A place at the table

Mixing with high-profile judges and leaders in the legal world, CILEX President Yanthé Richardson reflects on the support she has encountered for CILEX, its members and its role in promoting diversity in the profession

Spring has sprung and with it the final quarter of my term as your president has arrived. The last few months have kept me busy, and I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on them as well as looking forward to what is coming up in the year ahead.

CILEX at the Supreme Court

December saw the launch of CILEX's Judicial Academy at the Supreme Court. The event was tremendously well supported by members of the Judicial Diversity Forum, the judiciary, our own CILEX judges and some of the very first Judicial Academy cohort.

It was my honour – if quite a scary one – to open the event and introduce the Lady Chief Justice. Baroness Carr gave her support and words of encouragement to the first cohort of aspiring CILEX judges and asked us all to consider why we allow ‘imposter syndrome’ to exist. In her, words "if you're good enough, you're good enough".

The support for CILEX in the room was overwhelmingly positive and there was clear appreciation for the importance such an initiative has in contributing towards a properly diverse judiciary of the future. We, you, play an integral role in this. If you are a Fellow with five years' PQE or more, I urge you to have a look at our Judicial Academy web page and consider if it might be right for you.

This is not a short-term goal. It requires a commitment to spend 18 months to two years following a structured pathway that will help build the confidence, competence and experience needed to become a judge. On completion of the academy, participants will have the opportunity to feed into the Pre-Application Judicial Education and the Judicial Mentoring Scheme as they engage in the application and selection process itself.

The willingness of the senior leaders there on the night, to support and give their time and commitment to the issue of judicial diversity is a huge part of the reason we can be optimistic and enthusiastic for what the new academy will be able to help achieve.

Women Who Will 

It was a real honour to be included in Obelisk Support's Women Who Will report 2024, which celebrates the next generation of female leaders in law. Alongside 23 other women, I was recognised as someone making a “significant contribution” to the legal profession.

“I am far from the only CILEX lawyer raising awareness of and talking loudly about our vocational route to qualification and how important it is that it continues to be supported and appreciated” 

I remain extremely humbled and flattered by the kind words written about me, and very grateful to the (still anonymous!) person who wrote them.

I am far from the only CILEX lawyer raising awareness of and talking loudly about our vocational route to qualification and how important it is that it continues to be supported and appreciated. I hope you will all share in this with me and know that it could equally apply to all of you.

Celebrating a true trailblazer

As a result of my inclusion as a Woman Who Will, I found myself in the most surreal circumstances in January, when I was invited to attend a celebration for Lady Hale's 80th birthday. The first female President of the Supreme Court, only the second woman to be appointed to the Court of Appeal and the first female Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, it was an amazing opportunity to be able to attend such an intimate celebration.

I entered the room in trepidation and awe of my fellow dinner companions but need not have been intimidated. As I sat on a table along with Lady Hale herself as well as many other writers of the judgments I had studied to qualify all those years ago, including Supreme Court judges and presidents, past and present, I found myself chatting amiably.

It was just wonderful to realise they shared my passion on the importance of socio-economic diversity in the legal profession, and particularly in the judiciary. Most importantly this event really did show me that as CILEX lawyers we belong in these rooms, and at these tables, and not only do we belong, but we are welcome.

A great loss

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Nick Hanning at the turn of the year. A former CILEX president and pioneer, he led from the front becoming one of the first Fellows to become a partner in a solicitors' firm, one of the first CILEX Advocates, a Deputy District Judge in 2020 and in 2024 the first CILEX Recorder to be sworn in. Nick exemplified the very best of CILEX and was the perfect ambassador for where a CILEX qualification can take you. We will miss him dearly and our thoughts remain with his family.

Coming up 

Our next set of member engagement roadshows began in February in Cardiff and was a great success! We will be in Bristol in March, Birmingham in April, Manchester in May, Sheffield in June and London in July so do consider coming along.

CILEX vice-president Sara Fowler and Emma Davies, my fabulous predecessor, and I are all very much looking forward to meeting as many of you as we can.

Other dates for your diaries are the National Paralegal Awards on 18 September – open for entries on 1 April – our always wonderful graduation ceremony on 18 October and this year's conference, for which planning is already underway, on 13 November.

As always, if you have any feedback or comments in the meantime, please do reach out on president@cilex.org.uk.