Emma Davies takes over as 60th CILEX president
CILEX President Emma Davies and Vice President Yanthe Richardson at the event to mark their inauguration
In July, Emma Davies took over as 60th president of CILEX and 13th female president.
Speaking at a member event in Exeter in Devon to mark her inauguration, she reflected on the huge strides CILEX has made in the past year to remove barriers and secure equality of opportunity for its members, and prioritised achieving parity for CILEX Lawyers in the workplace during her time in office.
Ms Davies specialises in regulatory law at the Royal College of Nursing where she represents members subject to Nursing & Midwifery Council proceedings. She began her legal career almost 20 years ago, training as a Chartered Legal Executive whilst working as a legal secretary at Exeter firm, Symes Robinson & Lee Solicitors before joining Rundlewalker Solicitors as a personal injury lawyer.
Speaking at her inauguration she said: “After many years of lobbying and campaigning CILEX has seen some big wins in removing the legislative and policy barriers to CILEX Lawyers having the same career opportunities as solicitors. These are considerable achievements - the barriers continue to fall and CILEX continues to chip away at any that remain.”
Outlining her priorities for the coming year she acknowledged the need for these reforms to be supported by cultural and attitudinal changes in the workplace at a time when many legal employers still fail to recognise the competence and equivalence of CILEX Lawyers in their recruitment, pay and career progression policies.
She said her focus would be pushing for “parity in the workplace”, ensuring members “have the careers they want and deserve without limitations” and “are afforded the same career development opportunities as other legal colleagues” with career progression based on merit not title or background.
Referring to outdated perceptions about the value of vocational education and the prejudice faced by some CILEX members, she continued, “I have a request to the wider legal sector. I ask that we change the narrative once and for all and focus on what our members bring to the table, rather than undermine how we got there. A united and diverse legal profession will only better serve our diverse society.”
Following the acquisition of the Institute of Paralegals, Ms Davies welcomed CILEX‘s new paralegal members, highlighting the role of CILEX as a home for all specialist lawyers and paralegals, acknowledging the paralegal role is a career in its own right.
She continued, “We are the home for all aspiring legal professionals who cannot afford to go to university, who do not want to go to university, or quite simply who see the value in our vocational route to qualification as an all-round package, whether that be via the CILEX Professional Qualification or apprenticeship route, working and gaining valuable hands-on practical experience alongside their studies. Every CILEX member I have met has their own very unique story.”
Ms Davies succeeds employment law specialist, Matthew Huggett and will chair the CILEX Professional Board as well as sitting on the main board of CILEX. Yanthe Richardson, managing associate at national law firm Foot Anstey, becomes Vice President.
To hear more from Emma about her priorities for the year ahead, read her column in this edition of the Journal.
Paralegals and students included among new appointees to CILEX professional board
A trainee CILEX Lawyer, a paralegal and a CILEX student were among the six new appointees to the CILEX professional board last month.
Reflecting the breadth of career opportunities in the law and CILEX’s commitment to being a home for all specialist legal professionals, this is the first time that paralegals or students have taken their place on the professional board alongside Chartered Legal Executives.
The new board members are: Mohammed Hussain, CILEX student and assistant conveyancer at North-West law firm Wrigley Claydon; Zsofia Kiss, paralegal at the House of Commons; Stefanie Smith, trainee CILEX Lawyer at Robinson Allfree in Ramsgate; Donna Hart, Chartered Legal Executive and partner at West Country firm Everys Solicitors; Tom Morgan, Chartered Legal Executive in the Bristol office of CMS; and Laura Davis, Chartered Legal Executive at the BBC.
There are now 13 CILEX members on the new professional board which welcomed the new members at its meeting on 3 July.
CILEX president Emma Davies said: “I’m extremely proud of our diverse and inclusive membership that draws talented, specialist legal professionals from across the sector. By opening up our professional board to students and paralegals, we will ensure the voices of all CILEX members are heard on the issues that matter to them.”
To find out more about Laura Davis’s journey to becoming a lawyer at the BBC, read our interview with her in this edition of the Journal.
Legal sector unites for the London Legal Walk
In June, a CILEX team joined over 16,000 other walkers from across the legal profession for the London Legal Walk. The annual 10km charity walk, organised by the London Legal Support Trust, raises money to provide access to justice for vulnerable people.
In addition to the funds raised by CILEX’s walking team, CILEX also sponsored the map for this year's event, contributing to the £860,000 raised so far in support of frontline, free legal advice agencies.
Well done to CILEX president Emma Davies, vice-president Yanthe Richardson and the rest of the CILEX team – Patrick Cullen, Hayley Conway, Simon Carr, Kim Morrison, Emma Martin, Claire Niederman, Madeleine Rees, Simon Cohl and Susan Simei-Cunningham.
CILEX member news
Sharon Allison, Chartered Legal Executive and head of medical negligence at East Anglian firm Ashtons Legal, was appointed as the first female chair of the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) in May, having previously served as vice-chair.
Ms Allison said: “A lot of the lawyers I work with in my day job and with SCIL have followed a very traditional route into law, whereas mine has been quite different. I had an interest in medicine and the law but I did not have any legal qualifications when I joined the firm almost 23 years ago.
“I was given the opportunity to learn and qualify as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives whilst working and I was able to absorb and focus my efforts on doing the best I could for my clients.”
May also saw experienced Chartered Legal Executive Daniel Denton join London firm Hodge Jones & Allen’s personal injury team as a partner. Daniel, previously at Slater & Gordon, brings a wealth of experience in handling serious road traffic injury claims, workplace accidents, amputation, brain and head injury cases.
In April, property specialist and Chartered Legal Executive James Lutynski joined North-East firm Hay & Kilner, bringing more than a decade of experience working with clients across a wide range of high-end residential property matters.
Another Chartered Legal Executive, Tina Day, joined Glanvilles in Hampshire as a senior associate. A family lawyer and accredited mediator, she is experienced in advanced financial provision and private children law matters.
CILEX member Natasha Downing has been promoted to an associate at Hegarty Solicitors in Peterborough and experienced social housing lawyer and Chartered Legal Executive, Laura McCann was promoted to associate director in the Basingstoke office of Penningtons Manches Cooper.
Congratulations also go to CILEX Lawyer Alec Hancock, who has launched his own firm in Truro, AJH Advocacy, a Bar Standards Board-regulated entity which offers advocacy services to regulated law firms.