Most lawyers, when they’re up for senior partner, will trot out their performance statistics to explain why they are worthy of that status. But that’s not the style of Catherine MICKELSON Bedford’89.
Instead, when Catherine stood in front of the senior partners at the prestigious U.K. law firm Harbottle & Lewis in early 2024, she talked about how she built the firm’s family law team from the ground up: with a commitment to the values of open communication, respect and trust. After spending her early career toiling in an industry full of shocking hostility and nastiness that made her lose faith in the profession, Catherine has been working to change it for the next generation of lawyers.
“People want to work in an environment where there’s trust, integrity and decency. Those things really matter,” she says. “Why are we winning our cases and getting the best work? It’s got to be because of this. Good conduct and genuine teamwork ultimately affect the client in a positive way.”
No surprise, Catherine was elected senior partner—the first woman to reach the firm’s highest ranks in its nearly 70-year history. It’s a feather in the cap of an already distinguished career: Catherine has become widely recognized as one of the top family lawyers in the U.K., and litigated the largest and possibly most complex and controversial divorce case in British history (between her client, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Jordanian princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain). In the last year she was a semi-regular feature in the British tabloids, photographed and mentioned alongside high-profile clients such as Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner.
Big reputations, lots of money, assets in multiple countries, the watchful eyes of the paparazzi: working in the world of divorce at this level can involve “terribly high stakes,” Catherine says. To do it well requires a huge amount of resilience, calm under pressure and strategic thinking. But while professional detachment is helpful, the other key factor is that “you do still need to care. You can’t lose the clinical approach, but you have to care. That means you’re going to go that extra mile.” She describes her role as serving others, doing “everything humanly possible” to protect her clients’ best interests. Perhaps it’s understandable that the tabloids have taken to calling her a pitbull lawyer.
Big reputations, lots of money, assets in multiple countries, the watchful eyes of the paparazzi: working in the world of divorce at this level can involve “terribly high stakes,” Catherine says.
Before all that, Catherine was a Branksome Hall boarder from Thunder Bay (and, despite the light British lilt picked up after over three decades across the pond, she’s still a Northern Ontario girl at heart, speaking wistfully about the shores of Lake Superior and returning there every summer). You wouldn’t expect someone with her resumé to describe herself as fairly average. But, she says, “I was not the front-runner at Branksome. I developed over time.”
The school gave her the space and support for self-discovery. Now a trustee of a mental health charity for children and youth—and a mother to two young women—Catherine says she’s keenly aware of how valuable this work is, given the pressure young people face. “All of society is suffering from that uber-intensity and pressure around achievement and being the best at everything. I don’t see how this helps young people. I have always tried to give the simple message to my daughters that they are more than good enough just as they are.”
To hear Catherine tell it, her career was to some extent the product of happy accidents. She attended McGill University after Branksome, knowing she wanted to study law. After receiving a scholarship to spend a year in the U.K., she applied to the University of Oxford “as a bit of a laugh.” Then, “frankly miraculously,” in her opinion, she got accepted. She hadn’t intended to stay in the country long-term, but then met her husband. Despite qualifying as a trust and tax lawyer, she ended up in family law after taking on the caseload of a sick colleague.
As a young lawyer, the work environment was a horrible shock, with backstabbing and bullying that made her question whether to continue her law career. It was her now-famous combination of cool-headedness and fierce advocacy for her clients that saved her, netting a string of client wins and referrals that built her career. When she had moved on to another firm and was in the position to develop her own team, collegiality and respect were non-negotiable, something she carried over to Harbottle.
“I’ve got one rule: we spend a lot of time together, we’re not always going to get along, but if you have a problem, go out for a coffee and sort it out. What I want to know is you’re decent and you treat people respectfully,” she says. “This has attracted the best people. If you prioritize these values and don’t accept anything less, the performance comes next.”
