Sarah Khan Bashir MBE is a solicitor and the founder of SKB Law, a family law practice with offices in Bradford, Cardiff and London.
This year marks 25 years since Sarah qualified as a lawyer. Not only is she leading a successful family law practice, but she is passionate about collaboration and collective impact. Through two of her initiatives, Aura Network for South Asian women in law and the SKB Law Academy, she is supporting the next generation of legal professionals.
Sarah began her career at a local Bradford firm, offering to work for free to secure her training contract. She then served as a solicitor in the Force Solicitor ’s Department of the West Yorkshire Police before starting her own family law practice in 2008. Measuring Sarah’s success isn’t possible with financials alone. Sarah’s mission is to improve access to the law. In 2018, she became a sole practitioner and implemented her vision for SKB Law, as a modern family law firm with a collaborative, strategic and culturally responsive approach. She embedded social impact into the heart of her firm – profit and purpose. She launched the SKB Law Academy as a way to support the next generation of legal professionals and to deliver more inclusive legal services for women and underserved communities. Since then, she has established her firm’s reputation – securing national and global clients, delivering culturally-aware legal services and tripling the firm’s online market profile to reach nearly 1ml impressions. Through the Academy, the firm has supported over 100 students to complete work placements and over 600 students have participated in the firm’s employability workshops.
Sarah’s contributions extend far beyond her individual practice. In June 2023, Sarah launched the Aura Network for South Asian women in law at the House of Lords. Guests included the President of the Law Society for England & Wales, members of the House of Lords and over 40 lawyers from the country. Aura Network seeks to support South Asian women in law through mentoring, workshops and opportunities for professional development – helping to foster a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. Sarah also continues to support and train future leaders in the legal profession through the SKB Law Academy – offering work placements to students and preparing young people for the world of work.
She is a national advocate for the rights and protections of women, particularly for British Muslim women who often find themselves disadvantaged by a lack of legal protection due to Nikah only marriages. Her work in this area is of national importance, and her expertise has been featured in a Channel 4 documentary, legal articles, and Arab News. Sarah also produces regular digital content to reach younger, or more underserved audiences. She believes that access to information about your legal rights is essential to your wellbeing…your legal wellbeing. In 2021, Sarah launched the ‘My Nikah’ collection, a series of free online legal guides for Muslim women. Some examples of guides: ‘do you know whether your nikah is legally recognised; how to protect your gold jewellery on divorce; advice about mahr (similar to dowry); and a free English guide to the Islamic marriage contract (the Nikah Nama) so that women understand what they are signing and that they have a right to ask for a divorce. Since its launch, the My Nikah collection has been shared online with website traffic reaching approximately 3,000 website visitors per month and a growing social media following on Instagram and Facebook. The firm Google rankings are now number 1 for ‘nikah rights’ and ‘mahr on divorce.’ Last year, ahead of the important No-Fault divorce changes, Sarah created free digital resources in Urdu and Arabic to explain the changes to different audiences. Her achievements have been recognised at a national level, as she was named Lawyer of the Year at the 2022 Modern Law Awards.
Sarah is a leading expert in family law, specialising in South Asian divorce issues and Islamic divorce – with her work in this field being recognised both nationally and internationally through awards and networks. Her deep understanding of the intricacies of Nikah marriages and the legal challenges they present has made her a trusted authority on the subject – she has featured in two documentaries on the topic (Channel 4 and a German documentary). Additionally, she is a pioneer in her work with the Aura Network, leading the way in creating a more inclusive legal profession for South Asian women. Her podcast, Family Matters, offers not only practical advice but also aims to shift the conversation and stigma around divorce – it also communicates legal issues to non-legal audiences, further emphasising her dedication to underserved communities and her profession.
Alongside her practice, Sarah is an advocate for a more inclusive family law sector, and has spoken at several national legal events about the need for more inclusive family law services. At LegalEx 2022, Sarah’s delivered a keynote presentation entitled ‘The Future of Family Law: Why Clients Want a More Inclusive and Integrated Service.’ During her presentation, which has been shared online and with a family law judge, Sarah explored the barriers clients currently experience when accessing family law services and set out her vision for a more integrated and inclusive approach. She provided an example of how her firm is working more closely with a local men’s mental health charity after they realised an overlap in their work – with both organisations referring clients to each other. Together, they are exploring how to create an integrated legal and mental health service partnership which offers access to early legal advice – sharing information about their options and resolve problems more quickly. By tracking their referrals and data, they hope to resolve legal problems and in turn, improve mental wellbeing. During the same presentation, Sarah asked people to imagine how difficult it is to access legal services when English is your second language – noting that “the impact of our work can last a lifetime” for clients. I share this to demonstrate how Sarah’s starting point is always making sure that she, and her firm, are delivering inclusive services for clients.
When you get to know Sarah, you realise she always gives that bit extra! Her commitment to excellence is demonstrated through the many initiatives she has created or supported in Bradford and beyond. In addition to her ground-breaking work in the field of Islamic divorce, she has launched educational and development platforms like the SKB Law Academy and the Aura Network, which are designed to uplift the next generation of legal professionals and build a more inclusive legal sector. More recently, after clients expressed the challenges with finding diverse mediators, Sarah undertook mediation training through National Family Mediation, qualifying as a mediator in Spring 2023. Despite being a small practice, she mentors young lawyers and has offered training contracts to numerous trainee solicitors – who have gone on to excel in the legal sector.
I believe Sarah epitomises what it means to be a role for the profession. Not only does she work hard to lead her practice, but she serves as a role model for her achievements as a lawyer and also for her commitment to mentorship, inclusivity, and community service. When Sarah was recognised as Lawyer of the Year at the Modern Law Awards, I remember saying how much it meant and the powerful message it sent about representation. As Sarah often says, the legal profession isn’t the same one she entered 25 years ago. Representation matters and Sarah serves as a powerful role model for other young women. Over the last few years, since launching the SKB Law Academy, Sarah has noticed Through initiatives like the SKB Law Academy and the Aura Network, she continues to inspire the next generation of legal professionals and to champion diversity within the profession. She is an example of the difference a small firm can make! She was also awarded the Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year award in 2023.
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