Alice de Coverley - Our Voice, Our Stories
- Neurodiversity in Law
- Mar 21
- 4 min read
We asked Alice to share their experiences as a neurodivergent legal professional. Their story is part of 'Our Voice, Our Stories' - our series for Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025 featuring authentic experiences of neurodivergent legal professionals.
“Could you tell us more about your practice area?”
My area of practice (education and equality law) is directly relevant to neurodiversity. A large part of my work involves special educational needs, which means I deal with neurodivergent clients and families, and expert professionals, regularly. The cases I take on often turn on whether a system has properly understood and met the needs of a neurodivergent individual, so these issues are not abstract, they are at the core of the work.
My work in education and discrimination law has meant that neurodiversity is not just a legal concept but a constant, real-world issue in the cases I take on. School exclusions in particular are an area where the education system often fails to properly account for the realities of neurodivergence. I have seen first-hand how exclusion processes can disproportionately impact neurodivergent children, especially when behaviour is misunderstood rather than adequately supported. This is something I have written about extensively because it is one of the clearest examples of how structural failings can shape a person’s entire trajectory.
“What reasonable adjustments have you received in your workplace that have been particularly helpful for you?”
Effective reasonable adjustments for barristers often come down to how work is managed within your own clerking team. The structure of different chambers means adjustments aren’t always as formalised or uniform as they would be in an employed role, but small shifts in communication, diary management and admin processes can make a real difference. Clerks who understand how to work with your individual strengths rather than forcing everyone into the same system are invaluable. Mine certainly are. Because they know and understand that I'm neurodivergent, they know how best I work and communicate.
So, what can help in practice are things like realistic scheduling that accounts for how you work and how you best communicate. The more predictable the structure, the easier it tends to be for neurodivergent barristers too. Most barristers function well when they have some control over how their time is allocated rather than being overloaded with back-to-back hearings with no decompression time, paperwork dumped at random points in the day or sudden urgent deadlines that could have been anticipated.
Resistance to adjustments (if this is something you're facing) can come from a mix of tradition and practicality. Clerks work under huge pressure themselves, managing many barristers other than you, and need systems that are efficient for everyone. The best way to handle it is to show that working in a way that suits you also benefits them. If the neurodivergent way you prepare briefs, win hearings, organise paperwork, write articles, network, or manage communication makes you more efficient and you get good solicitor and client feedback, it helps the whole team.
“Are there specific technologies, apps, or tools that have been particularly helpful for you in managing your work as a neurodivergent legal professional?”
Task management apps like Todoist or Notion help with organising case prep, tracking deadlines, and breaking down bigger tasks into manageable steps. Otter.ai or Whisper AI can also be useful for transcribing conferences. Microsoft Teams, too, has a built-in transcription service and automatic captions which also benefits my clients, particularly when everything is online and it can be draining to be on a screen all day. I have also heard good things about iAnnotate and Remarkably.
“If you could change one thing about the legal profession to make it better for neurodivergent people, what would that be?”
The biggest change would be shifting away from the expectation that every barrister should work in the same way to be successful. The legal profession still values a very narrow idea of how people should think, process information, and manage their workload. There is an unspoken assumption that the best barristers thrive under pressure, work at a relentless pace and don’t need adjustments. Not true! That way of thinking pushes out talented people who could excel if the profession made room for different working styles.
We could all benefit from recognising that efficiency doesn’t always look the same for everyone. Some barristers work best with structured schedules, others need flexibility. Some respond best to written instructions rather than last-minute or out of the blue phone calls. Some will thrive with back-to-back hearings, others will work better with more time and breathing space for complex written work. The assumption that there is one right way to be a barrister means the profession loses out on people who could be exceptional advocates if given the right support.
“If you could travel back in time, what wisdom would you share with your younger self about navigating the legal profession as a neurodivergent person?”
I’d tell myself to stop chasing an invisible standard. The way in which I work is not a problem to fix, and trying to force myself into systems that were not entirely built for me only makes things harder. I’d remind myself that success comes from capitalising on my strengths rather than masking my differences, and that we don’t need to earn our place at the Bar by pushing ourselves past the point of exhaustion. Pacing ourselves is key!
This was part of ‘Our Voice, Our Stories’, a content series for Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025. Explore more stories in this series at www.neurodiversityinlaw.co.uk/ncw2025
Together, we can raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding neurodiversity in the legal profession because there is strength in all ways of thinking, and no mind should be left behind.
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