16th January 2025

36 Public launches new series ‘Public Perspectives’

Abiodun Olatokun

We are launching a new series, ‘Public Perspectives’, to give you a peek into the professional minds of our Barristers and Clerks. We have asked our team to answer six questions to show their unique insights, experiences, and personalities. First up: Abiodun Olatokun.

Get to know Abiodun as he shares his thoughts, experiences, and a glimpse into what drives his work at 36 Public.

Who has been your most influential mentor in your career?
Trevor Faure, CEO of Smarter Law Solutions, has taught me invaluable lessons about succeeding in law and at the bar. He encouraged me to understand my motivations for my career in order to maximise my potential, and that has helped me to get more out of my work and relationships. I would encourage any legal professional who wants to be more effective and to improve their service to clients to seek out his professional advice.

Which personality trait or strength do you think is essential for success in your industry?

Empathy is key as a public lawyer. Many of the human rights claimants whom we support are highly vulnerable people experiencing the worst moments of their lives. That is also true of the other side of my practice. In order to provide the best possible representation when acting for respondents or defendants in my public law work, I’ve found it necessary to understand why a business or public institution might want to do something that on the face of it might harm an individual’s interests. It is only then that I am able to convince a judge that they acted in a legitimate and proportionate way.

If you could have dinner with any famous person, pastor present, who would it be, and why?

Madiba. Nelson Mandela has always been one of my greatest heroes and I am inspired by the change that he delivered both for the people of South Africa and the wider world. The way that we think about equality has been shaped by his contributions in a fundamental way. I see his struggles as a rallying call to continue the fight for equality and if I could have had half an hour of his time whilst he was still with us that would have meant the world to me.

If you could try any profession other than your own, what would it be?

I would have loved to have been a professional athlete. I have always loved athletics and Olympic weightlifting is a hobby I’m really getting into at the moment. I have played 21 seasons of rugby and play for Southwark RFC on Old Kent Road. I am a keen Crossfitter and am currently taking the Crossfit Level 1 Trainer Qualification. CrossFit gives me an opportunity to lift heavy weights, perform (very limited) gymnastics and to exhaust myself running, and I can see myself teaching others how to do it alongside my legal career.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

Peru. My wife and I went there in 2022 and explored the Amazon and the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. We visited an Andean tribe who create colourful garments from the earth, and I found them really inspiring. I still have two items that they made, a weaving of a leading rebel against Spanish colonialism, and a fingerpainted colour palette they made from natural dyes.

What do you think the legal field will look like in five years? How about fifty years?

I think 2030 will look very much like the legal sector of today, though a few more ‘Alternative Business Structures’ will pop up where lawyers offer their services with non-lawyers in order to provide a full-scale service to clients. In 2074, I think lawyers will have to be ‘prompt engineers’; competent in using generative AI software and in diagnosing where the prompts of others have led to legal errors. I don’t think that we will be conducting time-intensive research into legal issues in the way that we are today.