As part of our regular student newsletters, we sit down with notable students, societies, alumni and staff to allow them to share their experiences of Southampton.
Stefan Cross studied law at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1982. His work on discrimination and equal pay cases led to him being awarded an Honorary QC and starting the UK’s first “no win no fee” legal practise. Stefan has generously funded the Stefan Cross Solicitors Limited Scholarships, helping to attract the best law students from all backgrounds to the University of Southampton.
Stefan spoke to us about his experiences at the University and what motivates him to fight for equality for his clients in his work on discrimination cases.
1) What made you choose to study at the University of Southampton?
Given my family background I honestly just wanted to get to a good university. I knew Oxbridge wasn’t an option but I wanted to go for a red brick, and Southampton was willing to take a chance on me, even though I was worried that I might fail my Maths A-level and end up with only 2 ‘B’ grades.
2) What was Southampton like as a place to study?
Coming to the University was such a culture shock. I had never met anyone who had gone to public school. I didn’t know what public school was! I remember one of the first questions I was asked in Freshers’ Week was “what school did you go to?” That was so strange to me.
But this was the first time I felt free. It was like having my wings unstrapped.
3) At what point in the course did you start to see the way to your future career?
I took “Discrimination” and “Evidence and Procedure” in third year; they were the only subjects for which I got a First. In fact, I was top of the year for Discrimination Law.
At the time I thought that I wanted to be a Family Lawyer, but then I became politically active and got involved in the Trade Unions and the Labour Party on campus, and I began to realise that this was what I cared about.
4) You mention the Labour Party and the Trade Unions, what else did you get involved in that shaped your time at the University?
I took on as many roles as I could while I was at the University. I even ran as an independent candidate for Union President. That was a silly idea! I think my maverick streak – standing up for what I believe in, often when detrimental to myself – has stayed with me, but that was very naive. I just didn’t understand the machine-like nature of politics.
I was also the president of Connaught Halls, which was how I met my wife Alison, on her first day of University. I showed her to her room. She was in the new block, which was somehow even smaller than the old quad – at least I had a sink!
5) Since university you have gone on to become an incredibly successful solicitor. What have been the highlights of your career to date?
Whilst at the Trade Unions’ firm I started The Cleveland ‘dinner ladies’ case which marked a sea-change in equal pay legislation. That resulted in a £6m pay-out for women who had been underpaid for years.
Unfortunately despite the fact that this case applied to tens of thousands of women, the unions refused to use the law to pursue this issue and I knew that if I wanted to do something about it I would have to go it alone. The cases we started in the North East began a process that completely changed the culture and forced the Trade Unions to recognise their responsibilities to their members.
To put some numbers to it, over 250,000 women have won cases, and more than £2bn has been paid in compensation to low-paid public sector workers.
I left the Trade Unions’ law firm to set up the UK’s first “no win, no fee” employment practice. It was hard, a huge challenge, and for the first year I thought I’d made a terrible mistake.
The highlight has to be getting appointed as an Honorary QC. Only about twenty solicitors have ever been given that honour, but it was awarded to me for the work we did pursuing equal pay cases, and it’s that work that I am most proud of.
6) When you graduated what was your ambition and do you feel you’ve achieved it?
Yes and no. I didn’t really have a particular ambition when I graduated: I was just looking for a job. I was the first professional in the family. Getting the degree was the achievement.
Then for the first 10-12 years of my career, working with the Trade Unions was what I wanted to do. I was fulfilling my ambition. I took my firm’s employment law caseload from 20 up to 500 cases a year.
The first year establishing my own firm was difficult; it was just me and my computer in a tiny box room. Then the local newspaper decided to write a story about me, and that really kicked off our success. We had 2000 cases within 2 years and 20000 cases within 5 years.
7) What tips would you give to current students looking to start a career in your sector? What could they be doing now to make themselves more employable when they graduate?
There is one obvious answer: have a belief in something. Being committed to something is so important. The difficulty, of course, is knowing what you want to commit to at such a young age.
Try to know what you want. Try not to get fixated on “just getting a job”. Especially with law, everyone will be trying to get a job in a firm, any firm, to get a job. What will set you apart is your interest and involvement in things you care about.
If you have a suggestion for a student group, individual student, staff member, or alumni that you would like to be interviewed in a future student newsletter, please email [email protected]