Amanda Pinto QC

Photograph of Amanda Pinto QC

“Coming up to Caius in the first year the College accepted women students was a great opportunity and I was determined to take full advantage.”

Amanda Pinto QC (1979 Law), Vice-Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales (Chair-elect January 2020)

Coming up to Caius in the first year the College accepted women students was a great opportunity and I was determined to take full advantage. I loved Caius from the moment I arrived. I valued lectures in Mill Lane, setting off five minutes early to buy my Fitzbillies Chelsea bun en route, and supervisions in Caius Court. I enjoyed the libraries: the College Library where all-night ‘work’ sessions involved socialising as well as study, and the Law Library, then very conveniently positioned just across Senate House Passage from the Gate of Honour. I threw myself into many clubs and societies, including the Shadwell Society for which I acted, the boat club for which I coxed, the orchestra in which I played the oboe (badly), the Shakespeare Society through which I ate, drank and read numerous parts (more fluently in the second half of the evening), the newly-formed netball team, the Caius Law Society and the late night bar, scene of many a post-study drink.

Caius gave me a bounteous time of friends, intellectual stretch, beautiful surroundings, academic life and an introduction to copious amounts of wine. I am still very friendly with many Caians. Indeed, I married one! I have been a barrister for over 30 years, working with eminent Caians surprisingly often. Mr Prichard and Professor Sealy, amongst others, set me on a path I never expected, but enjoy immensely. Both professionally and personally, Caius is a constant thread running through my life, for which I am profoundly grateful.