As a young trainee lawyer, Dawn Dixon shied away from
working in a City environment, rejecting it as "too
hostile". Yet just a few years later, she had set up shop
in the very heart of the district she had turned her back
on, co-founding the first black-owned City law firm,
Webster Dixon.
Since then, the firm has gone from strength to strength,
with a second office move in the planning, and staff
recruitment continuing apace.
Growing up, Dawn Dixon didn't know anyone who worked in
the legal profession. She was attracted to the law because
"nobody in my family had anything to do with it." However,
when she mentioned the idea to the careers officer at her
convent school, she was told that she was setting her
standards too high for a black girl and should consider
being a librarian.
To make things worse, she didn't go to a red-brick
university, which she was told was necessary to get ahead
in the law. Also, getting articles in the City was not
easy.
"I was competing with people who I felt were more rounded
than me, who had been exposed to professionals in their
home lives and were more comfortable around them," she
says. "I didn't feel the City environment was one in which
I could excel at that time."
Another difficulty was that some firms did not realise she
was black until the time of the interview. "You don't know
my colour by my voice or name. I met a few people who were
surprised when they saw me, which made the interviews
uncomfortable. I look back now and find their reactions
amusing," she says.
These early challenges gave Dixon the opportunity to train
with a smaller firm, William Heath & Co., which she
believes gave her the essential tools and client exposure
for setting up and running her own business.
She was the first black woman at William Heath and the
second female partner when she was promoted at the age of
28, which can't have been easy given that Dixon says it
was a very traditional firm managed by an ex-army lawyer
of a "very different generation to me."
Despite her success at William Heath, she decided to set
up her own firm at the tender age of 30. By then, Dixon
who was born in Clapham of Jamaican parents, had met
Michael Webster, a partner in another law firm, who shared
her views. In 1998 they took the plunge and as she
describes it, "opened a black-owned firm, in the City, in
the belly of the beast."
Webster Dixon LLP is the first black-owned law firm in the
City. This is very different from a black firm where all
the staff are black. A black-owned firm is one where the
ownership is black, but the firm is very much
multicultural.
Starting from scratch and working her way up against the
odds was, pretty much, part of the course for Dawn.
Restrictive covenants meant that Dawn and Michael could
not take many of their clients with them to their new
practice. They, therefore, placed ads in newspapers and on
local radio, and also made a concerted effort to network
through organisations such as Breakfast Network
International.
Now in its ninth year, Webster Dixon is highly successful
with smart offices and a wide-ranging employment,
property, private client litigation and company/commercial
practice. The business has around 3,500 clients, including
small to medium companies, entrepreneurs, dotcoms, radio
stations and private individuals.
The firm has been featured widely in the press, including
in the Lawyer Hot 100. Dawn herself has appeared in and
provided quotes for broadsheets such as the Financial
Times and the Times.
One of the things that she is most proud of is taking
trainees through to qualification because she knows that
she has then made a difference to their professional
lives.
"I've often said that the legal profession is suffering
from PMS: It's pale, male and stale. If you don't fit into
the dominant culture, then you're perceived to be at a
disadvantage. On the contrary, we have taken on a mix of
trainees: black/white, male and female. Some were rejected
by the City, but all have become excellent lawyers," she
says.
Dixon joined the Association of Women Solicitors (London
group), and is its first Chair from an ethnic minority.
She organised its 80th anniversary Ball at the Sheraton
Park Lane with a 1920's theme which was a great success
both as a social event and financially.
She also sits on many legal panels including the Diversity
in Law with Global Graduates Training panel which aims to
attract, assist and increase the number of ethnic
minorities into law. She sits on Tribunals for Legal
Services Commission, on the funding reviews and costs
committees, the Law Society's Professional Negligence
Panel and other panels.
Dawn recently gave a talk to the Italian Bar Council in
Rome at a conference organised by the Italian Equal
Opportunities Commission. She spoke about the experience
of women solicitors in England.
When not at work or engaged in her many activities, Dawn
claims to be a homebody, and loves cartoon network and
enjoying her house and garden.
