Derrick Gooden: A Cross Between Samuel L. Jackson and Hamilton

 

Today marked the final guest lecture in our Learning Through the Workplace series, and what an ending it was. We met Derrick Gooden, Director and Higher Rights Advocate specialising in Criminal Defence at Grech Gooden Solicitors.

From the moment he began, it was clear that this lecture would not follow the usual script.

Perched casually on the desk in jeans, completely at ease in his own skin, Derrick spoke with a frankness that instantly silenced the auditorium. No polished corporate performance, no rehearsed legal lecture. Just straight talking, confidence, and a storyteller who knew exactly how to hold a room.

And hold it he did.

Within minutes I was hooked. His style reminded me of those rare teachers who truly know how to tell a story, the kind where you lean forward without realising, because whatever happens next, you need to hear it.

Of course, my mind wandered now and again, but not away from the law.

Instead, it wandered to Hamilton.

Since lockdown, my daughter has had the musical on constant repeat. Even after watching it countless times on screen and three times live, the songs still play relentlessly in my car. Every lyric is now permanently etched into my brain.

And suddenly, the parallels appeared.

Both Hamilton and Derrick came from less privileged beginnings, yet through talent, relentless work, and sheer determination, they found their way into the legal world.

But the similarity didn’t stop there.

So much of what Derrick said could have been lifted straight from a lyric.

Not throwing away your shot.
Seeing opportunity and taking it.
Working hard and delivering results.
Being bold.
Being the one thing in life you can actually control.

At one point I half expected him to break into song, with a chorus line appearing behind him.

He spoke about getting the job done. About diversity and how the legal profession is slowly, but undeniably, changing. About applying the law not as dry theory, but as a living tool that can be used with skill, strategy and sometimes a little creativity.

He talked about how we are trained to retain information and regurgitate it on demand, exam after exam, case after case, yet the reality of the courtroom is far more alive than that.

Right now, he told us, we are all a little like Burr.

Careful. Observing. Collecting knowledge. Still deciding which direction to take.

Meanwhile he had been the Hamilton, bold, fearless, standing up in magistrates’ courts, the Court of Appeal, even appearing before the Hague.

His advice was simple but powerful:

Apply the rules.
Be prepared for anything.
Do your research.
Stand your ground.
Argue well.

And when you lose?

You pick yourself up and keep going.

He spoke about sentencing guidelines and how, in their own way, they bring order and structure to the chaos of criminal law. There was something reassuring in that, a system that, when understood properly, can be navigated with skill.

His storytelling was frank and refreshingly unpolished. Not the carefully curated professionalism we have seen from previous speakers, but something far more authentic.

As he joked himself, he may not be polished, but he is certainly not stupid.

Opening an office near the police station, he admitted, had been a rather strategic move.

He closed with a story that felt more Hollywood than Cardiff Bay, reminding us not to take the journey too seriously, and reassuring us that before we know it, we will be there ourselves.

I did have questions, but time ran out.

I found myself wondering about the life behind the advocate. Did his wife also have a career, or was she the one holding everything together at home while he fought his battles in court? I thought of Eliza in Hamilton, quietly carrying the family while history unfolded elsewhere.

Perhaps I’ll never know.

But I do know this: appearances can be deceiving.

Where you start does not define where you finish.

Your roots are not chains holding you down, they are the ground from which you grow.

And looking at where I started, and where I am now, I feel more determined than ever.

Because if the legal world is slowly opening itself to diversity, then somewhere in that world, there is a place for me too.