On October 16, 1995, Simply Red’s ‘Fairground’ sat at the top of the UK charts, Newcastle United led the way in the Premiership and Pocahontas had just started gracing the screens in British cinemas. It was also a day that marked a significant milestone in the life of a current Knights partner.
Nadia Davis is a family partner based in the firm’s Birmingham office. Having joined as part of an acquisition in 2024, this week sees Nadia celebrate 30 years as a qualified lawyer.
An experienced family practitioner, Nadia specialises in advising on all aspects of relationship breakdown – including divorce, children disputes, and living together agreements.
Alongside her work dealing with complex and high-value assets for high-profile clients, Nadia is a trained collaborative lawyer who sits on the firm’s unique non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) POD. She also boasts Band 1 status for Family Law expertise by Chambers and Partners, and The Legal 500.
Speaking ahead of this major milestone, Nadia says time has flown: “My first response to reaching 30 years qualified is that I feel slightly old to be honest! It’s surprising how quickly the years go by, but I’m blessed to still be here, enjoying what I do, and that I can continue to help as many people as I can going forward.”
“I was making a real difference to people’s personal lives, so it felt good to do something that was helping.”
Growing up in Coventry, Nadia arrived in Birmingham as a student in the late 1980s: “Having moved here for university, Birmingham very quickly became my adopted city so, when I started to look for jobs, this place was first choice.
“One of my early forays into the world of law came at a local firm in the city. It was a great experience and good fun as we covered every single, type of work so I got a great level of experience across a variety of areas whilst I was there.
“If I’m honest, I always thought I was going to be a corporate commercial lawyer because that was the lion’s share of my work as a trainee but, after a dabble working in a legal aid family office, there was no going back.
“I absolutely fell in love with family work, my clients and really helping people and it just felt very different to acting for businessman who essentially were motivated by making money. I was making a real difference to people’s personal lives, so it felt good to do something that was helping.
“How family law worked back then was very different to how it works now as legal aid was, by and large, still available before government cuts. People had much smoother access to the advice they need so the work I was dealing with was increasingly varied.
“We cut our teeth as young lawyers doing this kind of work as you never knew what you’d be faced with when you rocked up to work each morning. Frequently, I would have somebody coming into our office first thing who had suffered awful injuries as part of a domestic abuse situation or, for instance, a child had been snatched. It was stressful and life-changing work that we were involved in from an early stage of our careers and, to be honest, it was exciting to learn to deal with every single scenario.
“These experiences sculpted me into the lawyer I am today because there’s nothing that can faze you after you’ve experienced a few years of that sort of work. I suspect this current generation of lawyers maybe won’t get that initial grounding in such a wide range of issues and that’s a shame, not just for these prospective lawyers, but also for the public who don’t have access to justice in the same way.”
Not only did these experiences shape Nadia into the lawyer she is today but also helped her grow as a person: “What these experiences gave you was compassion. Dealing with such a variety of social problems meant that every approach I took was unique and helped me understand how to deal with people in the right way, at the right time. This work just gave me a real love for dealing with people in family related matters and I soon knew this is what I wanted to do.”
After a few years, at the age of 26, Nadia accepted a role heading up a team at a law firm in Shropshire. It was here she spent the next 18 years of her career, transitioning from a legal aid lawyer to somebody who had developed a very successful private practice.
A move to a law firm in Worcester followed before Nadia returned to Birmingham in 2023: “I was really proud of everything I’d achieved in my career at that point but, I was in my early 50s, and felt like I need a new challenge so I made the decision to head back to my adopted city and start from scratch.
“I’d be working in the counties for quite a few years so, when I made the move, I had no clients and no real contacts as I’d been out of the city for a little bit of time. However, I gave it a go, and it was a monumental success. I had some tremendous local support, and I was welcomed very quickly back into the fold of family lawyers in Birmingham – which I remain very grateful for.”
“I’ve been very lucky to work alongside some amazing people in my time and that’s really helped as family work can be emotionally challenging.”
In September 2024, Knights completed on the acquisition of Thursfields and continued to strengthen its presence in the West Midlands – with Nadia being one of more than 100 professionals making the move.
She said it brought a new challenge to her door: “It was a bit of a curve ball that this was happening, and I’ll be honest in saying it wasn’t what I had expected when I originally made the move across. However, one thing I’ve always tried to do is to keep an open mind, and it’s been a great move – not just for me, but for the wider team. We’d built up such strong relationships that, to have them all moving across to Knights, was lovely but there was this additional benefit of new colleagues who have been incredibly supportive.
“I’ve been very lucky to work alongside some amazing people in my time and that’s really helped as family work can be emotionally challenging. I’ve learned a lot and developed how I work and the advice I’ve been given over the years as there’s not always an obvious solution.
“I think the best bit of advice I've got for people in that scenario is sometimes it's just good to sleep on it. There have been times in my career where I've gone to bed thinking I’m not sure how best to deal with a certain situation but, quite often, a good night’s rest often leads to clarity and has allowed me to move forward in the best possible way.
“I’d also say it’s super important to have someone in your life who you can rely on to be your back up. My husband does that role for me and I’m very grateful for the support he provides by helping me be successful in a demanding career.”
Away from work, the last 30 years has seen Nadia move home, get married and started a family – her daughter arriving after a battle with infertility. She says parenting alongside building a successful career has been her biggest achievement with her pride extending to her work in helping thousands of people to find a new future:
“It’s been such a lovely thing for me to do, and it continues to give me that buzz when I’m sat with a client on the beginning of their journey. They’re quite often sad, struggling and still coming to terms with the great changes in their lives but it’s been one of the great pleasures of my career to act as the help and guidance they need to get through the necessary processes.
“There’s been quite a few clients over the years, who have started off extremely vulnerable but, by the end, have felt extremely empowered and, at the end of the day, that’s why I do my job. It’s not always positive and that’s ok.
“When looking back, is there things I’d wished I’d done differently? I’m not sure because I’m not a person who regrets and I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. For instance, my disastrous and disappointing A-Level results led me to my second-choice university in Birmingham and, as I’ve mentioned, that’s worked out brilliantly. You could argue that my life would be very different had I not needed to resort to plan B.
“I sometimes wonder if I could have looked at new challenges earlier than I did but my experiences have led me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t change that. I think my message is that things might not go to plan but the new path you go down might be a lot better so it’s important to keep a positive and open mind when faced with this adversity.
“As for my future, I love my job, I love working with clients and I love filling my days with something that I find interesting, entertaining or fulfilling in some way. I’ve got years ahead of me doing this job so bring it on!”