Renata Maziak Barnes: Law Student, Disability Advocate and Aspiring Human Rights Lawyer

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Seeking Remote Legal Research, Content Writing, Mentoring and Qualifying Work Experience Opportunities

Renata Maziak Barnes is the Founder and Editor of Disabled Entrepreneur UK, a mature law student, disability advocate, researcher, content writer, entrepreneur and aspiring human rights lawyer.

I am proud to announce that I have successfully passed the second year of my part-time law degree. I am preparing to begin my third year in October 2026, bringing me another step closer to achieving my long-term ambition of becoming a human rights lawyer.

As I progress through my degree, I am seeking opportunities to develop my practical legal skills through research, content writing, mentoring, supervised legal projects and relevant work experience.

I would be delighted to hear from solicitors, barristers, law firms, chambers, legal charities, academics, human rights organisations and other members of the legal profession who may be willing to provide an accessible opportunity.

I would also welcome career insight, mentorship and appropriate signposting from judges and members of the judiciary who support disability inclusion, social mobility and greater diversity within the legal profession.

About Me

I am the Founder and Editor of Disabled Entrepreneur UK, an online publication dedicated to empowering disabled people, carers, entrepreneurs, students, employees, and vulnerable members of society. Alongside this, I own an extensive omnichannel network of websites and exact‑match keyword domains under the UK Website Designers Group.

As I continue developing my legal career, I am eager to contribute my professional skill‑set to a supportive law firm that values innovation and social impact. With extensive experience in marketing, SEO, content creation, digital strategy, and legal research, I offer a unique blend of capabilities that can strengthen a firm’s visibility, client engagement, and research output. In return, I seek meaningful work experience that helps me grow within the profession while continuing my commitment to advocating for disabled and vulnerable people.

Through the platform, I research and publish accessible content on subjects including:

• Disability rights and discrimination
• Human rights and equality
• Employment law and reasonable adjustments
• Health and social care
• Welfare benefits and Personal Independence Payment
• Mental health and neurological conditions
• Access to justice
• Safeguarding and advocacy
• Public policy and proposed legal reform
• Medical negligence and duty of care
• Consumer rights
• Housing and public services
• Entrepreneurship and accessible employment

I aim to make complex information easier to understand.

Many of the people who visit or contact Disabled Entrepreneur UK are already dealing with illness, disability, discrimination, financial hardship, administrative barriers or distressing personal circumstances. Clear, compassionate and accessible information can help people understand their rights, recognise potential injustice and identify where they may need professional advice.

Disabled Entrepreneur UK does not replace a qualified solicitor or provide individual legal representation. However, it helps raise awareness, share educational information, amplify the experiences of disabled people and signpost readers towards appropriate organisations and professional support.

My Professional and Transferable Skills

Running businesses and managing online publications has enabled me to develop a wide range of professional skills that are relevant to legal practice.

My experience includes:

• Legal and policy research
• Researching legislation and case law
• Professional content writing
• Editing and proofreading
• Identifying inconsistencies in evidence and correspondence
• Preparing detailed timelines and chronologies
• Drafting formal letters and responses
• Analysing policies, procedures and official guidance
• Communicating complex subjects in plain language
• Disability awareness and advocacy
• Safeguarding awareness
• Confidentiality and data protection
• Strategic planning
• Marketing and public relations
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Crisis management
• Delegation and leadership
• Supporting people experiencing distress or vulnerability

As a mature student, disabled entrepreneur, editor, researcher and carer, I bring professional and lived experience that cannot be gained from textbooks alone.

I understand many of the barriers disabled and vulnerable people face when dealing with employers, healthcare providers, government departments, educational institutions, housing providers and other public or private organisations.

These experiences have strengthened my determination to pursue a legal career focused on human rights, equality, disability rights and access to justice.

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination

My intended route towards qualification is through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, commonly known as the SQE.

The SQE is divided into two assessments: SQE1 and SQE2. To qualify as a solicitor through the SQE route, a candidate must hold a degree or equivalent qualification or experience, pass both SQE assessments, complete the required Qualifying Work Experience and meet the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s character and suitability requirements.

Practical legal experience would help me apply what I am learning during my law degree and develop the professional skills assessed during the SQE, particularly the practical legal skills relevant to SQE2.

However, passing the SQE assessments and completing Qualifying Work Experience are separate requirements. Work experience does not replace the SQE, and passing the SQE does not remove the requirement to complete the necessary Qualifying Work Experience.

What Is Qualifying Work Experience?

Qualifying Work Experience, commonly abbreviated to QWE, is practical experience of providing real-life legal services.

Its purpose is to give aspiring solicitors the opportunity to develop some or all of the knowledge, skills, behaviours and professional competencies required to practise as a solicitor.

The formal QWE rules are set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, rather than the Law Society.

To qualify through the SQE route, candidates must complete a total amount of QWE equivalent to at least two years of full-time legal work.

This does not necessarily mean that someone working part-time will complete the requirement within two calendar years.

A candidate undertaking QWE on reduced or part-time hours may need longer than two calendar years to accumulate experience equivalent to two years of full-time work.

The SRA does not prescribe a fixed number of weekly hours that constitutes full-time or part-time QWE. Instead, it expects employers, QWE providers and confirming solicitors to take a common-sense approach based on the person’s working arrangements.

This flexibility is particularly important for disabled candidates, carers, mature students and people managing chronic or fluctuating health conditions who may be unable to work traditional full-time hours.

What Work Can Count as QWE?

For work to count as QWE, it must involve the provision of real-life legal services, rather than a purely simulated exercise.

The work must also provide an opportunity to develop at least two competencies from the SRA’s Statement of Solicitor Competence.

QWE may be completed before, during or after the SQE assessments and may include paid or voluntary experience undertaken:

• During a law degree placement
• In a law clinic
• At a law centre
• Within a legal charity
• In a law firm
• In an in-house legal department
• As a paralegal
• Through an appropriate training contract
• Within another organisation providing legal services

Candidates may accumulate QWE across a maximum of four organisations.

This means that a candidate does not necessarily have to obtain all their experience through one traditional two-year training contract.

Will Legal Research and Content Writing Count as QWE?

Legal research and content writing can provide valuable experience, strengthen a professional portfolio and develop skills relevant to legal practice.

However, general research, journalism, blogging or content writing will not automatically qualify as QWE.

For research or writing work to count, it must form part of the provision of real-life legal services and provide the candidate with an opportunity to develop the required solicitor competencies.

Examples might include:

• Researching an area of law connected to a genuine legal matter
• Preparing a legal research memorandum for a supervising solicitor
• Researching legislation or case law for an active case
• Helping to prepare client guidance under legal supervision
• Drafting or assisting with legal correspondence
• Reviewing evidence or documents connected to a legal service
• Preparing research to support legal advice or strategic litigation
• Supporting the preparation of consultation responses or legal submissions

The Law Society’s work-experience guidance recognises that suitable tasks for degree-level students may include legal research, drafting a memorandum for a solicitor, examining the background to a case and discussing the merits of a claim. It also encourages organisations to state clearly whether an opportunity is expected to count as QWE.

Even where a writing or research project does not formally count as QWE, it may still provide valuable experience, demonstrate ability and help me prepare for future employment and professional assessments.

I am therefore interested in both:

• General legal research and content-writing opportunities that will develop my portfolio; and
• Structured legal work that may qualify as QWE when the SRA’s requirements are satisfied.

How Is QWE Confirmed?

QWE must eventually be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or by an eligible Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, commonly known as a COLP.

The confirming solicitor does not necessarily have to work within the same organisation. However, an external solicitor must have reviewed the candidate’s work and received appropriate feedback from the person who supervised it.

The solicitor or COLP is asked to confirm:

• The length of the experience
• That the candidate provided legal services
• That the candidate had the opportunity to develop at least two solicitor competencies
• Whether any character and suitability concerns arose during the placement

A barrister can provide extremely valuable work experience, research opportunities, mentoring and professional insight. However, a barrister cannot ordinarily confirm QWE unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales or an eligible COLP.

For this reason, I would be grateful if any organisation offering structured experience could clarify from the outset whether the work may count as QWE, who will supervise it and who may be able to confirm it.

The Opportunities I Am Seeking

I am particularly interested in accessible, remote or flexible opportunities involving:

• Legal research
• Case-law research and summaries
• Legislative research
• Human rights research
• Disability and equality law
• Public law and judicial review
• Employment and discrimination law
• Healthcare and medical law
• Policy research
• Consultation responses
• Legal articles and website content
• Client information guides
• Legal newsletters and briefings
• Research memoranda
• Proofreading and editing
• Reviewing reports, policies and publicly available evidence
• Creating accessible legal information
• Supporting strategic litigation research
• Drafting formal correspondence under supervision
• Remote work experience
• Mentoring and professional guidance

I would welcome paid freelance projects, part-time employment, remote placements, structured work experience, suitable voluntary opportunities and supervised projects that provide genuine professional development.

As I am not yet a qualified solicitor, I understand that any work involving legal services must be completed within appropriate professional boundaries and under suitable supervision.

Why Remote and Flexible Opportunities Matter

As a disabled student managing health-related limitations alongside my degree, businesses, editorial responsibilities and caring commitments, remote and flexible opportunities would allow me to contribute my skills without creating unnecessary physical barriers.

Remote working does not mean a lack of commitment, professionalism or productivity.

Research, writing, document review, policy analysis, meetings and supervised legal project work can often be completed effectively through secure digital systems.

The Law Society encourages legal organisations to consider virtual, remote and hybrid work-experience opportunities where appropriate. Its guidance acknowledges that traditional in-person placements may create barriers for disabled candidates and people who cannot easily meet travel or accommodation costs.

An accessible opportunity would allow me to demonstrate my abilities rather than being excluded because of traditional expectations surrounding office attendance.

I am self-motivated, accustomed to working independently and experienced in managing deadlines, conducting detailed research and producing publishable written content.

My Goal of Becoming a Human Rights Lawyer

My long-term ambition is to become a human rights lawyer and advocate for people whose rights have been overlooked, dismissed or undermined.

I am particularly passionate about:

• Disability rights
• Equality and discrimination
• Access to healthcare
• Mental health rights
• Protection from degrading treatment
• Access to justice
• Safeguarding vulnerable people
• Domestic abuse and trauma-informed practice
• Public authority accountability
• Freedom of expression
• Privacy and data protection
• Social justice and legal reform

I want to combine my legal education with my existing experience in research, writing, advocacy, publishing and entrepreneurship.

My ambition is not simply to obtain a legal qualification. I want to use my knowledge constructively to challenge injustice, improve public understanding of the law and help create a society in which disabled and vulnerable people are treated with dignity and respect.

However, I recognise the importance of gaining practical experience, receiving appropriate supervision and learning from established legal professionals before taking that step. I am therefore seeking genuine work-experience, research, mentoring and Qualifying Work Experience opportunities that will help me develop the competencies, professional judgement and practical understanding required of a solicitor.

My intention is not simply to obtain experience and move on. I hope to build lasting professional relationships with solicitors, barristers, chambers, law firms, legal charities and human rights organisations whose knowledge and constructive guidance can help shape my future practice.

Once appropriately qualified and experienced, I aim to develop a sustainable independent practice that complements my existing work through Disabled Entrepreneur UK. My goal is to provide accessible, trauma-informed and disability-aware services while continuing to research, write and advocate for disabled and vulnerable people.

I understand that practising independently as a solicitor is subject to Solicitors Regulation Authority rules, professional indemnity insurance, regulatory approval where required and other professional obligations. My immediate priority is therefore to learn, gain supervised experience and build the strong professional foundations necessary to achieve this ambition responsibly.

An Invitation to the Legal Profession

I would be grateful to hear from solicitors, barristers, law firms, chambers, legal charities, academics, researchers, human rights organisations and other legal professionals who may be able to offer:

• Remote legal research projects
• Legal content-writing opportunities
• Structured work experience
• Suitable Qualifying Work Experience
• Mentoring
• Constructive feedback
• Professional collaboration
• Career guidance
• Introductions to appropriate organisations
• Opportunities to observe or support suitable legal work
• Supervised research connected to genuine legal matters

I would also welcome appropriate career insight or signposting from members of the judiciary and other experienced legal professionals who support greater accessibility and inclusion within the profession.

Providing an opportunity to a disabled mature law student is not an act of charity. It is an investment in professional ability, lived experience, resilience, determination and a genuine commitment to justice.

Sample of My Writing

I have included a sample of my writing below to demonstrate my research, analytical and content-writing abilities.

• https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/can-lawyers-work-from-home-disability-remote-legal-careers-and-video-linked-court-hearings/
• https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/mobility-scooters-and-the-law/
• https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/can-law-students-and-law-graduates-do-jury-service-in-the-uk/
• https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/freedom-of-information-exemptions-section-36/
• https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/international-law-how-global-rules-shape-nations-businesses-and-human-rights/

Further examples of my published work can be found on Disabled Entrepreneur UK.

I welcome genuine enquiries from legal professionals and organisations that share my commitment to human rights, equality, disability inclusion and access to justice.