Celebrating Sonia Williamson - A Trailblazer in Law

Law is a profession known for being traditional – with a reputation for weighing risk with precise caution, industry innovation doesn’t happen overnight.  This tradition-driven culture extends to individuals too. For most lawyers, the career path is set in stone – train, qualify, and climb the ranks aiming for partnership. But this is a culture that is starting to shift. Sonia Williamson saw this change coming and has spent the last decade at the heart of the legal innovation movement, steadfastly pursuing her passion: doing things better, differently.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2025, Accelerate Action, could not be more relevant to Sonia’s career. She knows how important it is to have visible role models who aren’t just figures of inspiration, but who are proactive in their support of progress for women’s empowerment. Sonia has built a career that is defined by ‘accelerated action’ - in driving industry innovation and championing change for the next generation of women in law, proving that success in the legal industry is no longer “one-size-fits-all".

Here, we celebrate the career of Sonia Williamson, sharing her take on the impact of role models, and why shaking up the legal industry is not just exciting... it’s the future.  

Sonia’s Career 

Sonia’s journey began at Eversheds, where she qualified as a property lawyer, recalling,  “The only career path then was, how fast can you get to partnership?” Initially assuming her own career would follow this well-trodden path, a secondment to the in-house team of a client based in Jakarta ended up redirecting her professional trajectory. “It gave me the bug for in-house law,” says Sonia, recounting her later decision to make the move from law firm to internal legal counsel, a choice that would greatly impact her career journey and open unexpected doors. 

Her time as General Counsel for Talk Talk Technology was pivotal in sparking her drive for being part of innovation, “we were a young, pioneering business trying to disrupt the market and do things really differently. It was a very exciting place to be working.” But after seven years, Sonia was ready for the next stage: 

“It got to the point where I was having the same arguments that I’d been having for many years. I wanted to develop my own career and do something different. I started looking for an alternative role, but discovered that because I was a subject matter expert in telecomms, the roles would be the same. Changing the colour of the letterhead, but having the same arguments.”  

In 2014, Sonia was introduced to the CEO of one of the first alternative business structures in the UK. “It was a pretty big leap of faith,” Sonia reflected, as she described this pivotal moment in her career – meeting the leadership team of Riverview Law:  

“It was absolutely a start-up business, and what they were doing, which was Managed Legal Services, was brand new to the legal industry and a totally different way of working. They were providing a service that in-house counsel didn’t have at the time. I just got it. I understood it and I genuinely wanted to be part of the journey because I could see what benefits it would bring for people who were sitting in an in-house role.”

Recognising the potential of managed legal services, EY acquired Riverview Law in 2018, while Sonia assumed a role as Head of Managed Legal Services & Projects, “We were doing law in a new way, delivering excellence for clients and innovation to the market,” she recalls. Going beyond innovative service provision, Sonia was instrumental in the establishment of pioneering training programmes. As a result, the business became the first authorised by the SRA to include technology in its training contracts.

While working as Head of Legal Managed Services for Deloitte, Sonia was introduced to Pinsent Masons’ professional services business, Vario. “It had the feel of a startup, but within an established law firm. Having spent 4 years in Big 4, Sonia was excited to return to her roots, “For me, it’s always been about that kind of startup mindset; disruptive, and doing things differently, better. I was excited to be part of pushing Vario to the next level.” 

In her role today as Head of Managed Legal Services Client Account Management, Sonia is uniquely positioned to support Managed Legal Services (MLS) clients, having spent over a decade developing and delivering MLS solutions, but also because she’s been in the clients’ shoes. Leveraging her first-hand insight into the challenges in-house teams face, Sonia works with clients to deliver solutions tailored to their unique strategic needs. “That’s why I was excited to go into the MLS movement from the start – I really understood the need it was trying to fix, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it because I’m passionate about it.” 

Mentorship 

When Sonia began her career, visibility of women in senior leadership roles was rare, but empowering. Partnership was the ultimate goal that ambitious lawyers were working towards, but, as Sonia recalls, “At that time, women getting to partnership was very unusual. A woman getting to equity partner was even rarer.” So, when Sonia had the opportunity to work with a formidable female equity partner in her training year, the lessons she learned through this experience were career-alteringly impactful. Sonia recalls one of these transformative experiences: 

“I had presented recommendations to a client during an all-day board meeting. I was terrified – it was a big thing for a trainee to be doing. And I could feel her assessing me the whole way though. That night she drove me home in her fabulous convertible, and she gave me her feedback. I hadn’t given the presentation in a way that gave confidence to the client.

She told me how important it is to speak with clarity and conviction so that clients would trust me. So, she told me to re-present to her and practise my vocal projection there and then, and she wanted to hear every word clear as day. Then she put the roof down.” 

“We were going at 60mph, the wind was coming at me, and I really had to project. I practised it for her over and over until that confidence was embedded. All these years on, it absolutely stuck with me. It was such a good lesson: the importance of showing, even if you don’t quite feel it, confidence through your voice.” 

Years later, Sonia was able to pay this learning forwards. She supported a talented young woman, helping her build confidence and improve her vocal delivery. “We worked together on her projection, and by the end, she was literally standing that little bit taller. In a short period, she progressed up to management, and she told me that she wanted to pay it forwards too.” Inspired by her own mentor, Sonia continues to pass on these valuable lessons, “We have to work hard to find our voices – there's so much value in having diversity of thought at the table.” 

Conclusion 

Reflecting on her career journey, Sonia acknowledges that her career path has been non-traditional. While many lawyers follow the conventional path, driven by what lies ahead in their career, Sonia has always been driven by the ‘what’s next’ for the legal industry. For most of her career, she has found immense satisfaction in delivering outside the box thinking, “bringing something new, fresh and different to the table always makes people stop and listen,” she affirms, “I always wanted to be passionate about what I was doing. I want to enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work.” 

Sonia’s path to career joy in the alternative legal service sphere has been built on a foundation of being open: “I’ve never closed any door. I’ve worked in all the different sectors, in many different roles, and I’ve learned so much from each of them.” Her advice to young lawyers is to take time to develop professional passion. “We spend more time at work than we do at home. So be passionate about what you do, and love what you do. Because if you’re passionate, you will attract other people to you who are passionate about what they do and then pay it forward.”