LinkedIn, Leadership & Life Lessons: Becca Horley’s Award-Winning Strategy - S9E24

0:00Roan Lavery:When you allow someone to talk and have a safe space to actually say what's on their mind, you can achieve a lot and cover a lot of ground. I'd say it's as simple as just listen, keep the promises that you make to yourself. Whatever happens in life, whatever happens with your job, things can happen outside of your control. But if you say to yourself, this is what I'm going to do and I'm going to stick to the promises. Yes, it boosts your self-esteem, but it also commands respect from other people because you are the person that does what they say they're going to do. And if you can showcase that you are reliable through content on LinkedIn, I think it's the best combination to really advocate for yourself.

0:35Roan Lavery:You can make a name for yourself before someone's met you. When you walk into a room, they go, oh, you're Becca. I've seen your posts on LinkedIn. Then you've already created a community before you're in the room. And why wouldn't we want to capitalize on that?

0:47Becca Horley:On today's Legally Speaking podcast, I'm delighted to be joined by Becca Hawley. Becca is a specialist medical negligence solicitor at a national law firm. She has experience in complex, serious injury matters, including brain birth, psychiatric and fatal injuries. Becca utilizes her LinkedIn platform to educate others on advocating for yourself, wellness and improving patient safety. She is passionate about professional empowerment and personal development. Becca was awarded Solicitor of the Year 2025 at the Birmingham Law Society Awards. So a very big warm welcome to the show, Becca.

1:23Roan Lavery:Hi, Rob. Thanks for the introduction. I'm really excited to be here.

1:27Becca Horley:Oh, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the Legally Speaking podcast. Finally, on the scale of one to ten, ten being very real, what would you rate the hit TV series Suits in terms of its reality of the law if you've seen it on the scale of one to ten?

1:44Roan Lavery:Probably one or zero.

1:48Becca Horley:A very convincing one or zero. And with that, we'll ask no more questions, then we'll move swiftly on to talk all about you. So to begin with, Becca, would you mind telling our listeners a bit about your background and career journey?

1:59Roan Lavery:Sure. So, I mean, I studied law with criminology at university at the University of Birmingham. And then I did a master's in professional legal practice alongside the LPC at the University of Law in Birmingham. And that's when I started to have a little think about what sort of areas of law I'd be interested in and mainly what would want to make me wake up in the morning and feel excited about my job. and that's when I started learning more about medical negligence and how you can use law to help change people's lives and improve them and I was looking at different firms and the national law firm that I did my training contract at was you know it had opportunities to do corporate and commercial and real estate but also medical negligence as well and so I did a training contract for two years and then I qualified as a medical negligence associate in September 2021 and I've been on quite an exciting journey as a young professional since then, up to winning Solicitor of the Year this year in February, which is really exciting.

3:00Becca Horley:Yeah, and look, we've been following your journey very avidly here on the Legally Speaking podcast. We're always looking for the brightest and sharpest minds, but also those putting things back into the community, which you're doing a great, tremendous job of. Just want to kind of go a little bit deeper because you touched on it there in terms of medical negligence and your journey into it, was there a defining moment that really inspired you to say, yes, this is absolutely the area that I want to go in versus so many others that are out there, particularly hard for people thinking about a career in the law?

3:29Roan Lavery:Sure. So when I was at the University of Law studying, some of my now colleagues actually did a presentation about one of the big cases they're working on. And, you know, when you're a student, it's exciting to know that the cases that your future colleagues are, you know, it's in the news. It's, you know, it's very high profile work, which is always exciting. But it was also as well, the story that they told us about how each individual client, you know, they felt hope when they hadn't felt like that for a long time. They felt like there was someone fighting their corner for them. And I thought, what do I want from my career?

4:03Roan Lavery:And I thought that's the role that I want to have. I want to be that support system for someone using the, all the skills and the knowledge that I've spent a lot of time at university studying. How can I transform that into a job that actually makes a difference. So, I mean, it started when I was at university, but when I think back to the A-levels that I studied, I did law, psychology and biology. So I think my actual interests as well, the way my brain works is always fascinated by science and law. And I get to combine both of those things. And it's a day that's never the same. You always get to learn new things.

4:38Roan Lavery:You're learning about medicine and your clients' lives and how to improve them. And I couldn't want more from a job, really.

4:45Becca Horley:Yeah, you really get to see the impact of your work for the clients that you're representing. And, you know, you've had a whole range of cases that you've had across your desk, but you very much are specialised in medical negligence. Again, for our listeners, what particular areas within medical negligence do you advise on and who do you act for, just to give us a bit more of a flavour of your day to day?

5:08Roan Lavery:sure so I only represent claimants so individuals patients um and their families um so I do a range of different cases where if someone's had a life-changing injury and through no fault of their own they would come to me and I have a whole range of orthopaedic so complex orthopaedic claims where um someone may have lost function in their shoulder and arms um due to maybe like a shoulder replacement, not going to plan. I have a range of ophthalmology cases where there's been a delay in surgery. And so some of my clients have lost their sight. And then I also have a delay in diagnosis of cancer cases, stillbirth cases and psychiatric claims as well.

5:53Roan Lavery:And so when there's been a fatal case, the client is then the person for the estate. So that would be their family. so a lot goes into the job in terms of yes you have to be a sharp legal mind but you also have to be sensitive and empathetic because a lot of you know my clients this is the worst thing they've ever gone through or they're going through a bereavement um so it's definitely a balance um of lots of different skills yeah and we talk a lot about on the legal stream podcast obviously

6:19Becca Horley:about tech for good and there's still the need for human human touch and obviously within your area of law specifically how do you ensure that you obviously do maintain that that human touch and and don't perhaps cross the line between personal and professional particularly given you're carrying very sensitive cases and and matters is there any advice you would give to people who might be in similar industries that are dealing with very very devastating situations at

6:44Roan Lavery:time yeah i mean in terms of giving a personal touch to clients i think it's having conversations over the phone, going to see them in person. So something that I offer is I always say, I'll come and visit you at your home. Because often clients that have had really serious injuries coming into a big swanky office isn't really on their top to do list or even possible or accessible for them. So I always go and visit my clients at home. And, you know, we have a chat at the kitchen table on the sofa. And that makes it feel more friendly. And, you know, it's an interesting conversation I think personal life versus professional life because who I am and how I hold myself is how I hold myself in all areas of my life so I think it's a I respect the conversation that some things are strictly professional but I think actually to be I think the way the legal profession needs to move forward is to bring our personal selves into our professional life because it's one life and that's how I like that's how I bring a personal touch is because I actually bring myself and my emotions.

7:49Roan Lavery:You know, there are times where cases do upset me and I really feel for my clients. But if I didn't have that empathetic and if I didn't actually care or feel those emotions, I don't think I'd have that driver to really be the advocate for them. So I actually think it's a winning combination.

8:04Becca Horley:Yeah. And you couldn't have said that any better. And I was just nodding here so happily in terms of we had David Savage on, who was a former partner they're in sanctions experts. And he said, there is no David in work and David at home. There's David. And I think similar to what you're saying there, Becca, in terms of you bring your full self to work. And we're trying to encourage lawyers to be their true, authentic selves in and out of the workplace. And like you say, you enhance that human-to-human connection because I think it builds more trust and you are able to get more done for your clients.

8:33Becca Horley:And you're doing a tremendous job. And I know your cases are complicated, so this might be quite hard. But I just wanted to get a sense of the client process, if we could. Could you talk us through actually assisting a client through their case or claim from the beginning to the end result? You gave a very nice touching point there that you perhaps go and visit them at home. But could you talk us from a sort of legal perspective what the start to finish of a journey might look like with some of your cases?

8:58Roan Lavery:Sure. I think the best way to describe a medical negligence case is like building a puzzle. So you have to basically find lots of different pieces and those are the evidence. and you put it all together to build a full picture that you would then present to a judge to argue your case. So we start the first puzzle piece is having a conversation with the client, asking them what's happened, what's their version of events, what's their story. And then we would write a witness statement based on their initial, the initial conversation. And then what we do is we get their medical records in. we obtain expert evidence from sort of leading medical professionals across the country who have specific expertise in the specific areas of medicine that we need them to comment on and we basically build a case it's like you know it's like solving a mystery you put all of these things together and I always explain to my clients you put each puzzle piece as we go along and we manage their expectations as to whether there's going to be prospects of being successful along the way because one of the things that's a big part of this job is also having difficult conversations about, you know, the law is strict and there's strict legal tests and I have a duty to share that with my clients.

10:04Roan Lavery:And often, you know, there may be really poor outcomes that don't actually fit within the legal test. So we have to have that conversation too. But often, you know, we're building a case, we're building a picture and we're storytellers, you know, we're investigators, we're storytellers. It's our job to tell our client's story for them. And so a lot of the process of investigating a case is really getting to know the client understanding how they tick asking questions but also leaving time to listen you know you might and in saying to them as well like you know you might be going on a walk or you might be sat in the lounge later today and you've forgotten to say something to me give me a phone call send it an email and I often encourage my clients as well to keep a diary because I find that really helpful because often moments that their their main concerns you know because it can be quite stressful having a lawyer talking to you as well and so I say to them you know when you're just reflecting make a note and so in terms of the process I'm then putting together all of this evidence to present the best case that I can for them and advocate for their needs.

11:07Becca Horley:And you give such a sort of overview of the depth of work that goes into it I was just having images of some of the puzzles I'll do with my three and a half year old daughter that are easy and some that are very complex actually and that's probably the same as some of your cases you know you're putting these pieces together and you know it's all about trying to have a system and strategy to get the right end result for your clients. And I love that you talked about listening two ears, one mouth, use them in that ratio. Absolutely. And yeah, I think it's fantastic the work that you are doing. And I know how strongly you do advocate for your clients.

11:35Becca Horley:And this might be a tricky question. So feel free to sort of, you know, swerve it if you'd like. But is there a particular case or a most memorable case that you've worked on to date that you'd like to highlight?

11:46Roan Lavery:Yeah, of course. I mean, I was recently on BBC News talking about one of my clients for a case I'm working on. So I represent a number of patients who have suffered severe visual impairments or blindness as a result in delays in treatment. And I recently secured a strong settlement, sorry, an interim payment for one of my clients to receive a carer. So it means that he can now have support at home. And it's the day-to-day things. The way he describes it in the news feature he says that um you know he can't see the butterflies he can't see the birds he you know he can't pick up on things like um facial expressions and interaction um and he needs someone to be his eyes for him that's how he explains it um and it was really rewarding to secure admissions of liability in that case and then also an interim payment we've still got a long way to go um because these cases are so complex but it's exciting because i'm i'm learning all about different types of technology that can be helpful for him you know in the home um and so we're working on at the moment valuing that together um but the interim payment that he's received will go you know for now it's going to give him care and assistance um because he's someone that lives by himself and so he's navigating this new world in his 80s where he's now blind which you know when he wasn't before um and it gives people a bit of their independence back i think that's what i really do care about um i care you know we're all humans and i think there's often in society uh um people get spoken down to or misunderstood when they've had an injury um but they're still humans you know and i think that we have to really be um i think we have to just really put the effort in to make sure that changes um and support people wherever we can

13:38Becca Horley:yeah there's a difference between care and genuinely caring and I sense from the work that you're doing you know you genuinely care you go above and beyond and like you said that's a really tough experience for that for that individual you just mentioned there and that's where that human touch and that empathy really does come in and you mentioned missions of liability again for people who might be less familiar with your area what does that mean specifically or for people who might be having a similar scenario in terms of maybe that could be an outcome for them just want to touch on that yeah of course so when we're investigating medical

14:06Roan Lavery:negligence case, there's two main steps that we have to prove. So the first part is liability. So we have to prove the legal tests and it's called breach of duty and causation. And we can't move forward to valuing a case or seeking a settlement sum until we've proved liability. So what that means is, is that number one, has the care that the person's received fallen below an acceptable standard? And if we can prove that number one, we also have to prove number two, that that breach of duty has caused an injury or a loss. And it's a two-part test and you have to have both. And often it can be, you know, one part requires a bit more evidence, a bit more explaining than the other.

14:49Roan Lavery:You have to have both to be able to move forward to looking at how you potentially quantify a claim.

14:55Becca Horley:Yeah, no, thank you for giving such a detailed overview of that. Very, very helpful for our listeners. So you have dealt on a number of high profile cases, as we've sort of referenced. You've mentioned, obviously, some life changing disabilities as a result of that. You've also acted with folks that have had, you know, lots of issues over the years. So for you, what are some of the lessons you've learned from dealing with these patients and victims over the years that might be helpful for our audience to take away?

15:24Roan Lavery:On a personal level, it's given me a whole perspective on life that nothing's guaranteed. and you know I'm very grateful that I can brush my teeth in the morning without assistance I can walk I can walk down the road I can walk to a shop you know there's lots of different things that I had never really even if I'm being completely frank I had sort of gone through life sort of you know going on a walk and brushing my teeth and being like that's very normal but for a lot of patients that you know have these life-changing injuries those simple tasks they're not simple tasks anymore and their quality of life is affected so personally it's really given me perspective um and there was a really sort of pivotal moment in my life a couple of years ago where I just decided um I needed to turn it around for myself um and I that's when I know that you're into running as well um I started running because I was like I'm so lucky that I can I'm lucky I can walk but I'm also lucky that I can put one foot in front of the other and run um and so I went from running one minute um getting out of breath really struggling um to now I'm set to do the London marathon next year um which is super exciting um but my work and my life has given me this perspective of how lucky I am and so I'm taking every opportunity that I can to to basically grab life and just take it as you know with what I've got now

16:47Becca Horley:I love that and I I remember there's um a charity called I think it's the Hampson association i'm a leicester tigers rugby fan i'm from leicester originally and one of the um future prop forwards unfortunately got injured and broke their neck in a in a scrum in a hampson foundation yeah yeah and you know he's got the great tagline of get busy living right and i think that's just so true and you know having that attitude of gratitude like you've um just referenced there is is fantastic and you do give others a voice so what does it mean to give a voice to someone who has been harmed by a medical professional or an institution?

17:22Roan Lavery:I think it's using, I mean, as all humans, feeling heard and having a connection, that's what makes us human and that's what makes us feel safe. And so I think for a lot of my clients, there's definitely issues of trust with medical professionals, not in all cases, but in some cases, because I represent a number of clients who have been treated by what we a term called rogue surgeons so that often means that it's an individual who is specifically either intended to cause harm or where there is sort of incompetencies in the training that they've had which has led to substantial errors in the care that they've received and you know you go to a medical professional for help and so when we have situations where clients have really poor outcomes that could have been avoided after sort of seeking out help, that can make them feel very anxious.

18:15Roan Lavery:And it's part of my job when they first come to us to make them feel safe and comfortable. And that's actually the top priority. And so, you know, it's about developing that trust so that you can advocate for them. And in terms of advocating, it's telling their story. You know, I use the skills, the network, the platform that I have to advocate for them. Because often when you're going through something really traumatic and you're going through a process of grief of the life that you don't have anymore, you don't often have, you know, to do that and advocate for yourself. You know, that's where my role comes in.

18:51Roan Lavery:And I say, you look after looking after yourself and you get your rehabilitation and you focus on your health. I'll do the bit where I talk for you. And that's what that really is. It's being a team with your client to get the possible outcome for their life.

19:05Becca Horley:Absolutely. It is about a team effort. And I love that you talk to trust as well. It's so, so important. And you were kind of alluding to it there in terms of building the trust with your clients. But how do you do that with some of the clients that might be very disillusioned or very vulnerable about what they've experienced? Or, oh, this is just going to be a lot of fees. Are the lawyers actually got the best interests at heart looking after me? Anything you would say from that perspective on the relationship building with these clients that are in sometimes very, very horrible situations?

19:36Roan Lavery:I think just let them talk. I think often when you've got someone maybe who's had really long waiting lists or they've been waiting for an update for a long time from a health care institution. It's a very common feeling amongst my clients that they just want someone to listen to them. And they want, you know, they'll they'll they'll start talking and they'll say to me, I've never told anyone that before. Well, I didn't realise I was thinking that. And for me, I find it, you know, the easiest thing for me is just to shush and listen to them. And that often when you allow someone to talk and have a safe space to, you know, actually say what's on their mind, you can achieve a lot and cover a lot of ground.

20:17Roan Lavery:I'd say it's as simple as just listen.

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21:02Becca Horley:Terms and conditions apply. Now back to the show. I remember mentors said to me very early on, Rob, shut up. And it's so true, right? If you just shut up and listen, particularly when you're in boredom or you're in meetings or you're trying to do deals, because typically it could be a turn of phrase. It could be a tone of voice. It could be a word. could be something that that unlocks that thing that you might be able to get that could potentially best represent your people. And I always think the power of, you know, keeping it very simple for our listeners who are watching this, think of the power of open questions in a funnel.

21:31Becca Horley:You've got open questions here, direct questions here and closed. If you want to get the best out of someone, just ask them a big fat open question, describe to me, explain to me, tell me, and then just shut up and listen. And that's the best way, like you say, to really get the best out of your your clients. You touched on home visits before and I love that you are bringing such a personal touch. We're going to talk about your personal brand on social media in a moment but you know in terms of the importance of this how important is a personal connection as being part of your work with your clients and do you think that the home visits is really really important to that?