My legal journey has been anything but traditional. After earning my Juris Doctor in Hong Kong and starting my legal career in Asia, I relocated to the UK in 2021 to expand my horizons and pursue long-term qualification. Like many internationally trained professionals, I faced the challenge of adapting not to a new legal system—since both the UK and Hong Kong follow common law—but to a new legal culture, pace, and commercial landscape.
The transition wasn’t easy—not because the legal systems were unfamiliar, but because of the shift in professional culture, communication styles, and business focus. In Hong Kong, legal practice often felt more hierarchical and formal. In contrast, I found UK in-house legal teams to be more collaborative, pragmatic, and commercially integrated. Building credibility in a new market meant being flexible, open to feedback, and willing to adapt quickly. I took on multiple paralegal positions at Freshfields, Dentons, and Tensar International, where I gained UK-based experience across both private practice and in-house settings. These roles exposed me to cutting-edge legal tech, cross-border M&A, and commercial contract drafting, all of which helped me transition into the UK legal market with confidence and a broadened commercial perspective.
Today, I’m proud to work at Light & Wonder, a global leader in iGaming, as a Contract Management Lead. I support our legal, commercial, and finance teams on OGS game agreements, licensing matters, NDAs, and regulatory compliance across EMEA, LATAM, and APAC. My role also involves providing legal and contractual advice to the Finance team on billing-related matters, payment terms, and contract execution risks. Working in such a high-growth, tech-driven sector has sharpened my ability to draft clearly, negotiate with nuance, and think commercially.
I chose the CILEX Graduate Qualification (CGQ) route because it recognised my prior legal education while offering a flexible, skills-based path to qualification. What I love about CGQ is its emphasis on real-world practice—it’s designed for professionals like me who are already embedded in legal work but want to formalise that journey with recognised status and practice rights.
Balancing full-time work with CILEX study is challenging, but I’ve learned to manage my time strategically—dedicating evenings and weekends to revision and using quieter work periods to apply CGQ learning directly to my legal drafting, risk analysis, and contract negotiations. The result? I’ve become more efficient, commercially aware, and confident in my legal reasoning.
Studying CGQ has been especially impactful in the iGaming sector, where agreements can be complex, multi-jurisdictional, and technically detailed. The qualification has deepened my understanding of compliance frameworks, commercial terms, and stakeholder dynamics—skills critical for any future Junior Legal Counsel role in this space.
What I’m most proud of is how CILEX has allowed me to grow without putting my career on hold. It has offered me a pathway that bridges practical experience with academic rigour. More importantly, it’s shown hiring managers that I’m not just legally trained—I’m commercially prepared.
For those considering CILEX as a route into law, especially those transitioning internationally or working in-house, I highly recommend it. It’s a modern, adaptable qualification that reflects how the legal profession is evolving.
I’m excited about what lies ahead and grateful for how far I’ve come—from Hong Kong boardrooms to UK gaming deals, and now on the path to becoming a CILEX Lawyer.
If you're interested in a career in law see how CILEX can help.