Spotlight on Ofelia Marterosyan
Inspired by her parents’ Armenian roots, Geldards’ Education team paralegal Ofelia Marterosyan talks honestly about her motivation to succeed and her desire to make her parents proud. Growing up with a brother with Special Educational Needs, Ofelia’s compassion and empathy make her the perfect fit for a career in SEN law.
We talk to Ofelia about how her relationship with her brother has shaped her career and empowered her to fight for those that don’t have a voice themselves.
Why did you consider a profession in the law?
My parents moved to England from Armenia over twenty-five years ago. At the time they migrated, Armenia was just emerging from the Soviet regime. My Dad had suffered hardship and poverty growing up and wanted a better future for his children. He spent a lot of time travelling Europe to find the right place to settle, and for him it was always going to be England. My Dad moved to this country with very little; he is always telling me he arrived with “Just £20 in my back pocket and a Snickers bar.”
It was my mum’s dream to be a lawyer, ever since she was a little girl. Back in Armenia, she was a law graduate, but after she got married my parents moved to England and sadly she wasn’t able to pursue her ambition. She didn’t know the language, was raising a family and just wouldn’t have been able to make it work.
So I decided to follow in her footsteps and finish the dream she had started. I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer from a very young age. My mum was always saying to me, “You’ve got a big mouth, you could be a lawyer!”
Once I was old enough to understand what she had been through, I realised it was not just my ‘big mouth’, but more her wanting to live her dream vicariously through me, and I completely get that. It’s almost like she planned it for me!
“My mum was always saying to me ‘You’ve got a big mouth, you could be a lawyer!’”
How did you qualify into law?
When I was taking my GCSEs and A levels at school, my eyes hadn’t really been opened to the world and what you had to do to earn money. I always knew I wanted to go into law, but my mindset definitely changed as I grew up. I studied for an LLB Business Law at the University of East London, graduating in 2024. I helped out at the Legal Advice Centre at university and completed a paid internship so that gave me a taster of working life.
I helped fund my studies by working part-time as a phlebotomist (taking people’s bloods) at the hospital where my mum worked doing the same. I had worked as a hospital receptionist for six months before the manager recognised my potential and I was offered training in phlebotomy. Throughout my university education I worked part-time as a phlebotomist and saved as hard as I could. It was important to me to show my parents that I was financially independent.
As I approached the end of university and graduation, it was only then I was beginning to realise what life in the outside world was like. I started applying for jobs a couple of months before graduating and so many places didn’t even get back to me. It’s tough. One recruiter replied with a message all in capital letters which just said, “NOT ENOUGH EXPERIENCE”, which actually made me cry. But it motivated me to push on with more job applications.
“It was important to me to show my parents that I was financially independent.”
You joined Geldards shortly after graduating…
Soon after graduating I applied for a job as a Legal Assistant in Geldards’ Education team. I was actually visiting Armenia when I got the call to interview and I feel lucky they waited a week for me to return to be interviewed.
When I had the interview I didn’t know anything about Education law; you don’t learn about it in a law degree. It’s very niche. But I have a little brother who has Special Educational Needs, and I think my empathy towards it showed. When I learned more about Education law, I thought “Oh, this might be the dream job I’ve been looking for.”
I started my first job a few months after graduating and given the current job market, I feel extremely lucky to have found a job so quickly.
What attracted you to a job in Education Law?
My little brother has Autism Spectrum Disorder, but I didn’t even know lawyers existed for this specific area. When I came out of the interview at Geldards, having found out what educational law actually was, I remember saying to my friend “It’s almost like the perfect area of law I didn’t know existed.” Having a sibling with special educational needs definitely makes you grow up quite quickly. I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to always make sure he’s okay.
My parents understood English but at medical appointments with my brother, if things were said too quickly, using certain words or phrases, or with an accent, Mum and Dad would struggle to understand. I would be there at hospital appointments, aged 12 or 13, trying to explain in a different language what autism is, what to expect and what an EHC plan is and what help he’s going to get in school. It definitely makes you grow up more quickly. And to be honest I’m thankful for it because I developed maturity at a young age, and it set me up for what to expect in the world.
“I remember saying to my friend ‘It’s almost like the perfect area of law I didn’t know existed.'”
What challenges have you helped your brother overcome?
At secondary school my little brother was bullied. Because he is autistic he was none the wiser; he thought people were joking around and playing with him, but in reality they were bullying him. It was such a hard watch. But it brought it home to me that I could be the person that stops it and protects him. During sixth form I was sitting a criminology mock exam when I heard crying and instinctively knew it was my brother, so I just stood up and left to help him. Acting as his protector has given me an instinct of responsibility. Sadly you’ve got to be there to pick up the pieces for people who can’t be there for themselves.
Working in Education law has hugely impacted my life outside of work. My brother is almost 19 years old now and we were always close growing up; he’s my best friend and I have always tried to be there for him. My brother was recently excluded from college, which I felt was unfair. Using my legal experience, I was able to go into the school, advocate for him and reverse that decision which was incredibly rewarding.
“Sadly you’ve got to be there to pick up the pieces for people who can’t be there for themselves.”
Tell me all about your role at Geldards?
I started as a Legal Assistant and was recently promoted to Paralegal in the Education team working closely on cases for children who have SEN. Our team works on achieving the best outcomes for children and young people, ensuring their education health and care plans (EHCP) quantify and specify their needs and the provision required to meet those needs.
What’s a typical day like?
No two days are alike. An important part of my role is keeping on top of tribunal deadlines, meeting vital deadlines for evidence, submitting an appeal for a child, and ensuring we adhere to approaching deadlines. If I’m not doing case work, then I am usually busy keeping clients up to date with progress, attending multidisciplinary meetings or I could be drafting grounds of appeals.
Education law is not a particularly complex area of law but there’s a lot of processes that need to be adhered to and everything can go wrong quite quickly. It’s not like anything I’d ever done before. I work hard to ensure all those processes are embedded within me to make sure I’m on the ball.
This isn’t like a business-to-business transaction: you’re working on a child’s life and their future. That in itself is quite daunting to be honest because I have a little brother and if anything was to happen to him, I know exactly the feeling. So you don’t want anyone else to feel like you’re playing with their child’s life, or their future.
“This isn’t like a business to business transaction: you’re working on a child’s life and their future.”
What have you learned during your time in the team?
I’ve probably learnt a lot more on the job working with the team and learning from my colleagues, especially in terms of client care and which areas of law apply to what, than I did during my degree. Although some elements of my degree, such as public law, do come in handy in my role. The team has been so amazing in helping me. There are no wrong or silly questions. And if you ask the same question 50 times and get the same answer 50 times, that’s okay. I’ve never felt judgement from anyone in the team. I feel like now I’m much more confident within my role.
I’m six months into my paralegal role and what has really helped me has been regular catch-ups with my manager Salise. She sets out the next steps of my progression, and we talk about what I’m doing well and what I need to work on to improve. Just yesterday she sat me down and told me she was really proud of how I had grasped the paralegal role. There’s a lot of respect among the junior staff, and I have learned a lot from senior paralegal Daniel. He’s helped me so much and has always been there to make sure I am on the right track which has been great.
The team really feels like a little family to me. I’m quite a hyperactive person and I feel like I can be my bubbly, weird self and everyone gets it. At 23, I’m one of the youngest in the office and I don’t feel like my ‘Gen Z-ness’ is judged at all. I feel like everyone embraces it, which is so nice.
“There are no wrong or silly questions.”
What is next for you?
When I reflect on my parents’ life, it really puts it into perspective how much easier it has been for me. I have not had to work 0.01% as hard as my Dad did. His sacrifice has motivated me to work much harder to make something of myself. My Dad didn’t leave everything he knew behind to start a whole different life for me to not succeed.
Becoming a lawyer is probably one of the biggest things I could do to prove to him that I appreciate everything that he’s done.
Over the next 12 months, I hope to start my SQE and I plan to complete my qualification through that route and then become a lawyer—finally—for my mother!
“Becoming a lawyer is probably one of the biggest things I could do to prove to my Dad that I appreciate everything that he’s done.”
And finally, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I used to be a semi-professional tennis player; I’ve played since I was a child and it’s still my escape. In my spare time it’s my favourite thing to do, especially when the weather is nice. I am also training to be a Pilates instructor. I am devoted to my family and love spending time with them and if I’m to do anything outside of my comfort zone, it will always be with my family.
What you might not know about me is that I am a social media influencer in Armenia! I have got over 30,000 TikTok followers and 15,000 Instagram followers. It’s something I started in university when I was bored one day. I decided to start recording a video, just talking randomly, and then one day I woke up and had thousands of followers. I only speak Armenian, but when I say a random English sentence, everyone loves the accent. Now when I go to Armenia I get stopped in the street and asked for a picture – I’m quite famous there!
“I am a social media influencer in Armenia!”