OW Spotlight! Annabel Steele

Earlier on in the year, we had the pleasure of catching up with OW Annabel Steele on her incredible career journey as a barrister and her time at Westholme.

How would you describe your Westholme experience?

For me, Westholme was fantastic from start to finish. It is an incredibly supportive school that encourages students to find what inspires them and pursue it fearlessly.

My favourite subject was English Literature. My reception teacher, Mrs Rogers, first sparked my love of reading, and literature remained my favourite subject throughout my school years. I never considered studying anything else at university.

Outside the classroom, as everyone who knew me at Westholme will know, I was a very keen actress. There is no better place to explore a love of acting than Westholme; I have such a fond memory of walking into the Croston Theatre for an event and hearing the woman behind me turn to her partner and say, “Just wait until you see this, you won’t believe it’s a school theatre”.

I had the unfortunate affliction of being tall with a low singing voice, so I was a man in pretty much every production (as the senior school was all girls when I was there). I cannot actually remember playing a woman on the Croston Theatre stage at any point during my 15-year Westholme journey. But I didn’t mind it at all! From Javert to Sweeney Todd to Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I loved every second I spent on that stage. Fortunately, I’ve found a career that allows me to ‘perform’ in a slightly different context, although I’d get some funny looks if I turned up in my costume from Beauty and the Beast (yes, I was the Beast… thanks for that one, Miss Rob).

What have you been up to since leaving Westholme, and what inspired you to pursue a career in law?

I went to university in St Andrews to study English literature. After that, I moved to London to pursue a short-lived career in music, a hobby I developed after leaving Westholme. I got a job as a paralegal at a legal aid firm and realised that I was much less cool than I thought I was, and far preferred law to music. I decided that I wanted to become a Barrister. I am sure that every teacher I had at Westholme would be entirely unsurprised; I could never resist an argument… ahem, I mean a healthy debate.

I was called to the Bar of England and Wales in October 2024, and did my pupillage at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, a housing and public law chambers in central London where I am now a member. I specialise in housing and homelessness law, and housing-related antisocial behaviour. I act on all sides, but more often for the tenant/homeless person in cases funded by legal aid.

What do you enjoy most about your job? What does a ‘day-in-the-life’ look like?

There were always three things I wanted from a job: creativity, intellectual challenge and working with people. This is one of the few jobs that ticks all three boxes. I can get creative with the arguments I run, which is always a lot of fun; it is obviously very intellectually stimulating; and I get to work with people from all walks of life and in all sorts of situations.

A ‘day-in-the-life’ of a barrister is impossible to write down, because every day is different. I spend a huge amount of time on trains, travelling to courts up and down the country. Some days, I am in court for shorter application hearings; other days, I am in full-day trials or appeal hearings. When I’m not in court, I am working from home or in chambers, drafting pleadings or legal opinions for my clients.

Appeals are probably the cases that I enjoy working on the most, because it is at the appeal stage that you get to analyse how the law really works, how it should work and whether it was properly applied in whatever decision you are appealing. When an appeal gets to the higher courts (the High Court, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court), you have a real chance of changing the law. I am instructed as junior counsel on a High Court case at the moment, and I’d love to appear in the Court of Appeal soon, and even in the Supreme Court one day.

Any advice for current students here at Westholme? 

Follow your dreams and your passions without shutting yourself off from other avenues. I spent my entire school career thinking I was going to be a journalist, but because of the breadth of opportunities on offer at Westholme, I’d still tried my hand at a million different things, which had prepared me for a million different jobs. So, when I got to the ripe old age of 23 and realised that, in fact, I wanted to be a barrister, I had already gained relevant experience from school, even though law wasn’t on my radar back then. I’d debated competitively, I’d written opinion pieces for the school newspaper and I’d spoken at events in front of a full Croston Theatre. Westholme is exceptionally good at preparing you not only for the career you think you want, but for all the other careers that you might stumble across and fall in love with. So keep an open mind and take every opportunity that comes your way; you never know where you might end up!