Portrait featuring Adil Mohamedbhai, Barrister at law, Serle Court London

I am sometimes – perhaps more often than I should – quite critical of the education system that shaped me.

The rote learning, the pressure to excel academically, the intense competition to be laureate, the relentless private tuition.

However, I can only be grateful for the opportunities that the system gave me.

And when I look at my circle of friends from school, I realise that they share the same mixed emotions about our formative years.

I have known Adil Mohamedbhai since I was about 9. He is my oldest friend. Apart from probably being the brightest person I know, he is also one of the sweetest and kindest.

Our paths are oddly very similar. We both qualified as tax solicitors at magic circle firms in London and then converted to the bar.

That said, his career path into, and at, the English bar is rather exceptional.

In this fascinating conversation, Adil shares:

💡 stories from his time as judicial assistant to Lord Rodger and Lord Brown of the UK Supreme Court;
💡 what it was like to spend a week visiting the US Supreme Court and meeting Ruth Bader Ginsburg;
💡 his views on the British judicial system;
💡 why he gave up tax law (!) to specialise in chancery/commercial work;
💡 why meritocracy is at the heart of his core values.

Now a leading junior at Serle Court in London, he is so wholly deserving of what the directories say of him: “He is unbelievably bright, great at working in a team, uber responsive and someone who really gets stuck in. He is a star of the future” (Chambers UK Bar, 2025)

What an honour to have you on the podcast, my dear friend. Thank you for this candid and enriching conversation!

p.s – In my humble opinion, it is people like Adil who should be sitting on the Diaspora and Global Advisory Council (the set up of which was recently announced in this year’s Budget Speech).

00:00 - Intro
01:33 - Reminiscing on childhood
04:08 - Being educated in the 80s
06:24 - Choosing law
09:33 - Crossing paths in Big Law
10:24 - Becoming a barrister
12:51 - Judicial assistant to Lord Rodger and Lord Brown
16:16 - Visiting the US Supreme Court
17:59 - Mentoring from the Law Lords
19:28 - Chambers v/s law firm life
20:45 - Chancery work
21:55 - Nerves before court
23:19 - Litigation risk
24:57 - Most enjoyable case
29:25 - Achieving detachment
30:41 - Pupillage in London
34:26 - Brexit and the legal market
35:44 - Meritocracy in the workplace
40:47 - Missing Mauritius
41:23 - The pull factor for the diaspora