Lorraine was brought up in Halewood, in the shadow of the famous Ford car factory. She was educated at the local comprehensive school in Halewood before studying at Liverpool University. The only time she left her home city was to study for her bar finals in London. And, in case you are wondering, she supports Liverpool FC and not Everton!

Lorraine always wanted to be a barrister but because of the difficulties in obtaining a pupillage she started her career with Jackson and Canter Solicitors in Liverpool. The firm has one of the largest immigration practices in the North West. Lorraine started as a paralegal in 1997. As she says: “My roots are in immigration law.” She has carried this experience through to the Bar. She is now a member of India Buildings Chambers situated close to the Liverpool Law Courts.

Immigration law appeals to Lorraine because it reacts to world affairs. She explains: “If there is a problem in Sudan, I deal with people from that area. It gives me a more intense and deeper understanding of world affairs.” Although she is sympathetic to the plight of victims of war and those that are devastated economically she also appreciates that there has to be some control.

As an immigration barrister it is Lorraine’s job to put her client’s best case forward. But she also sits as an Immigration Judge.

Employment law is another area of expertise for Lorraine. Changes in legislation, particularly in areas such as age discrimination make this a growth sector for barristers. Lorraine believes the current economic climate may increase the number of claims made.

Another specialism of Lorraine’s is personal injury. Although we have become more health and safety conscious, Lorraine says injury claims are a growing sector because people are more aware of their rights. She says: “This work is very rewarding if someone deserving gets money for what they have gone through.”

Clearly Lorraine is a very busy lady! So it suits her to have an accountant who can relieve her of some of life’s pressures. She changed to Cassons three years ago and has not looked back. Andrew Hood, Cassons bar department manager, looks after her accounts. Lorraine says: “With my previous accountants I had to provide all the final figures for my accounts. When I first came to Cassons Andrew reviewed all of my affairs like a magician. I was able to organise my financial position and have a wonderful wedding! Now, I give Cassons the documentation and they come up with the figures. They tell me what I need to pay and what I don’t need to pay. I am a very busy barrister and I don’t have time to do my own figures!”

As well as being free of paperwork, Lorraine is also free to ask Andrew any questions on her mind. She says: “If I asked my previous accountant a question I was charged. I can ring Andrew with any question regarding my financial position and I know that there will not be any extra cost.” Lorraine is also very relaxed speaking to Andrew. She says: “We get on so well that I invited him to my wedding.”

Andrew explained: “Lorraine is a typical barrister in that she is very busy and prefers to spend her time practising law, not working out her accounts! I try to make her life as easy as possible by simply dealing with it all for her. I often meet up with Lorraine when she is in Manchester otherwise I’ll go to Liverpool. We then have the official handover of the shoe box stuffed with her receipts! Once I have that we can look after her bookkeeping and VAT return, which means that her year end accounts and projection of her tax liabilities are very easy to calculate. When Lorraine first came to us I had to carry out a huge review of her tax affairs so we like to keep well on top of it all for her now.”

Lorraine enjoys DIY and gardening in her spare time. She also likes walking her dog and taking walking holidays with her husband. She retains her maiden name for professional purposes and is also proud that it reminds her of her Ghanaian grandfather. She might be interested that John Mensah is currently captain of the Ghana football team!