Change Maker: Justin Farrance helping aspiring lawyers to grow

There was a time when Justin Farrance was told he should tone down his ‘gayness’ or even hide his sexuality if he wanted to become a successful lawyer.

“And this came from people working in the industry that I was aspiring to enter,” he says. “If they’re saying that, it must be true – you end up believing it.”

Happily, he ignored the advice and asked one interviewer if he could be successful in the firm as a gay man. He still bumps into the partner at A&O Shearman who reassured him.

“She said I could be myself there and put me in touch with the LGBTQUIA+ network. I joined and she still tells me how grateful she is we had that conversation.”

Justin is now a champion of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the law firm, working with clients and colleagues around the world to discuss how to embed diversity in business.

In his spare time he founded social mobility charity GROW Mentoring, which has helped more than 10,000 diverse students believe in themselves enough to pursue a legal career.

Growing up in a small Essex seaside town and attending an all boys state school, it wasn’t until he studied management at Warwick Business School (WBS) that he felt comfortable coming out.

“Warwick felt modern and dynamic – a place where I could be myself. My friends and faculty were incredible,” he says.

While Justin originally trained as an employment lawyer, he’s forged a new role as the firm’s first global EDI ambassador.

Over the last two years, he’s visited many of the company’s 40 international offices to discuss the benefits of diversity with leading clients.

“I’m a big advocate of taking control of your career rather than sticking to a linear path. I have the sponsorship of company leaders to thank for that,” he says.

Justin has already picked up a string of undergraduate and industry awards for achievement and leadership. But it was a viral post on LinkedIn that led him to launch his charity.

He offered to share his good fortune in working for a top law firm and help others from diverse backgrounds to start their legal careers.

Swamped by thousands of requests, he quickly ran out of friends and colleagues to lean on as informal mentors.

Pro bono legal advice from A&O Shearman helped him to meet the Charity Commission requirements and found GROW Mentoring – and his employer is now also a pro bono client.

The rewards of mentoring

Since 2020, the charity has helped aspiring students at more than 150 universities. Applicants are paired with professionals at partner firms and organisations – which include eBay, TikTok and Amazon – to advance EDI and social mobility in the legal sector.

And there’s no shortage of willing mentors, as savvy use of social media spreads awareness of GROW’s work.

It’s the individual stories that demonstrate the impact that mentoring has on young people's careers.

“We’ve had students living with siblings in one-bed flats on council estates go on to get jobs at some of the world’s biggest law firms,” says Justin.

“They tell us that without their GROW mentors they would never have got this far – though, of course, they have achieved this themselves.”

Having lacked the language and network to propel him, he puts his confidence to embark on a legal career down to the support he received at WBS and a course that forced him out of the classroom and into executive suites.

“Just turning up and sitting in board meetings – I can’t explain how much confidence, practical skills and self-development I gained from that,” he says.

“More than theory, WBS gave me the tools to back myself and unlock skills that I never knew I had. Without that, I wouldn’t have this entrepreneurial, creative outlook that I do today.”

Still just 28 years old, Justin has his own mentors to provide a valuable sounding board and ensure he is not too hard on himself.

“I’m a perfectionist. If I make a mistake – and I’ve made tonnes – I need to know that it’s normal, this is how you learn.”

This year has been tough – double hip surgery forced him to take a break from work, but it has also been revelatory. Convalescence has given him time to pause and genuinely switch off.

“For the first time in my life, I had to stop what I love doing physically, so prioritising my mental health has been important, spending time with friends and family.”

He counts human rights activist Malala Yousafzai as one of his greatest inspirations.

The Malala Foundation, which champions education for girls and young women, now has global reach, and he hopes his own charity will continue to expand.

And he believes the racist riots across English towns and cities last summer are proof that the battle for acceptance and diversity has not been won. In response, the charity launched a scheme to fund taxi rides for students who found themselves in threatening situations.

“We didn’t want any student feeling forced to choose between a weekly food shop or the cost of a taxi ride for safety. The response has been overwhelming – this has been a real way to have an impact at such a difficult time for the UK.”

If he has any advice, it’s not to be daunted by youth and inexperience.

“Age is just a number,” he says. “My employer supported me when a lot of people probably doubted my credibility. Now I have a fantastic, diverse team achieving incredible things.”

Meet more of Warwick Business School’s Change Makers.