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Starting out
6 August 2010
I must have been no older than 10 when I told my mother I wanted
to become a ‘lawyer’. The week before I had wanted to be a nurse
and the week before that a barmaid, so as you can imagine she did
not necessarily take my aspirations at those tender years
seriously. I would like to say that the desire to embark upon a
legal career came from a yearning desire to ‘do some good’, but
alas no; it was watching too much LA Law!
Determination though is one of my strengths. I have never been
one to be swayed easily. When I set myself a goal, I will always
achieve it.
Born and bred in Nottingham, I attended the local comprehensive
school, George Spencer, and the sixth form. I studied Law in
Manchester, which, despite the efforts of the IRA to desecrate it
in my first year, was a great city for students. My liver and bank
balance survived (just!) and I returned to Nottingham Law School,
to study on the Bar Vocational Course (BVC), to become a
barrister.
My career path from then has been perhaps less traditional than
most. Pupillage was then (in 1999) and is now, extremely difficult
to come by. Over 1500 students per year pass the BVC, and there are
approximately 600 pupillages available. The odds aren’t great.
I started as a paralegal at Browne Jacobson 3 days after
finishing my BVC. I was asked to draft a defence for a Partner and
it was a nerve racking experience that I was now doing this for
real and no longer practicing from a text book!
I must have impressed; I didn’t get the sack and when I
approached the firm 12 months later to sponsor me I was delighted
when that opportunity and sponsorship was offered. My business plan
was simple: to develop an in-house advocacy unit, which would offer
the same level of excellent service for which Browne Jacobson is
known.
I completed my pupillage at KCH Barristers in Nottingham. The
late William Everard was Head of Chambers and my then pupil master,
James Howlett, (who later became Head of Chambers) shared a room
with him. The smoking ban was a long way off from being introduced
and I remember the plumes of smoke which would billow whilst the
intricacies of legal argument were debated! I was fortunate to have
the support of some excellent barristers during that time who
taught me a great deal.
I achieved what I said I would. I have set up and established an
in-house Advocacy Unit which has quadrupled in size. Last year I
became a pupil supervisor, and this year my application to have
Browne Jacobson registered as an Approved Pupillage Training
Organisation was granted by the Bar Standards Board. I will take my
first pupil in October this year, which is an exciting
prospect!
There have been some school boy errors along the way - most
recently was turning up to a hearing in which the level of
compensation to be awarded to a Claimant was being assessed. I had
wrongly been advised the Judge was not robing, but on arrival in
Coventry, to my dismay he was robed. Further more, he insisted I
also be robed to appear before him! Luckily for me, my opponent had
a colleague from Chambers, who was in the same Court but who had
finished his case, and who gallantly lent me his robe. The problem
was solved, or so I thought until I discovered he was six foot tall
against my height of five feet! After much gown swapping and wig
swapping we got on before the Judge, I just had to be careful not
to nod for fear the borrowed wig would fall over my face!
The most memorable case? That is by far also the most tragic -
the inquest into the deaths of Fiona Pilkington & Francesca
Hardwick which rapidly became the most high profile, being reported
in every tabloid newspaper, on local, national and even
international news channels.
The highlight of my career? Appearing in the Court of Appeal,
followed by having one of the first appeal cases before the Upper
Tribunal (Administrative Appeals) reported.
Am I at the height of my career? Not quite, but not far off!
This article first appeared in the Nottingham
Post
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