In her own words: Louise Fisher

In every issue, we hear from a CILEX member about how they started out and their career journey. Louise Fisher, a court support lawyer at leading international law firm Ashurst, tells her story

Louise Fisher’s legal career began at 16 when she left school and started working as an outdoor clerk for a civil litigation firm. Over the years, she has built up an extensive knowledge of the workings of the courts and Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and now works at international firm Ashurst supporting a 60-strong dispute resolution practice, providing know-how and training as well as representing the firm on various High Court users’ committees.

Last month, she was appointed to her first judicial position, as a road user charging adjudicator.

Despite graduating many years ago, Louise had never attended a CILEX graduation ceremony so came along in October to celebrate with other CILEX members

“I left school at 16 after finishing my O-Levels. I did really well and was a high achiever academically, but no one had ever been to university in my family – my dad was a carpenter and my mum was a stay-at-home mum – so it just wasn’t something I considered for myself.

I enjoyed legal fiction and TV legal dramas growing up and I had always had an interest in working in the law. My school career adviser told me about ILEX, as CILEX was known then. I liked the idea of studying for qualifications alongside a full-time job and so decided to go for it.

I got a job as an outdoor clerk, a role that was more common back in the early 90s when I started out – most civil litigation firms had one. My job was to go down to Royal Courts of Justice every day, taking court documentation back and forth.

Quite early on, I had the opportunity to get involved in advocacy. At 16 years old, I was given half an hour’s notice that I would be appearing at the Royal Courts of Justice to present an application for an extension of time. I was thrown in at the deep end but it was a great opportunity. Experiences like this meant I became comfortable with going to court very early in my career, an option rarely open to today’s trainee lawyers.

Self-discipline

I was living in Rayleigh in Essex with my parents, working full-time and commuting for three hours a day. For the first two years, I went to evening classes locally and studied in the evenings and at weekends. For the second two years, I studied remotely. It was tough and took a lot of self-discipline but it helped that I lived at home, so at least I had my dinners cooked for me!

After another two years, aged 23, I had the work experience I needed to qualify but in those days you couldn’t qualify until you were 25, so that’s when I became a Fellow.

On qualification, I was working on debt collection and personal injury, and went on to work in a number of volume litigation roles. My whole career has been spent working in London. It’s been very varied but always in civil litigation, gradually progressing and working for larger City firms including RPC and BLM.

Technical expertise

My current role, which I have been doing for over 12 years, is as an ‘expertise lawyer’ or professional support lawyer (PSL) at Ashurst. It’s not a fee-earning role – it’s about supporting the disputes department’s 60-plus lawyers.

I provide technical legal support, training trainees, conducting research, advising on the CPR, as well as mentoring junior team members, including the firm’s solicitor apprentices – a group I can really relate to having qualified myself whilst working.

Like a lot of women, I was interested in the PSL role because it was more flexible than my previous fee-earning roles and with young children working part-time really appealed to me.

“I have had the opportunity to meet inspirational figures in the legal world, such as former Supreme Court Justice Baroness Hale. It’s something I never would have expected would happen to me back when I was starting out”

The part of my job I enjoy the most is using my 30-plus years’ court experience and my familiarity with the CPR to help our disputes team, who refer to me as the firm’s ‘courts guru’. I still go to court on occasion and also represent the firm at professional court user groups such as the High Court users’ group. Through that role, I have had the opportunity to meet inspirational figures in the legal world, such as former Supreme Court Justice Baroness Hale. It’s something I never would have expected would happen to me back when I was starting out at 16.

I am the only Chartered Legal Executive at my firm. It hasn’t always been easy being CILEX qualified – I’ve often had to explain my different route to qualification and that I can call myself a lawyer. In past roles, I have not always felt appreciated as a Chartered Legal Executive which I put down to an ignorance about the CILEX route into law.

I’ve certainly felt I had to work hard to prove myself and it has paid off – a lot of roles I have been offered have come through contacts, people whom I’ve worked with and I’ve met along the way who know what I can bring to a role.

Branching out

I’ve recently been appointed to a fee-paid judicial position as a road user charging adjudicator, deciding appeals against Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and congestion charge fines.

I’d been interested in judicial roles ever since CILEX members were first permitted to apply, so a few years ago I started looking into what was involved. My children were growing up – both are now away at university – and working part-time meant I would be able to fit a judicial position in around my day job.

Initially I applied for a deputy district judge position and then a fee-paid tribunal judge role. I got through to the final stage for the latter – the selection day – but no further. It’s a tough process but being accepted to the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme helped me. I was allocated a judicial mentor and was able to take part in the shadowing scheme.

Their advice led me to broaden the roles I was considering, making it clear I didn’t have to stick to litigation, even though it is my area of expertise. It meant I considered roles I wouldn’t previously have thought of, like the road user charging position.

It can be hard to come up with recent examples of how you meet the competencies required, especially in my case as I no longer do fee-earning work. The PAJE course helped me with that, recommending I take on voluntary work to build up my experience.

Working for City firms, I haven’t had much experience of dealing with vulnerable people, so I took a role on a panel deciding on community service for youth offenders. It really helped me with my application as well as being an interesting and rewarding experience.

I’m about to start and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a minimum of 30 days a year but I hope to be sitting one day a week.

When my application was successful and people at my firm found out about it, it highlighted my CILEX qualifications. My colleagues have been curious and it has been a good opportunity to educate people here about the CILEX path into the law.”