Sally Penni MBE

Why organisations work with Sally Penni

• She founded and chairs Women in the Law UK, the largest professional development network for women in the legal profession in the country, giving her firsthand evidence of what fair progression looks like when it is built as an institution rather than announced as a policy.
• Her authority on fair progression is grounded in active legal practice at Kenworthy’s Chambers, a Bencher position at Gray’s Inn, and appointment to the International Criminal Court list of counsel. The argument carries weight because the practitioner is real.
• Through the Talking Law podcast she has interviewed Lord Pannick KC, Jolyon Maugham KC, the Treasury Solicitor, and other figures at the top of the UK legal system, building a body of recorded conversation about leadership, culture, and reform inside one of the most conservative professions.
• Her board portfolio spans the Royal Exchange Theatre, Arawak Walton Housing Association, the Access to Justice Foundation, and a part-time judicial role at the Valuation Tribunal, so the perspective is informed by governance experience across cultural, housing, legal, and judicial settings.
• She was awarded an MBE specifically for diversity, social mobility, and law, a recognition of practical contribution rather than profile, and one that signals to senior buyers that the work has stood up to external scrutiny.

Biography highlights

• Practising barrister at Kenworthy’s Chambers, Manchester, specialising in criminal, employment, public, and data protection law.
• Founder and chair of Women in the Law UK, the professional development organisation she established in 2012.
• MBE for services to diversity, social mobility, and law, Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020.
• Two honorary doctorates in law, from Manchester Metropolitan University (2022) and the University of Salford (2023). Bencher of Gray’s Inn. Appointed to the list of counsel for the International Criminal Court.
• Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA); author of the Talking Law book series; TEDx speaker.
• Host of two podcasts, Talking Law and The Law and Guidance Podcast. Talking Law features senior UK legal figures including Lord Pannick KC and the Treasury Solicitor.
• Non-Executive Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre and Arawak Walton Housing Association; Trustee, Access to Justice Foundation; part-time judge, Valuation Tribunal for England.

Biography

The legal profession is one of the most credentialled and slowest-moving institutions in British public life. It is also one of the places where the gap between stated values and lived experience is most visible. Sally Penni MBE has spent her career working that gap from the inside, as a practising barrister, an institution-builder, and a public voice on what it takes to widen access to a closed profession.

She practises at Kenworthy’s Chambers in Manchester across criminal, employment, public, and data protection law, and sits as a part-time judge on the Valuation Tribunal for England. She is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and on the International Criminal Court list of counsel. The institutional standing matters because it is the basis on which the rest of the work is taken seriously inside the profession.

In 2012 she founded Women in the Law UK, now the country’s largest professional network for women in legal practice. Her Talking Law podcast, and a second show, The Law and Guidance Podcast, have built a record of conversation with senior figures of the bar, including Lord Pannick KC and the Treasury Solicitor. Through the same network she has built a substantial body of work on women’s health at work, including menopause, and the legal duties employers carry. Outside the law she sits on boards across theatre, housing, and access to justice, including the Royal Exchange Theatre, Arawak Walton Housing Association, and the Access to Justice Foundation.

That work has been recognised on its own terms. An MBE in 2020 for diversity, social mobility, and law, honorary doctorates in law from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2022 and the University of Salford in 2023, and appointment as a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. The recognition points at one thing: a body of work that has changed institutions rather than commented on them, recorded in the Talking Law books drawn from the same conversations that built the podcast.

Key speaking topics

• Values-based leadership
• Women in leadership and the legal profession
• Social mobility and access to the professions
• Mentorship and talent development
• Governance and board-level standards
• Wellbeing and resilience in professional careers
• Law, regulation, and the future of the legal profession
• Women’s health, menopause, and the law at work

Ideal for

• General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, and senior in-house legal teams setting standards on culture and how the firm develops its people
• Chief People Officers, CHROs, and heads of talent designing culture and progression strategy for professional and regulated workforces
• Boards, NEDs, and chairs reviewing governance standards on culture, social mobility, and access
• Senior partners and managing partners at law firms, chambers, and professional services firms
• Employers and people teams developing menopause and women’s-health policy under employment-law obligations

Audience outcomes

• A clearer view of what values-based leadership requires when the organisation is regulated, conservative, and resistant to change
• Direct reference points from inside the legal profession on building durable institutions for under-represented talent
• A sharper standard for telling genuine culture change apart from communications
• Practical perspective on mentoring, sponsorship, and progression at senior levels
• A grounded view of employers’ legal duties around menopause and women’s health at work, from a practising barrister rather than a consultant