PROUD BIRMINGHAM-BASED father and daughter have spoken of their delight at the latter’s call to the bar at age 24.

Father Sylvanus Dzotsi, speaking of the achievement by daughter Deladem, said: “I am so very proud, the whole family is. Since her childhood, Deladem has always focused hard on her goals.

The thing that made it nicer is she found outon her 24th birthday! ”I am proud to make my dad and my mm proud,” added London-born, Birmingham raised Deladem.

That means everything to me. I’m also happy because black girls and black women can see that this is possible

“That means everything to me. I’m also happy because black girls and black women can see that this is possible”.
“I didn’t see many people that looked like me when I was coming through — it’s important that young people and
females can see themselves in these roles.”

Law entered Deladem’s academic journey at GCSE level, which she continued among he rchosen A-levels, propelling her to gaining a law degree at Nottingham Trent University. During the year she took out, Deladem worked as a part time volunteer at a law firm in Tamworth which specialises immigration, alongside part time paid hours in a high street department store.

Such was her impact on the law firm, the volunteer role became a paid one.

September 2019 saw her start the bar course and beginning the required 12 qualifying sessions to demonstrate competence as a barrister.

COVID-19 not only delayed the course finish date from May 2020 to August 2020, a software crash while completing
a three-hour exam remotely meant the loss of all her work, requiring a resit the following November.
“It was the exam in professional ethics – the hardest one,” Deladem recalled. “It was really hard, but I pushed through and got a really good grade!”

There was more good news coming: a full-time paralegal role at the law firm where Deladem continues to work,
gaining valuable experience towards the pupillage application, the next stage on the road from being a qualified barrister to a practising one, which takes place between November and February 2022.

“Deladem likely got her interest in the law from me,” added Ghanaian-born Sylvanus, who studied the subject to A-level standard. “If I wasn’t an accountant I would have gone into the legal profession. As she grew up, we always watched television shows about the law, and I could see her interest taking shape from an early age.”

Deladem has followed a family tradition of reaching the professional services: her paternal grandfather was also an accountant.

There could be more to come: of her two younger siblings, one will start at a famed grammar school in September and the other is gearing up to take the 11+ exam in the hope of following suit. Sylvanus added:

“I believe education is the best gift you can give a child and so I would encourage our community to apply themselves and aim for such goals. In this environment, when so much is going on that affects us, we need to encourage our community to apply themselves towards great achievements, like others are doing.”

Deladem will be sharing her inspirational story at a school in Yorkshire next month.