A Poland-born solicitor who arrived in the UK barely speaking a word of English has opened a new base of her law firm.
Marta Williamson, the founder of My Local Solicitor Ltd, moved into the office in the Cheshire village of Malpas, with her two children helping to cut the ribbon on the new venture.
The firm was created six years ago as a consultancy where members get to keep 70% of the fees they bill, with Williamson initially establishing the business through local contacts and home visits. The firm has six consultants on board and is recruiting a probate solicitor to join the team.
‘I started off with just a vision of starting small and growing organically,’ she told the Gazette. ‘I wanted to provide a flexible option for lawyers and to give them more freedom. When we got a bit bigger we rented a small place in a business park and now we are the first law firm here.’
Such achievements seemed a long way off when Williamson arrived in North Wales from her home city of Poznan in 2002 at the age of 19. Having studied Russian and German at school she planned to spend a year in the UK learning English and took a language course while working as a waitress.
She had grown up wanting to be a lawyer and by chance the nearby Bangor University started a law degree course while she was studying English. She successfully applied through an EU-sponsored scholarship and started her path towards becoming a solicitor.
‘Looking back, I was so determined I said to myself I would study 10,000 times harder than other people,’ said Williamson. ‘I understood the lectures but I would go back home and type up the notes and translate them into Polish.
‘The first year was so difficult but I have never failed any assignment or exam and I was almost scared not to fail.’
Williamson continued to translate lecture notes into Polish and to grapple with legalistic terms in a second language, while working two part-time jobs to afford her rent and making a two-hour round bus trip each day to Bangor from her home in Conway.
After her three-year course she completed the LPC in Chester and then joined Wrexham firm Cyril Jones and Stanley Williams and was hailed in local media as the first Polish solicitor in Wales.
Having taken a career break to have children she opted to leave private practice and go it alone.
‘The firm was lovely and offered me part-time hours but I wanted a different way. I was so determined to set up on my own and do it all myself. I wanted to spend time with my children as you don’t get that time back. Now working in the village near to my home it is perfect.’
