Jodie Hill is a neurodivergent solicitor, ED&I consultant, coach and trainer, author and campaigner. She is passionate about employment law, mental health and wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), and neurodiversity.
A qualified barrister initially called to the Bar by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 2010, Jodie then cross-qualified to become a solicitor in 2013. Her mental breakdown in 2017, which Jodie now describes as her “mental breakthrough”, led her to establish Thrive Law in 2018. It was the first law firm in the UK founded with wellbeing and mental health at its heart.
Today, Thrive Law, headquartered in Leeds with teams in London and the Southwest, delivers HR and employment law support to employers and employees. A focus on ED&I, mental health, wellbeing and neurodiversity underpins its mission to ensure everyone can thrive in the workplace.
In addition to being managing partner at Thrive Law, Jodie is also a law lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and an active member of the Employment Law Committee at The Law Society.
Jodie regularly carries out one-to-one and group training programmes and coaching focused on the workplace, covering key employment law and HR topics, all with the aim of developing progressive leaders and harnessing the power of people within organisations. Her existing and previous clients include Morrisons, Addleshaw Goddard and Herbert Smith Freehills. She is also a qualified coach, having achieved the ILM Level 3 Award in Effective Coaching.
Jodie is the author of Thriving at Life, an interactive wellbeing journal dedicated to understanding the importance of self-care, gratitude, sleep, healthy habits and much more. She is also co-author of a book focusing on how to value discrimination claims, written in partnership with Chelsea Brooke-Ward, a barrister specialising in employment law. The expertly researched and conscientiously written legal text is available via Amazon.
Jodie regularly appears in print, online, on TV and radio as a legal expert and champion to discuss and comment on pressing issues affecting the workplace and ED&I, mental health, wellbeing, and neurodiversity. Broadcasters, publications and outlets to feature Jodie include Sky News, BBC News, Channel 4, ITV News Calendar, The Times, The Law Society Gazette, and Yorkshire Post.
Jodie is a sought-after speaker at employment law and HR conferences and events. She’s able to speak confidently and passionately about a range of topics, particularly law in the UK and HR, ED&I, mental health, wellbeing, and neurodiversity nationally and internationally. She has significant experience of speaking in front of large audiences, in person and online, with a warm and friendly delivery and ability to break down complex topics into easy-to-understand takeaways. Prominent events where Jodie has spoken include the Legal Disruptors Conference in Prague. She also spoke at the SRA Compliance Officers Conference and regularly speaks for The Law Society—both at events and on TV and radio.
An active user of social media, Jodie has built profiles with huge reach across prominent social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. Collectively, she’s able to speak directly to an audience of more than 56,000 followers and connections and contribute significantly to the conversations she’s passionate about.
A mental health, ED&I and neurodiversity advocate, Jodie has campaigned since 2019 to change the law around mental health in the workplace. As part of this campaign, she is currently helping to draft proposed new legislation as part of a Parliamentary committee that aims to gain parity between mental and physical health in the workplace.
Jodie also launched and is regional committee chair for the This Is Me campaign in Yorkshire, which aims to end the stigma in the region through the sharing of stories about mental health in the workplace.
Jodie’s work extends to mentoring and providing support on behalf of associations and schemes focused on the legal sector in the UK, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority EDI mentoring scheme, LawCare, Neurodiversity in Law and Women in the Law.
Jodie has been recognised regionally and nationally by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Law Society and ACAS. She has also received a variety of prestigious awards recognising her contributions to mental health, wellbeing, ED&I, social mobility and more, as well as the accomplishments of Thrive in these fields and for excellence in employment law, locally in Yorkshire and nationally.
Jodie and Thrive Law’s many awards include:
- Highly Commended – Coach of the Year, British HR Awards (2024)
- Winner – Human Storyteller of the Year, TLC Lions Human Awards (2024)
- Winner – Solicitor of the Year, Inspirational Women in Law Awards (2023)
- Winner – Diversity and Inclusion Leader, Northern Leadership Awards (2023)
- Winner – Boutique Law Firm of the Year, Modern Law Awards (2022)
- Winner – Employment Law Award (2023, 2022, 2021), Niche Law Firm of the Year (2022 and 2021) and Diversity and Inclusion Award (2020 and 2019), Yorkshire Legal Awards
- Winner – Wellbeing Award (2021) and Social Mobility Award (2019), Yorkshire Post Excellence Awards
- Winner – Championing Diversity in Tech, Legal Week Awards (2021)
- Winner – Advocacy Award, InsideOut Awards (2020)
- Winner – Small Medium Employer of the Year, Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards (previously the BAME Apprenticeship Awards, 2020)
