Talking Law with Dr Sally Penni MBE
Sep 29, 2026 · 44 min · 16 segments
Sally Penni MBE is Talking Law with Denise Breen-Lawton KC. Denise is a criminal barrister at St Philips Chambers. She acts for both the prosecution and the defence in serious and complex cases, with…
Well, I'm looking at, you're in your room in chambers, and there's an enormous shelf, uh, with all sorts of boxes of briefs and books there, uh, which is just a sign of just how successful and, and hugely passionate you are about the law.
And I wanted to ask you perhaps some of the more traditional questions that I sometimes ask when I'm talking to people about their careers and successes in the law.
What, what would be advice that you would give to somebody who wants to enter the law now, like tomorrow, you know? You are hugely passionate about social mobility, aren't you?
And I often go to training events and mentoring events for young people at universities, and we do quite a bit of outreach work in chambers and at Gray's Inn.
My top tips, I think, would be really, if you're interested in a career at the bar, go to court and watch some advocacy.
The one thing I would say is that if you're going to do that, make sure you ask the usher to ask the judge for permission if you want to take notes, because you don't want to get into trouble for doing that.
So go and watch as much as you can in court proceedings so you get a feel for the sorts of things that happen, and the jury system, and what the job is really like.
Network as much as you can, and that's easier said than done, I think, particularly if you come from a background where you're not used to networking, and you walk into a room full of people who are really confident, or at least you perceive that they are really confident.
And you don't really know how to start a conversation because you don't know anybody, and that's quite a big barrier for young people, I think.
And they have to try and train themselves to do it, and to build their confidence in that way.
My top tip for that would be, you know, to just walk up to some people, say, "Hello," you know, "My name's so-and-so.
Uh, where have you come from today? Where do you work? What sort of things do you do?" And people generally respond well if you ask them lots of questions.
Be genuinely interested in where they've come from and what they're doing there.
And you actually find that those people that you thought re- were really confident and were really enjoying that experience also might think, "Oh, I don't really feel like networking today.
I don't really feel like doing this." But once you get into it, it's actually quite nice to get to know lots of different people and network.
Well, I'm looking at, you're in your room in chambers, and there's an enormous shelf, uh, with all sorts of boxes of briefs and books there, uh, which is just a sign of just how successful and, and hugely passionate you are about the law.
And I wanted to ask you perhaps some of the more traditional questions that I sometimes ask when I'm talking to people about their careers and successes in the law.
What, what would be advice that you would give to somebody who wants to enter the law now, like tomorrow, you know? You are hugely passionate about social mobility, aren't you?
And I often go to training events and mentoring events for young people at universities, and we do quite a bit of outreach work in chambers and at Gray's Inn.
My top tips, I think, would be really, if you're interested in a career at the bar, go to court and watch some advocacy.
The one thing I would say is that if you're going to do that, make sure you ask the usher to ask the judge for permission if you want to take notes, because you don't want to get into trouble for doing that.
So go and watch as much as you can in court proceedings so you get a feel for the sorts of things that happen, and the jury system, and what the job is really like.
Network as much as you can, and that's easier said than done, I think, particularly if you come from a background where you're not used to networking, and you walk into a room full of people who are really confident, or at least you perceive that they are really confident.
And you don't really know how to start a conversation because you don't know anybody, and that's quite a big barrier for young people, I think.
And they have to try and train themselves to do it, and to build their confidence in that way.
My top tip for that would be, you know, to just walk up to some people, say, "Hello," you know, "My name's so-and-so.
Uh, where have you come from today? Where do you work? What sort of things do you do?" And people generally respond well if you ask them lots of questions.
Be genuinely interested in where they've come from and what they're doing there.
And you actually find that those people that you thought re- were really confident and were really enjoying that experience also might think, "Oh, I don't really feel like networking today.
I don't really feel like doing this." But once you get into it, it's actually quite nice to get to know lots of different people and network.
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