"I have a special practice. I handle one client."

"When this quote from The Godfather lodged itself in my mind, it was a real turning point – I knew I'd get the most out of law from a career in-house.

"While I never hankered after the gangster connotations of Tom Hagan's career in The Godfather, the way he separated himself out from the pack in response to the challenge – 'I know almost every big lawyer in New York, who the hell are you?' certainly struck a chord with me.

"My in-house career started pretty much by accident when the Welsh Office asked law students like myself at Cardiff University to act as paralegals during the North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal, its biggest-ever tribunal case.

"After a year working as a paralegal with the Welsh Office I was given the opportunity to qualify there and continue in a full-time role – music to my ears after a rather soul-sapping period sending out applications to every local firm I could find!"

Sapna Bedi Fitzgerald is head of legal and company secretary at LSL Property Services. This article was commissioned for the Turning Points hub, an online career development resource from Legal Week in association with Berwin Leighton Paisner.

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