Cover story
Your new CILEx President Matthew Foster: aiming to foster engagement with members
CILEx Journal sat down with Matthew Foster FCILEx, before his inauguration as the 56th CILEx President, to discuss his journey to qualification and plans for his year in ofice.
... the focus is now less on how Chartered lawyers are the same as other kinds of lawyer, and more on how we are different... No, we are not the same as other lawyers – we are proud to be different! And we’re proud to still be changing (quote from CILEx President, Matthew Foster's inaugural address)
After a career in public service, CILEx President Matthew Foster understands what it means to work on others’ behalf. ‘I‘m not under any illusions … we work as a team’, he says, ‘you just hold the keys to the palace for 12 months, but if you can pull it through with your team and make that difference, that’s a nice legacy to leave.’
Currently working as the data protection lawyer for Wrexham County Borough Council in north Wales, Matthew is not the stereotypical presidential figure: ‘I’ve never been career ambitious’, he says. ‘I’ve only ever wanted to do a job where I thought it meant something. So, although data protection isn’t sexy itself, it still means something … and they’re the jobs I want to take on: where you do it to try and make a difference.’
He is, nonetheless, ambitious for CILEx and its members as he prepares to take the helm, with a desire to see CILEx step up its public voice in pursuit of members’ interests.
Matthew’s presidential agenda
It has taken CILEx decades to gradually chip away at the rules that hold Chartered Legal Executives back, but things like certifying a copy of a power of attorney, being able to sign certain Land Registry forms, equal judicial eligibility criteria, and international recognition have - so far - stubbornly eluded the Chartered Institute.
‘We want to get the out-of-date laws back on the agenda’ Matthew declares. ‘There are too many anomalies, and that’s not helping the profession. It’s not fair to our membership, and they’ve gone on long enough now. We need to be lobbying more and being more vociferous in getting these changes in.’
He reserves his highest ambitions though for changing the way Chartered Legal Executives qualify. Matthew is being handed this baton - in many ways passed from one predecessor to another - to refresh and maintain a suite of legal qualifications that meets the needs of students, employers and the public. More recently, this has taken the form of a detailed review of the qualifications being undertaken by CILEx officials; in addition, the independent regulator of members, CILEx Regulation Ltd, concluded a consultation on its competency standards earlier this year.
For Matthew, though, what he wants is clear: ‘We want clarity with our qualifications, so that it’s straightforward and without a whole load of duplicate assessments to go through, and we want parity within the profession. We offer a different route to a more diverse membership; what I want to see is that through our route, you get the same qualified lawyer as with other routes. Clarity and parity are what we want.’
Upbringing and education
Aged 11, Matthew was uprooted from his boyhood home, in Stockport, when his family moved to Prestatyn in north Wales. The change affected his schooling more than anything, but now - with a Welsh family and working for a Welsh local authority - you immediately feel that his adopted home is where he truly belongs: ‘This is me now, Wales is home, this has my heart.’
Having left school at 16, it was a lucky choice that ultimately led him to a career in law. ‘My Dad said to me: ‘If you have nothing lined up, you should go back to school’, and he was right, but I didn’t want to. People talk about school being the best days of your life, but it was not for me, not one bit.’
His father gave him just one week to find a job, or face going back to school. A trip to the Job Centre later, and Matthew was left holding two job cards: one for a trainee greenkeeper at a golf course, and the other for an office junior in a solicitors’ firm.
‘The winter was coming up, and I thought there’s no way I’m working outside during the winter, and so I followed the other one. I had to borrow a jacket and a tie for the interview, as the only tie I had was from my school. I was interviewed by a Legal Executive on a Wednesday and started on the Thursday.’
But Matthew’s first job proved to have few opportunities for progression. ‘I was doing anything and everything other than legal work for 10 years, and it wasn’t until I got acquainted with a colleague, who said: ‘You’ve got a brain in your head, you should think about ILEX (as it was then) and studying to become a legal executive.’ He posted off for some information, and ‘when the partners didn’t pay for my studies, I paid for it myself.’
Whereas his first experience with education was poor, his second encounter was much more fruitful. ‘I felt as though now I was learning something for me. I wanted to learn the subject because there was something at the end to gain, and I embraced it better.’
His firm though was less interested and offered no opportunity for progression. ‘They just saw me doing what I had always done there and were not interested in me doing any kind of law, so I left.’ Entering local authority work was a decision from which he has never looked back.
The journey to qualification
Matthew’s story is, in many ways, typical of other Chartered Legal Executives where traditional education is not a good fit for them, but they go on to make excellent lawyers and leaders.
Having got a job doing legal work in a local authority setting, it took a further 11 years before he ultimately qualified as a lawyer, using the time to take on new roles and gain broader skills.
‘I was taken off into different areas that interested me. It gave me different experiences, working in and out of legal work, and has made me a more rounded lawyer. It’s those experiences that helped me to finish and become the CILEx lawyer I am now.’
‘Has it been uniform? Certainly not. Has it been rewarding? Absolutely, every step of the way.’
He acknowledges how special this path to qualifying has been: ‘I didn’t give up on CILEx, and CILEx didn’t give up on me. I could always turn back to them and pick up that study when I wanted to.’
‘There was never that snobbery of saying: ‘Well, I’m sorry you’ve tried once, and you didn’t finish, so go away.’ It was always: ‘Yes, where are you up to, where do we go next?’’
MEET MATT FOSTER
Born: August 1973 in Stockport, Cheshire Lives: Holywell, Flintshire with his wife of 14 years
Education: Prestatyn High School, West Cheshire College
First job: Ofice junior, Gamlins Solicitors
Current job: Data Protection Lawyer, Wrexham County Borough Council
Specialism: Local authority/public law
Additional experience: Chief Executive Officer, Welsh Crown Green Bowling Association
Did you know: He has represented Wales in Crown Green Bowls
Favourite quote: ‘It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.’
Serving the public
It was Matthew’s wife-to-be who set him on the path of public service, marshalling her own local authority experience to prompt him to apply for a local government role.
‘After 12 years in one firm, it was another huge culture shock, as private practice was all about doing a job and getting a bill out, but local authority work was about the end result.’
‘It’s serving the public and delivering on a task in the public interest. You feel as though you want to make a difference: to work in public service is really rewarding, and I can’t ever see me leaving public service because I am so committed to it.’
Matthew’s early work in public law covered social care, something with which he had personal experience. ‘My dad gave up work for a while to look after my disabled sister. She was born with cerebral palsy and couldn’t talk or walk. She died when she was 21, which was a lot longer than they thought she would live. But it was hard work for Mum and Dad to look after a child with such significant disabilities.’
He continues, but with a lump in his throat: ‘She had a good life. My family went out of their way for her, but in the end she was really suffering. She couldn’t eat anymore, she was being fed by a peg, all her organs were shutting down. When she passed away - it’s a horrible thing to say - but, in some ways, it was a blessed relief that she was at peace, but it coloured all our lives.’
For Matthew, the tragedy shaped him and his approach to his work. ‘With most vulnerable people with disabilities, it’s all about safeguarding and giving someone a voice who wouldn’t normally have it. I loved doing the adult protection and mental health work, because you were really there representing people and feeling as though you were making a difference. It’s important that everyone gets a good chance in life.’
Access to justice
Matthew’s experience has clearly shaped his principles and given him a public-focused perspective on the big issues affecting the justice system. ‘You see it in the local authority for sure. Dealing with vulnerable people, and them not being able to access justice with all the cuts that came in. When I would do homeless or housing cases, people would come along and represent themselves instead of them being able to tap into good, proper legal advice - be it a solicitor or CILEx lawyer, it doesn’t matter - but without it they don’t know the justice system, how the courts work.’
The rise in unrepresented parties in legal disputes has been seen across the full range of legal services. Matthew and other lawyers, who have experienced this change firsthand in the courts, have been expected to take on more of the burden. ‘Whereas, if they just get some good, proper legal advice,’ he pleads, ‘it would save the time in the courts, you wouldn’t end up with as many delays or adjournments, being called back, it’s not good when someone is at such a vulnerable time in their life.’
What he wants members to know
Reforming out-of-date laws, encouraging more people into the profession, developing a clearer route to qualification and re-establishing CILEx’s uniqueness as more apprenticeship offers enter the market: Matthew is a man on a mission, but knows that he has his work cut out for him.
‘I have to represent my members’ views. It’s important that I listen to them, to what they’re saying, and I must represent them on the public stage. When we have a firm view on behalf of our members, I have to say it.’
Matthew took over the presidency on 18 July, but is already keen to communicate with members.
‘Come and talk to us’, he implores, ‘even though I’m going to be the President, I’m still a member like everyone else. If you see the President, the Vice President, a Board member, or a member of staff, come and talk to us and tell us what you want.
We’re all in this together, this is our profession, and we’ve got to look after it together. It’s really important, really important to me, that we engage.’
Extract from CILEx President Matthew Foster's inauguration speech, delivered on 18 July 2019
The future This is increasingly becoming part of CILEx’s work – challenging the system, breaking glass ceilings, changing attitudes and perspectives. For the past couple of decades our drive has been to make the case for parity. To secure the same opportunities for our members as others in the market enjoyed. Some of those last walls are still to be demolished, but the focus is now less on how Chartered lawyers are the same as other kinds of lawyer, and more on how we are different.
We are not the same as other lawyers;
- our learning begins in the workplace from day one,
- our qualifications focus on what you need to support your client, rather than making students pay for knowledge they will never use again,
- and we have done all within our power to systemically remove barriers to practice – making us the most diverse legal profession in the UK. No, we are not the same as other lawyers – we are proud to be different! And we’re proud to still be changing.
- Our new specialist reference groups go from strength to strength, and I am so pleased to see the success of our newly launched Local Authority group.
- We proactively support independent regulation, as we strive to set an example for the sector for our regulator CRL to be as independent from us as the law allows.
- And later this year we are launching the CILEx Foundation – bringing together our existing pro bono and benevolent charities under a broader umbrella. Raising their profile yes, but also broadening our charitable work – like supporting students in need with their studies.
These are in keeping with our deeply held values of trust, access, and that everyone deserves a good chance in life.