myCILEx

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CILEx’s exclusive members' area

myCILEx provides you with information on the work CILEx is doing on behalf of its members

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CILEx Annual Report and Accounts

The virtual AGM was held 16 July 2020, when the 2019 Group Accounts were adopted.

Paul Hemsley, chief financial officer at CILEx, writes: I am writing the day after the first-ever CILEx virtual AGM, chaired by Chris Bones.

Attendance by members was at a record high with Board, Executive Team and staff all joining this annual event. The Zoom technology was seamlessly hosted by our in-house team of Roxanne Armstrong and Tom Heasman, Digital Development Officers at CILEx, who placed ‘spotlights’ on the speaker of the moment, shared presentations, handled the interactive Q&A session and the all-important member vote. It was like watching a film with subtitles: it all felt so natural so quickly!

Turning to the business of the meeting, 2018 minutes were approved by vote ahead of Chris and then CILEx CEO Linda Ford outlining CILEx strategy and operational activity. There followed the presentation, by me, of the year ended 2019 Annual report, approved by the Board, on 29 May 2020, and circulated in advance. I outlined the £1m year-on-year increase in revenue across membership, awarding body and CILEx Law School, explained our operating cost increase and introduced the change in our investment portfolio, which has since increased in value despite COVID. I closed with a reference to our historical investment in Customer Relationship Management software and current investment in the new CILEx Professional Qualification. This was followed by the audit partner of haysmacintyre explaining that his audit report was unqualified. I am pleased to say that the members voted to adopt these financial statements.

Chris then handled the member Q&A session, first paying tribute to past Council members, before moving to matters of concern to members, including diversity, and then closed this excellent event.

Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to pay particular thanks to members of the finance team, who worked so hard, latterly from home, to complete the preparation of the 2019 Annual Report and assist haysmcintyre with their audit. The Report is available in digital form

Coping with anxiety and building resilience

Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare, writes:

All of us have experienced a seismic change in the way we work and live. Overnight our lives have been completely turned upside down. Human beings are creatures of habit, and disruption to our daily routines can cause anxiety - feelings of unease, worry and fear. These are triggered by our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response – our normal biological reaction to feeling threatened. Anxiety incorporates both the emotional and the physical sensations you might experience when you are worried or nervous.

Symptoms of anxiety

Panic, fear, and uneasiness
Sleep problems
Not being able to stay calm and still
Cold, sweaty, numb, or tingling hands or feet
Shortness of breath
Heart palpitations
Dry mouth
Nausea
Tense muscles
Dizziness
Overeating

Whilst it is completely normal to be feeling anxious at this time, for some it will be overwhelming. We will all need to learn to cope with the new normal or we may develop unhealthy thinking styles or develop - or resort to - coping mechanisms such as drinking too much. Learning to cope is also known as resilience. Resilient people are able to use their skill and strengths to help them to face diffculties head on and weather the storm.

Tips for coping with anxiety
Focus on the here and now What is actually happening in this moment. Try not to think of worst-case scenarios or wonder too much about the future. Remember that this situation is temporary and constantly changing, and whilst this is a particularly unusual time, you and the human race have survived diffcult situations before. This too will pass.

Build a support network Video call friends, family and colleagues who encourage and strengthen you and talk to them about your feelings.

Limit your exposure to the news Don’t be tempted to check news updates every few minutes.

Distract yourself Read a book, do some exercise, sort out a cupboard, take a walk outside.

Breathe If you can feel yourself getting anxious try taking ten deep breaths, inhaling for five seconds and exhaling for 10 seconds. It really calms you down.

Be kind to yourself Talk to yourself as you would a close friend and make sure you are getting enough sleep, exercise and nutritious food.

Take breaks Even if you are working at home it’s still important to take time offi work, make sure you take breaks during the working day and use your annual leave entitlement.

Try to focus on the positive, happy things For example, the weather, more time with your children, a chance to get all those jobs done at home, connecting with people you’ve not had contact with in a while.

Treat yourself Whilst you can’t get out and about you can still cook a nice meal at home, have a relaxing bath or rent a movie online.

Seek help If you’re finding it hard to cope, just talking to someone, a friend, LawCare, another helpline can make you feel less worried and many GPs are still offiering online appointments.

If you are finding things diffcult and need to talk, LawCare can help. We provide emotional support to all legal professionals, support staff and their families.
You can call our conÿdential helpline on 0800 279 6888, e-mail us or access our webchat and other resources

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Obituary

Ronald Guy Davis
1914–2020

The Davis family are sorry to have to report the passing of Ronald Guy Davis, on 27 April, at the age of 105. He died peacefully at his home in Ealing.

Ron, as he was known, was born in north London, in 1914, one of five children. He was studying to be a solicitor when the Second World War interrupted his studies, and he was ‘called up’ and elected to join the army. As part of his training, he was deployed to York where he joined the British Army’s 2nd Division based in Fulford Barracks. It was in Selby, just outside York, that he met his future wife, Rose Kathleen, at a dance. Rose was also one of five children from a family from Wistow, south of York. No sooner had they married, Ron was posted overseas to fight in India and Burma.

In 1944, now a captain in the Royal Logistics Corps, Ron - with the 2nd Division - eventually relieved the Royal West Kent Regiment that had manfully held up the Japanese invasion of India at Kohima. With the focus, at this time, so much on the D-Day landings and the war in Europe, Kohima tended to be overlooked and has since come to be known as the ‘forgotten’ battle. It was, however, critical in stopping the Japanese invasion of India and the ultimate defeat of Japan. The battle and the soldiers who gave their lives are commemorated every year with a service in the grounds of York Minster, where there is a permanent memorial in the Dean’s garden.

In November 2019, Ron was invited by the BBC to be one of the veterans honoured at the annual televised memorial service at the Albert Hall, appearing with a small group of celebrated war veterans. This was the first time the Battle of Kohima had been so publicly acknowledged.

Having returned to England and his wife at the end of the war, Ron resumed studying and finally became a lawyer, but tragically, in 1973, he lost Rose to cancer. For many years he practised in St James’ Street, and subsequently in Ealing and Pinner until finally ‘retiring’ at some point in his 80s. He continued, however, to do some work into his 90s, testimony to his hard-working and dedicated nature.

Throughout his life, Ron’s great love was cricket and he was an MCC member for 38 years. Having become involved as an umpire at the Great Western Railway Sports Club in West Ealing, he studied for and became a fully qualified cricket umpire. In 1970, he cofounded the Association of Ealing Umpires,

acting as chairman from 1978 to 2001 and was an honorary President until his passing. The Association is as active now as it was then, meeting regularly at Ealing Cricket Club. In 2017, his contribution to cricket in Middlesex was marked with an ‘OSCAR’: Middlesex County Cricket Club’s awards for outstanding contributions to cricket in Middlesex. The presentation was made by Sean Udall, in the presence of Mike Gatting, in the President’s Box in the Grandstand at Lord’s.

Ron was a true gentleman and will be fondly remembered for the pride he took in everything he did: from his signature handwriting to his stylish and immaculate appearance. He always had a glint in his eye and a unique ability to connect warmly with everyone he met, always recalling the finer details of everyone’s life.

His passing, at such a great age, is a tremendous loss to his family, friends and relatives. He leaves behind his devoted partner of 45 years, Joan, his sons John and Andrew, four grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren. Because of the current situation with regard to funerals and COVID-19, only a small family group were allowed at the cremation on 13 May. When normality returns, a memorial event to celebrate his wonderful life will be held at Ealing Cricket Club.

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Letter to the editor

This letter from Harvinder Sondh, Director of Business Development, Marketing and Innovation at CILEx, to Stephen Gowland, CILEx Past President 2013/2014 and CILEx Judge, follows up the points raised in ‘Letter to the editor’, (2019) Summer CILExJ pp45 to 46. Thank you for your letter, which was published in (2019) Summer CILEx Journal.

Your letter to the editor was comprehensive and made some extremely valid points regarding how CILEx defines and refers to current and past members, who are now appointed to the judiciary.

Firstly, we are grateful that you have taken the time to raise these issues for discussion.

The reference, in our news media release, regarding the appointment of Chloe Hubbert to the judiciary as a Deputy District Judge identified two groups of CILEx Judges, ie, those who have a CILEx-qualification-only background and those who, at the time they were appointed to the judiciary, applied as a Solicitor or Barrister, although they had originally qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive.

You are right to question why we identify CILEx Judges under these two definitions, which has caused us to review whether we have been referring to CILEx Judges in the correct way.

Secondly, and most importantly, we seek to celebrate our members every success. We believe it is important that in the event members leave CILEx membership to dual qualify or take a path out of the law altogether, they - like you - remember their CILEx roots and we continue to celebrate their professional success. We also promote our dual membership offiering, so that CILEx members who dual qualify can remain within the CILEx family and continue to be supported by their professional membership body.

It was not our intention to dismiss CILEx Judges who also come from a solicitor or barrister background by making these distinctions. The distinction was more related to the ways in which we collect data around judicial appointment that helps to guide our work in encouraging, training, and supporting members to apply for judicial appointment.

This granular data also allows us to provide accurate reports to forums such as the Judicial Diversity Forum, of which CILEx is a member. This, in turn, helps the judiciary, and those organisations involved in the recruitment and training of our future Judges, to understand how they might attract members of the legal profession from those groups currently underrepresented within the judiciary to apply for judicial appointment.

However, we agree with you that all Judges who have a CILEx background should be referenced in future announcements and press coverage related to CILEx and judicial appointments. This will, of course, be done in a way that maximises our public affairs messaging: you will appreciate that the CILEx Board’s ambition and strategic priority is to promote and support equality of access for CILEx Lawyers to all judicial appointments, so they may have the opportunity to attain judicial appointment on merit. Unless CILEx Lawyers wish to do so, they should not be obliged to, first, gain dual qualification, which is a disproportionately more burdensome route than other applicants, though one we will celebrate as showing the dogged determination that you and other CILEx members have demonstrated. Our current project to refresh CILEx qualifications has a specific objective of enabling CILEx Lawyers to objectively evidence that they have the knowledge and competence, through training, to support their careers and, ultimately, to attain judicial appointment.

We will, therefore, highlight the fact that there are now 17 CILEx Judges, but be consistent – because of the need to provide granular information (as mentioned above) – to make sure that we are clear about routes to judicial appointment. Members can view a selection of these Judges’ profiles on Our CILEx Judges webpage

Of course, we can only celebrate the success of those Judges who come from a CILEx background if we are aware that they have been appointed. Whilst the Judicial Appointments Commission reports on its judicial selection exercises annually, this report, at present, captures Judges who, at the time of their appointment, were Chartered Legal Executives. It does not capture all applicants who declare that CILEx is within their professional background but were, at the time of appointment, either a Solicitor or Barrister. Therefore, unless members past and present inform us of their judicial appointment, we are not always able to identify them and mark their success and then include their new status within our statistics.

Therefore, we encourage all those who are appointed to the judiciary - and have CILEx as part of their professional background - to stand proud and be counted as a CILEx Judge. In this way they will help us - together with others in the profession - to increase diversity within the judiciary.

We would like to conclude by congratulating you on your most recent appointment as Chair of the Police Misconduct Tribunal for Wales, which makes it your third appointment in addition to your previous appointments for the same role for the Northern and Eastern regions, and thank you for your continued love and support for CILEx. (See also page 7 of this issue.) You have dedicated a significant amount of time from your professional life and - we are sure - your personal life to CILEx.

We hope that your shining example encourages CILEx members, who have joined the judiciary, to come forward and help CILEx to raise its profile further and support members who are interested in seeking judicial appointment in the future. This is why we were thrilled when you were able to accept our invitation to the Judicial Awareness Day we hosted, in Leeds, in February 2018, where you kindly spoke with delegates to share your knowledge, experiences and tips for success,, and we thank you once again.

For any members reading this response who have been appointed to the judiciary, please email beajudge@cilex.org.uk and help us to inspire and support other members interested in a judicial career.

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Membership benefit provider HMCA

Hospital & Medical Care Association (HMCA) offiers discounted rates for medical plans, dental plans, hospital cash plans, travel plans, income protection and vehicle breakdown products to CILEx members. HMCA was established over 40 years ago and has grown to be one of the most successful membership benefit providers in the UK. HMCA membership is also one of the most exclusive as our plans are only available to the members of trade, professional and membership groups.

You will not see HMCA advertising to the general public, and this means we can arrange comprehensive and flexible medical plans that are great value for money. Don’t just take our word for it. In a recent survey, 85% of respondents said that they saved money transferring to HMCA.

Our medical plans are designed for you: you can choose the surgeon of your choice at the hospital of your choice. There are no medicals and acceptance is guaranteed.

It is our members that make our company and we will never forget that. Our goal is to provide the best service possible. When you call HMCA, you can be assured that your call is answered, in person, by a member of our staff who will always be happy to help you. Whether you are making an enquiry, joining HMCA or submitting a claim we are there for you. • • For further information and quotations, contact HMCA on 01423 799949 or visit the exclusive HMCA Chartered Institute of Legal Executives website

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Embracing our ‘new normal’ and delivering member support in a virtual world

Louise Turner, Membership Development Manager at CILEx, writes: CILEx members are, of course, at the heart of everything we do. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have focused our minds on your immediate needs to cope with the changes that have occurred, helping you to adapt to new ways of living and working and plan for the future.

Webinar series on topical subjects

To help our members cope, prepare and plan ahead, we have developed a series of webinars on topical subjects. Some of those deal with the immediate changes we have faced, such as furlough (a word no one had heard of prior to the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme).

The series also covers other subjects that may help equip our members to be agile in the workplace. These include webinars around becoming qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive through learning more about qualifying employment and work-based learning; moving into a new area of specialism with conÿdence; how to become a CILEx Advocate; and how to prepare to apply for judicial appointment and Coronial Office.

The webinars we deliver are broadcast live, so members are able to ask our subject-matter expert presenters questions and interact through polls and sharing their experiences. We have received excellent feedback from members who have joined our live webinars and gotten some great ideas for future topics they would like us to cover.

At the time of writing, we have some more excellent webinar topics coming up, such as how to draft briefs to Counsel, proofs of evidence and witness statements as well as continuing our professional development theme when we will discuss our specialist pathways and practice rights, and more general topics such as resilience.

We also continue our focus on supporting members seeking judicial appointment with a webinar looking at how members can prepare for judicial selection exercises online qualifying tests.

Judicial appointment

On the subject of judicial appointment, we have also adapted the delivery of the CILEx Judicial Development Programme, which previously required members to attend an in-person training day to complete the course

‘Give yourself the advantage. This course has now been adapted for our members, who can now complete the course in a virtual environment, from the comfort of their own homes, whilst at the same time being able to complete mock judicial selection panel interviews and undertake group work.

CPD professionalism element

Please note that many of our webinars are capable of satisfying your professionalism element of your continuing professional development and you may even find others meet some of your planned learning outcomes in areas where you have identified a need to further develop.

If you missed any of our live webinars, don’t worry as they have been recorded and can be found in the myCILEx Development box in ‘myCareer. This can be accessed via your myCILEx account.
If you would like CILEx to consider delivering webinars on other topics, please e-mail Louise Turner with your suggestions.