Record number of graduates for CILEx
Record number of graduates for CILEx
03 October 2016
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has celebrated its highest number of graduates in its 53 year history, with 275 Graduates, Fellows and Advocates being recognised at its annual 2016 Graduation and Admission Ceremonies.
Due to the record number of passes, three consecutive ceremonies were held for the first time ever.
At the ceremonies, held in Milton Keynes on Saturday, 1 October:
• 105 new Chartered Legal Executives were admitted as Fellows of the Institute;
• 168 Graduate members celebrated completing CILEx’s final academic stage, which is assessed at honours degree level; and,
• Litigation and Advocacy rights were also awarded to two Chartered Legal Executive Advocates.
Graduation scrolls were presented by the Institute’s president Martin Callan, who told graduates: “…you have more opportunities open to you now than ever before. You can practise independently in any area of law, you can become a partner in your firm, or even set up your own, and if you want to you can progress to become a judge. Work hard, be adaptable, stay ahead of the curve, and aim high.”
CILEx chief operating officer, Linda Ford, said: “It was absolutely wonderful to see a record number of graduates this year. It demonstrates that both individuals and employers see a CILEx qualification as a viable route into the legal profession.”
CILEx offers a unique route to a legal career and becoming a qualified lawyer without the requirement to have a degree, although graduates can also qualify as a lawyer through the CILEx route.
Keynote speakers addressing the graduates said:
Baroness Dianne Hayter
“I am so in awe of those who graduate having combined study with employment, but I also value the experience you bring to your profession… The new Lord Chancellor Elizabeth Truss has said that the law should be seen as an ‘attractive and prestigious career by every possible person from every possible background.’ Fine words, but I wish she were in my shoes today and could see this aim in practice rather than simply as a wish list.”
Sam Younger CBE
“You are in a profession that, as I see it, has everything. It is of supreme importance at the heart of our civic life in the UK, it’s challenging for everybody in it, and in common with other things that are worth doing it’s an environment that’s changing very rapidly as well. But in my view Chartered Legal Executives are a community whose time has come.”
Raphael Rowe
“There are people out there who think the legal profession is only for a particular kind, and you’ve proven you are the champions of change. Your achievement has already, opened the door, your success is the start of a more diverse and representative profession – all you need to do is to go out there and prove it. If I can fight my corner from a prison cell, with limited resources, no computer, only a pen and a piece of paper for twelve years, the resources you have to go out there and change your profession and inspire others to follow you is there for the taking. Your will, your determination, is what is going to change the legal landscape. You’ve got to believe that you can go out there and do something.”
ENDS
Photo: Photographs of Baroness Dianne Hayter, Sam Younger CBE and Raphael Rowe addressing CILEx Fellows, Graduates, Advocates and guests at CILEx Graduation.
Biographies: Baroness Dianne Hayter, Sam Younger CBE and Raphael Rowe.
Baroness Dianne Hayter of Kentish Town
Baroness Dianne Hayter is the Shadow Consumer Affairs Minister and a Whip in the Lords, having earlier run a number of charities and not-for-profit bodies. Dianne was also Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, Vice Chair of the Financial Services Consumer Panel and a member of the National Consumer Council.
She has also been on a number of regulatory bodies and has a long involvement in standards setting, ethics and equalities issues. Dianne has a PhD in history, is a visiting Professor at Westminster University and has written and edited a number of books.
Sam Younger CBE
Sam Younger CBE was appointed in November 2015 as the Chair of CILEx Regulation. Sam is a Council Member of the Advertising Standards Authority, Vice Chair of Voluntary Service Overseas and Public Interest Observer on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Previously, he had a 20-year career in the BBC, where he was Managing Director of the BBC World Service.
He was subsequently Director General of the British Red Cross, inaugural Chair of the Electoral Commission and Chief Executive of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. He was appointed CBE in 2008.
Raphael Rowe
Raphael Rowe is a reporter and presenter for The One Show on BBC One and the channel’s flagship current affairs television programme Panorama. Raphael joined the BBC in 2001 as a reporter for the Radio 4 News Programme, Today.
In 1988, aged 20, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder and robbery he did not commit. In July 2000, after 12 years in prison, the Court of Appeal quashed his wrongful convictions and he was freed.
Raphael is self-educated on the criminal justice system and, against the odds during his years in prison he studied journalism through a correspondence course.