first Chambers. They were getting briefs from people who knew Tunde from his involvement with the charity. At that time, he was too junior to do murder cases but people wanted him to represent them.

On confidence, Tunde advised us to deal with it on a moment to moment basis. At any point there are certain variables that you can control in order to feel confident. Preparation is always key.

We would like to thank Tunde Okewale MBE for serving as Patron this year and travelling from London to host the Bar Society’s Annual Patron Lecture, the finale to Diversity Week 2017. 

Written by Roshni Popli.