Motivational Monday: In-house Lawyer

Class of 2006 alumna Sonia Kenawy, who works in emerging tech, highlights the power of curiosity, creativity and adaptability.

After a gap year studying at the University of Salamanca and travelling across South America, Sonia went on to read Italian and Spanish at UCL, graduating with first-class honours. Her year abroad included time at the University of Bologna and the Provincial High Court of Madrid, where she first observed how language functions within legal institutions. Sonia subsequently completed a law conversion course.

Sonia trained as a lawyer in litigation and arbitration, spending a decade in private practice working on complex corporate and commercial disputes, many with a technology dimension. Her caseload included matters involving emerging and novel technologies such as digital assets, automated vehicles and advanced manufacturing. She now works in-house at a leading international law firm, advising on AI governance, ethics and compliance, technology and supplier contracts, and data protection, while continuing to explore legal innovation through study and industry engagement.

She remembers her time at South Hampstead fondly, particularly the theatre, trips abroad and the influence of her English teacher, Mrs Rushforth, who inspired her lasting appreciation of language and its nuance.

Having recently returned for one of our careers fairs, and her 20-year South Hampstead reunion, Sonia shared this advice with students: “Pursue what interests you with curiosity rather than certainty. The clearest career paths are usually built in retrospect, not in advance.”  

For more information about South Hampstead’s alumnae events, please visit our Mehr Licht Community pages.