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Christine Howard, winner of the 2016 CILEx Pro Bono Award, describes her journey to becoming a Chartered Legal Executive. See also (2016) November CILExJ pages 4 and 11.

About the author
Christine Howard FCILEx is a Chartered Legal Executive lawyer at Weil, Gotshal  
& Manges.

The world of law was never intended to be my chosen career, but due to bereavement when I was 16 I left school with my nine O levels and joined the civil service, working in the Chancery Division at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ), in 1973, as a lowly clerk. Not many will remember Chancery Registrars as they have gone the way of the dinosaurs, but my first position was as clerk to Registrar Halliday. I moved swiftly along to become Master Cholmondeley Clarke’s clerk, and stayed in that position for three years. There are still a few people I know from back then, and we occasionally reminisce on the good old days: Masters wore bowler hats; deference was key; and claims were myriad.

I can clearly recall the senior Chancery Master resigning because a decision was taken to remove the Queen’s name from a Writ (a claim form to those youngsters out there). It became apparent that progress in the civil service would mean, potentially, a change in department, and by this time I was hooked on the law. I left Chancery, and became an outdoor clerk with a High Street practice in London that very generously sponsored me on day release to take what were then called Parts 1–IV (now Level 3). I gained those qualifications in 1979. I became an Associate Legal Executive, and worked predominantly on personal injury and matrimonial matters in the days when legal aid was available to both. These were the days when the White Book covered the High Court and the Green Book was for county court work. It was some years before Lord Woolf introduced his reforms and the Civil Procedure Rules were born. It is now a very different world.

I moved on, and found myself working at a firm that was renowned as a contentious construction practice. I loved construction law: the personalities; the issues; and the technical Bar.

There then followed a number of diverse positions and changes to my personal circumstances. I took some time off to have three children and reduced my commitment to work briefly. I did find time, though, to do a spot of ad hoc work in the Middle East on a very well-known bank insolvency. When my youngest son was of school age, I returned to the City and worked as an Associate Legal Executive for a UK practice for eight years. At this time, pro bono was not a watchword for most practices and there were limited opportunities.

I was fortunate that a former partner had moved on to join a small disputes practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges (Weil), and when it became apparent that my then firm was going to merge, at the end of 2000, I was lucky enough to be offered employment at Weil as [a then] Legal Executive. I joined in January 2001, and have never looked back. It is testament to the firm, and the London office ethos, that I remain here nearly 16 years later and, hopefully, until retirement beckons.

My ‘day’ job is quite different from when I am wearing my pro bono hat. The Weil disputes team is involved in complex commercial litigation and arbitration, and we very much work as a team on high-pro file cases, such as the Enron and the Lehman insolvencies and concomitant litigation. I love both aspects of my job: as a member of the team; and as a pro bono individual. Weil has a proactive policy of a real commitment to pro bono and charitable endeavours, and their motto of ‘Pro bono: our finest hours’ is real and true.

When I arrived, the disputes team was in its infancy, but we investigated and looked for pro bono opportunities. My first foothold was joining the Honorary Legal Adviser (HLA) rota at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) Advice Bureau in the summer of 2001. The HLA scheme is a flagship scheme which the bureau operates, whereby City firms offer their time and experience to assist litigants in person who have proceedings in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. I attended on a regular basis to see and assist litigants in person with practical and procedural advice. I continue to attend and am possibly the longest serving HLA. The scheme has changed and grown since I first attended, but it is evermore needed today. The client base has evolved over the years, and we now more often see clients with litigation in the county courts.
 

I became heavily involved with the bureau and, in addition to my attendance, I took over the running of the rota in 2004. In the intervening years, I have persuaded a number of colleagues to attend, and the scheme goes from strength to strength.

I was approached by the chief executive, Alison Lamb, to become a trustee of the bureau and joined the board in January 2014. I chair the service delivery sub-committee, and I am the trustee with responsibility for complaints against the bureau. hope it is evident that this is a cause very close to my heart. Life today for a litigant in person is becoming increasingly more difficult, with continuous funding cuts.

Following on from my attendance, I have taken on a number of matters for litigants in person, and Weil has represented these clients on a full pro bono basis. We have taken several cases to full trial, and have been successful on each occasion. Without the support of my firm, and their commitment to pro bono, this would not have been possible, and those deserving individuals would have been deprived of their rights.

A few years ago, my head of department thought that it might be a good idea for me to finalise my route to Fellowship. Weil sponsored me to attend Westminster University on a part-time evening basis to undertake the Level 6 subjects. CILEx agreed to exempt my application to Fellowship from the qualifying period due to my length of service and the nature of my role over a great number of years.

As the years have moved on and the opportunities to take on pro bono have risen, I have become more involved in other projects with the support of Weil. We are founding members of the Pro Bono Connect Scheme, which aims to establish a network of barristers and solicitors willing to work together on pro bono cases in civil matters for individuals, charities and community groups that cannot afford to pay for legal advice/representation and for whom public or alternative means of funding are not reasonably available.

In the recent past, I have assisted an international development charity that helps deaf and hearing impaired people in the poorest communities in the world to recover sums fraudulently stolen by a former employee. I am delighted to say that repayments are ongoing and the charity should be reimbursed in full.

I am currently assisting a client, who was introduced to the firm by the RAF Benevolent Fund, in pursuing a borough council in respect of a fatal accident claim and negligence in respect of a minor. I have also worked on a number of matters for Barnardo’s and the NSPCC.

Every day, there are new opportunities to become involved and take up the mantle for disadvantaged and vulnerable people, and to help a diverse range of charitable projects to make life better for all.