Gillian Cloney

Legal Counsel, Better Collective, Copenhagen University of Glasgow Law School Graduate 2012

I graduated in 2012 from the University of Glasgow and went on to complete my Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in 2013. The highlight of my LLB was, without a doubt, my ERASMUS year at the University of Copenhagen. The experience of living in another country taught me a lot about myself and I loved meeting and studying with future lawyers from all over the world.

I started my traineeship at a leading Scottish law firm. Shortly after starting as a trainee, my firm went through a merger and I found myself working for a large global law firm. After completing my two year traineeship, I qualified into the firm’s Edinburgh Corporate team, primarily focusing on Financial Services work. While I loved living and working in Edinburgh, I always wanted the opportunity to work in another European city. To that end, three and a half years after qualifying as a Solicitor and eight years after I left Copenhagen as an ERASMUS student, I decided to take the plunge and move to back to Copenhagen with my other half.

After taking a couple of months out to unpack boxes and build lots of flat-pack furniture, I have recently started a new role as in-house Legal Counsel at a Danish technology company. My new role is very different to being in a large private practice Corporate team – not least because I now cycle to the office!

Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work alongside some exceptionally intelligent and strong women that I look up to. As a result, I have always felt inspired and can honestly say I have never felt held back as a young woman in the legal profession. However, I think it is important not to take the progress that has been made so far for granted. I am lucky to have never felt restricted in my career but that is only the case because of the strong female role models around me, and I hope to repay the favour one day in the future.

I am proud to be a woman in law because I am in very good company.

Gillian Cloney's portrait.
“I am lucky to have never felt restricted in my career but that is only the case because of the strong female role models around me.”