Kelly Ann Coleman - Our Voice, Our Stories
- Neurodiversity in Law
- Mar 18
- 10 min read
We asked Kelly 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.
"Would you mind introducing yourself and sharing which neurodivergent condition(s) you identify with or have been diagnosed with, to the extent you're comfortable doing so?"
I am Kelly, a qualified Solicitor (cross-qualified via CILEx) with 7 years PQE but many more years before that working as a paralegal or in legal roles. After many years as a fee earner, I decided to look to move into a more active learning and development role, and I presently work as an Advocacy Development Manager, predominantly developing those early in their advocacy careers as they are looking to obtain pupillage or qualify via alternative routes and become solicitor advocates.
I am a late-diagnosed Autistic with sensory processing disorder and ADHD. In high school, I was diagnosed as having Dyslexia and Dyscalculia. My early diagnosis of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia taught me to hide in plain sight, as my high school was aware I wanted to be a lawyer and they feared that it would prevent me from succeeding (acceptance of disclosure was very different in the 90's). Whilst well-intended advice, this led to me having a fear of being found out and expected non-acceptance, which is why I hid these conditions in my mid-30's. I only disclosed when it became apparent I was not able to hide anymore, and I thought the lack of disclosure was potentially preventing me from progressing at work.
When I chose to start disclosing that I had Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, it coincided roughly with when I began my journey into looking into ASD, as I started to want to see if there were additional reasons why, no matter what I was doing in life, I was putting so much more time and effort in compared to my peers, so I wondered if there was something else.
"How has your neurodivergent thinking provided unique advantages or perspectives in your legal work? Are there aspects of your neurodivergence that you consider professional strengths?"
Entering the workforce for me was something that was very double-edged. I excelled in many aspects of my role; however, other tasks that everyone else felt were rudimental, I struggled with (especially if there was rigidity of how processes worked internally). I did my best to work out work-arounds so I appeared to be keeping up with my peers. This usually was making crib sheets or tools for myself to meet their normal standards, often outside of work hours. Some of my tools that I created did get spotted and were implemented in some roles, so it has made me feel like I am contributing in a meaningful way even if it did not start off that way.
My whole life I have had a keen interest in human behaviour. I think this largely led to why I was diagnosed late in life as Autistic, as I taught myself to mask from an early age. My interest stemmed from me realising early in life I did not think or react like others, and I wanted to understand why people did or responded the way they did. Once I was able to observe what were "normal" ways to respond, it helped me adapt better with those around me, so this led to me "masking" to assimilate and play the role that I was needed in what I was doing at the time.
Masking has led to me being able to be what people needed me to be. Once in the workplace, this largely served me well as it led me to learning so much. Due to my adaptable nature, I acquired a large caseload, often more than others in my team, and gave me so much exposure to work. The fact that I could hyperfocus meant that I was able to power through great caseloads diligently without mistakes, only when I was left to run them in the way that made sense to me, which some firms were more on board with than others as long as I was left to do things and process the information my way.
Equally, masking and observing has aided me in being able to observe and notice people, and this has often let me adapt to meet their needs, especially in training and development of junior team members. Whilst I may not be great on the social interactions in teams, this skill I have been able to develop particularly with mentoring my team/departments that I work in.
Another aspect of my neurodivergence for me is that of my ability to hyperfocus. It means that when the pressure is on, I can just crack on and produce work, drafting, or get on with projects that can normally take days/weeks in a short period of time. I often find that the more pressure I am under, the more productive I tend to be - if I am allowed to do things that work the way my brain wants to process the information, and I am not forced to necessarily follow what everyone else is doing.
"What reasonable adjustments have you received in your workplace that have been particularly helpful for you?"
As someone who has other physical issues, I have never taken issue with asking for accommodations from an employer before I started a new role. Chair, split keyboards, specialty mice and headphones with microphones so I did not have to hold a phone up to my ear were always on my onboarding forms.
Whilst most employers are clued up on Dyslexia, there does seem to be a gap when it comes to other neurodivergence. When it came to seeking accommodations for Dyslexia, I found most employers had measures such as software they could offer right away. Saying that I had suspected Autism was met with, "What are we supposed to do to support you through this?" and I did not know. As I was not offering them anything, I felt it was left to come back to them when I had something for them to implement.
Having the benefit of hindsight, earlier in my career I have come to realise I was given the opportunity to move out of large offices to smaller and smaller offices, to the point I was eventually in an office of my own, which at the time I was able to cope with. I was given noise-cancelling headphones to take calls, but I often left them on all day. However, the older I have got, and with other external life events, this has led to me increasingly having my sensory issues overload me very easily. Things that I was able to do even a few years ago I now cannot face. One thing the pandemic has taught me was that working remotely was something that meant I was better able to cope with work and life demands, so now I know this is an accommodation I need.
"Have the reasonable adjustments you've requested actually made a meaningful difference to your work experience? In what ways?"
I am new to Grammarly, and I am thankful for a piece of software that can be so helpful and make me more confident in reviewing and returning documents to those that I supervise.
Working remotely, I found that my work-life was balanced and better. With not being in an office, the mental tax of masking all the time is gone, and whilst I am on the phone a lot supporting the self-employed advocates, I feel like I can give them so much more by actually looking after myself, which is something for most of my life I was neglecting, largely as I did not know the toll it was taking on me.
"How did your experience as a neurodivergent person differ between legal education and legal practice? What would you like legal educators to know?"
I think what I would like to see from legal educators is them having the ability to see that not everyone learns in the same way, and you as the educator need to adapt, not the learner. This is something I have actively wished to emulate myself as I transition from working in practice to a more active learning and development role.
"Have you had mentors or allies who were particularly helpful in supporting your career? What made their approach effective?"
I have had the benefit of strong mentorship from key supervisors at pivotal points in my career. I was lucky they could see in me that I could be the lawyer I am today by taking the actual time to stop, listen and adapt to me to bring the best out in me. Without them, I likely would have given up, as I could sense that I was not fitting in the world like my peers were. I am just glad they could see what they could see in me, and they were willing to nurture it. I will spend the rest of my career looking to be the same for others in the same way.
"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?"
You always knew it was going to be a hard road to qualify; do not be discouraged by all the extra challenges that you are going through. It will only make you want it more, and those struggles will make you better for it.
Spend some more time looking to see if there are other ways to qualify. Don't always just follow the standard path, as there is more than one way into law, and potentially, one of the alternatives could be a better way for you. Doing things differently does not make you any less than those who did things traditionally.
Education may seem hard, and you are putting in more hours than everyone else, but they are achieving better grades. It's okay - your methods will get you where you need to be to pass; you do not need top grades to qualify. What you learn for your exams is not necessarily what you are going to do in practice (sorry to break it to you, you are going to fail the civil litigation exam on the LPC as you answered how you do at work, not how you were taught!). Once you get into practice, you will thrive!
Your desire to be a lawyer is strong, and whilst many said you would not become one and you may not follow the traditional path to get there, you will get there! Be proud you see through the noise and can be pragmatic and resilient, and be open to seeing that other paths exist to get you to where you want to be.
But, alas, this is not something I can say to myself, but as I take on mentees myself, I will always ask them to look at all the options and look to support them in the path that they choose.
"What coping strategies would you recommend for those who may not be ready to disclose or request reasonable adjustments yet?"
Make sure that you find someone that you can trust who can support you if you are not ready to disclose to your employer. This can be a friend or a fellow co-worker, but just have someone that you can talk to for support; do not try and do everything alone.
Look at the problems that you are facing and problem-solve and find strategies or create tools for yourself that make your day-to-day easier to ensure that you are achieving what you need to be doing. Create a checklist, spreadsheets, set reminders, timers, and find that mentor within the team that can help you succeed in your role.
If these are not working and you are making mistakes or getting close to making some, speak to someone to see if they can support you in that difficult conversation with your employer.
"What strategies have you developed to prevent burnout or manage energy levels, particularly in high-pressure legal environments?"
I think the biggest one for me would be looking to implement and adhere to boundaries. This is something I largely struggle with, as I am always wanting to help, and I do bend over backwards and always put my needs last. This is something I am working on, and I do well for long periods of time that easily fall off the wagon. When you do feel you are close to burnout, look to book time off, even if you take it off to do nothing and just recharge. That is not a wasted holiday break.
Having ignored my needs for a long time and having so many responsibilities, both work and personal, had led me to autistic burnout and largely led to the fact of why I was diagnosed. It took so much time for me to get back on track after resting for a number of weeks. Whilst in burnout, you can go back to studies/work, but you need to implement boundaries so you can recover. Give yourself permission to give yourself forgiveness, grace, and acceptance for the fact you need the time you need to have a break, not go to the social function that you said you would attend, or the fact you need to recharge by doing nothing.
"Have you developed any particular approaches to professional networking events or building relationships that work well with your neurodivergent traits?"
For me, my openness has led to me making connections with people that I work with, which has been nice as I am starting to realise that I am not alone in this world being different, which for the vast majority of time I have thought I was the odd one out. Those in the neurodivergent community have been largely welcoming since I have started to join it over the last year or so.
I have never been one for networking; largely holistically, the connections I have made are through working on projects or working in departments. Since my diagnosis and after following Neurodiversity in Law and joining as a volunteer, it's the first time I have actively made steps to try and network actively. So for me, this is very much still a work in progress.
"How do you navigate client interactions as a neurodivergent legal professional? Have you found ways to utilise your neurodivergent traits in building client relationships?"
The masking skills that I have developed and my strong desire for client/customer care are at the forefront of everything that I do, as I know this is what creates great personal/corporate branding and fosters returning/continued working relationships.
I may not be the greatest with small talk, but I tend to read people well, and my empathy skills, I think, have allowed me to largely build relationships and rapport with clients quickly.
"What aspects of law firm or organisational culture are most important for supporting neurodivergent professionals?"
I feel "neurodiversity" has become more and more of a buzzword for law firms in recent years. I think they are actively wishing to find out more about it and wishing to make their employees feel safe and supported to disclose. I think showing them an active wish to engage is the first step, and I do hope to see these firms educate and implement what they are learning so that fostering disclosure will become easier for employees.
"What is your vision for neuroinclusivity in the legal profession? If you could change one thing about the legal profession to make it better for neurodivergent people, what would that be?"
I would like to see a change in which we stop trying to measure every candidate with the same stick, as this singular approach loses so much talent.
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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