My legal life: Chantal Davies, professor of law, University of Chester

I grew up in the 1970s as the child of a single parent surviving on welfare benefits, so being a lawyer was never something I thought possible. However, I had a keen interest in social justice and when an inspirational teacher suggested that law could be an option it suddenly opened a new possibility. I was lucky enough to get a place at Oxford University to study law and then went on to undertake a training contract and qualify with Eversheds before taking up a role as a human rights/gender equality solicitor with the Equal Opportunities Commission.

In 2005, I made the move from legal practice into legal academia. I had just had my son and the culture in legal practice at the time was inflexible. As a newly single parent, I was finding the long hours and travel involved in practice difficult to reconcile with childcare and working in a university law school offered a solution. Naively, I thought the transition would be easy, but it soon became clear that I needed to develop a whole new skill set particularly around legal research. It wasn’t until I got my PhD and became a professor of law in 2016 that I felt I had caught up somewhat.

My disabled elderly mum lives with me and I am a single parent to an 11-year-old daughter, a 20-year-old son, a dog and two cats! The biggest struggle for me has always been finding a balance between work and caring responsibilities. Whilst being a legal academic is flexible, the lack of consistent hours and ever-increasing demands in higher education can feel like a ‘whole of life’ job.

My day normally starts around 6am when I wake and check emails and my timetable for the day. Students will frequently message needing a quick response, and I have responsibility for pastoral care as well as teaching responsibilities. I will then get my daughter to school, walk the dog and make sure my mum is comfortable and safe before I leave for work. Some days I can work from home but during term time I usually teach around three days a week on campus which is an hour from where I live.

A typical day in term time will involve teaching for around three hours a day. I will usually have two or three other meetings to attend. Much of my work involves research and sitting on various internal and external committees. Therefore, on a typical day I could have a meeting about a prospective funding bid, a committee meeting and perhaps a meeting with a student. Prior to the pandemic I would only be able to fit in one or two in-person meetings a day but now it isn’t unusual to have several meetings lined up online. Typically, I will also have teaching preparation, putting together research funding bids, writing a publication or writing up research.

I love my work as co-vice chair for the Law Society Women Solicitors Network (WSN) committee. For the last couple of years I have been co-leading the Women in Law Pledge project team, so I may also have a meeting relating to my work with the WSN committee. On a busy day of meetings and teaching, I do find it difficult to carve out the necessary time for research and writing.

Travel is increasingly difficult for me as my mum is now very disabled and I need to be home for my young daughter. However, I have found that the ability to engage online with global partners has been revolutionary and it means I am able to participate far more in national and international work now.

In the evening, I will help my daughter with her homework and then spend an hour or so trying to catch up on emails and research. Recently, I have tried to avoid working weekends to spend time with family but there are times when I must work weekends for open days at the university, for example, and during heavy marking periods.

Whilst there is probably more flexibility in academia than legal practice, there are days when balancing everything feels overwhelming and my to do list looms like a spectre before me. I am at an age where I am the ‘squeezed’ middle between caring for an elderly parent and young child and my energy levels are not what they were. Some days I feel that I am not doing anything particularly well. However, I have learnt that I can’t do everything and sometimes something must give.

The best advice someone gave me was to be more strategic. It isn’t about working every hour and getting up at 3am to complete a working day before the children wake. It is about understanding priorities and making sure the working time you have is productive. I now try to focus strategically on clear priorities and have stopped overworking everything. As a consequence, my work-life balance has improved significantly. It has become a bit of a mantra for me but ‘work smarter not harder’ is the key!