Success following Adversity
Lisa Moseley
A Coventry lawyer is celebrating after successfully juggling her studies for a prestigious law qualification with a kidney operation to save her husband's life.
Lisa Moseley, who is a Chartered Legal Executive at Band Hatton Button solicitors in Coventry, was studying alongside her day job as an Associate in the firm's Wills, Trusts and Probate team, knowing there was a chance she could be called upon to take part in a life-changing operation.
Lisa's husband had been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease a few years earlier, and needed a kidney transplant to prolong his life, and the couple had agreed to take part in a kidney sharing scheme, which occurs when a living kidney donor is incompatible with the recipient, and so to achieve a closer match, exchanges kidneys with another donor or recipient pair. This meant that if a close kidney match was identified for her husband, Lisa would then give her kidney to a relative of her husband's donor who was also in need of a kidney.
That call eventually came in April 2018 when Lisa was in the thick of her studies to achieve the highest level of qualification for a lawyer in her field - known as the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners qualification - which requires three separate essays to become accredited.
Lisa went in for the operation at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire in June 2018 to donate her kidney to her husband's match - a process which was a success.
"My husband felt much better very quickly after the operation but it took me around three months to fully recover and get back to my studies and work," revealed Lisa.
"My second STEP essay was due in in July 2019, but fortunately I was able to defer this until October and then I submitted my final essay in July 2020.
"I'm thrilled to land the qualification, not only because it is highly sought-after and I am one of few people in the region to have the accreditation, but it also closes a chapter on what has been a testing period for me and my family - with a happy ending that most importantly, improves my husband's quality of life."
Lisa is a full member of Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
Lisa has achieved a Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP) diploma after passing the final essay - demonstrating her up-to-date specialist knowledge affecting trusts and estates, and becomes the sixth lawyer in Coventry to hold such accreditation, four of whom work for Band Hatton Button.