From Bloxham to London’s Law Courts

Early in the Lent Term 2024, we were delighted to welcome alumni and successful lawyer Vicky Fox (Wf 00-02) to Bloxham. She spoke to our Sixth Form students about career journeys, her path into law and encouraged students to seek out every opportunity. The students and staff who attended Vicky’s talk were impressed by her passionate and inspirational messages.

 

Vicky was Bloxham’s first female School Captain and she was involved in every part of Bloxham life. This is evident from The Bloxhamist in her leaving year with the numerous mentions both inside and outside the classroom. On the academic side, she won the Shaw Geography Prize, the Senior Business Studies Prize and the Aubrey Deeley Biology Prize. Following Bloxham, and after her degrees in Business Management and in Law, she became a lawyer (not via a conventional route, as she explains in our interview). Today, she lives in London with her husband and young son and most recently held the position of Vice President of Burford Capital.

 

What did you study at Bloxham?

I chose to study a wide range of subjects at A Level: Geography, Business, Art and Biology purely on the basis of which ones I enjoyed the most! I suppose it is pretty unusual to have a range of humanities, sciences and arts but I had a wonderful two years and was very busy. Among other things, at Bloxham I was part of the debating society, the 1^st XI hockey team and was captain of the 1^st VII netball team.

 

What else did you enjoy?

As well as lots of studying, I have fond memories of being part of the school’s Young Enterprise programme (a nationwide scheme to give Sixth Form students the opportunity to create and run their own businesses). We created ‘Revolution’ – producing and selling novelty clocks, as well as providing a Valentine’s Day service. This experience taught me early on a lot of the key skills needed to work as part of a team. I remember we were selected to represent the UK in the Young Enterprise European Trade Fair in Stavanger, Norway. And although we didn’t win, it was an incredible experience! We also attended the Oxfordshire Trade Fair and won Best Overall Company. At the Banbury area presentations award we came first place which meant that we had a place at the county final where we won multiple awards and this led us to the Southeast England finals. It was a tough day but we were thrilled to win third place, which at the time made us the most successful Young Enterprise team that the school, and Oxfordshire had produced.

 

At 18 did you know what you wanted to do?

I joined Bloxham for Sixth Form and really didn’t know what career path I wanted to take. I had an idea that I wanted to do ‘something in the City’. I was attracted by the hard work, exciting lifestyle, the lucrative career opportunities and financial gain. There were many options, but I just wasn’t sure which one I wanted to pursue long term.

 

Where did you go after leaving Bloxham?

I chose to read Business Management at Nottingham University because of its good reputation, broad application and career prospects following graduation. I have always enjoyed business and economics and thought that something business related was where my future path would lie. However, at graduation I was still unsure of what I wanted to do and so I studied for a graduate diploma in law at Oxford Brookes University. More commonly, this is known as the law conversion course.

 

While studying for my diploma, I secured a training contract with city law firm Stephenson Harwood, who sponsored me through the Legal Practice Course (an additional year’s study which must be undertaken prior to commencing the formal training contract with a law firm – whether or not you have studied law as an undergraduate). Having completed my academic studies, I started my training contract with Stephenson Harwood in 2008, and went on to work there for almost 15 years! During the initial training, I learnt about the practical side of being a lawyer (for example how to act in court, client meetings, civil procedure and drafting documents). I took six-months ‘seats’ in different departments within the firm such as corporate law and financial law. I also travelled to the Singapore office, which gave me the opportunity to experience a whole new culture. I returned to the UK and took my final ‘seat’ in commercial litigation which is where I found my enjoyment of law. It grasped me – being in the nitty gritty of a dispute, I found it really interesting and the variety of cases is huge.

 

What has been the most interesting professional achievement?

One case that really sticks out in my mind involved the collapse of an Icelandic bank. My client was accused of having conspired to bring down the bank, by taking out a very large loan shortly before the collapse. Early one morning, I had a call from one of the firm’s senior partners: “Your client has been arrested, they have been pulled out of bed. Their offices are being raided by the Serious Fraud Office and are being interviewed by the police!” My role was to sit with the SFO officers who were trying to confiscate documents and what they thought was evidence. However, there are rules that govern that process and my role was to make sure they were adhering to these processes and to keep a record of everything that happened as it was inevitable that there would be some sort of dispute afterwards. That incident informed the rest of my career.

 

My law firm challenged the SFO’s decision to arrest the clients (it was found to be unlawful), we then sued the SFO for the damages it caused and well, basically it snowballed! I worked for this one client for over a decade – it had legs that went everywhere; it had criminal proceedings, it had proceedings in offshore places like Jersey and Guernsey. They were a massively interesting client.

 

What advice would you give to students for a successful life after Bloxham?

The options are open. Bloxham gives you a great start in life and the options are there for the taking. Your career is a journey and, more often than not, it isn’t linear. One of the strongest pieces of advice I can give is that yes, your grades really are important and count so work hard, but also employers will look at your work experience. Getting a job is tough, it is really competitive so try and get as much work experience as possible, no matter how junior. Also, while at school and then in further education, join as many different clubs and societies as possible to make yourself stand out to potential employers.

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