The CILEx route to becoming a City lawyer

After graduating with a law degree from Lancaster University in 2009, I wasn’t 100% sure which career path to take. My interest in the law was keen and I had considered a career in the police, but it wasn’t meant to be.

So, after university I started working as a paralegal at a small claimant practice in Blackburn. It was great experience, but my real interest was in the defendant side and I also harboured a dream of living and working in London.

After a year I made the move to London, working for Plexus Law with a caseload of small and fast track RTA claims on behalf of a large transport company and their insurer. I gained lots of experience there and soon assumed more responsibilities, including the management of junior fee earners and administrators.  

It was during this period that I made the decision to qualify as a lawyer. An LPC wasn’t an option for me, mostly because of the cost involved, but I was also put off by the fact that there weren’t enough training contracts to go around, so it would be a big risk. That is when I discovered CILEx and I haven’t looked back since.

I want to spread the word about what a great option CILEx is and that there are other routes to becoming a lawyer. Because I already had a law degree, I was able to qualify as a chartered legal executive by taking a graduate fast-track diploma (Level 6 in Legal Practice) at the University of Westminster. I studied part time in the evenings twice a week while working full time.

The idea that you can still earn money and qualify was really attractive. The majority of the course was coursework completed over a year. I then had to submit a comprehensive log book demonstrating my qualifying employment experience. This is why working and studying worked so well, as I was able to provide lots of examples from my day job.

I am now a lawyer in the travel and tour operators practice group at BLM, based in the heart of the City. I defend large fast and multi-track holiday sickness claims, typically worth over £50,000, on behalf of a large tour operator client.

I love being a lawyer. I was born to do this job and because of CILEx, I can. I am on a completely level playing field with those in the firm who took the LPC. There are so many chartered legal executives at the firm, including at partner level. So, there are no limits to what you can achieve with CILEx. There’s also no ‘them and us’ at the firm, we’re a team, how we got here is irrelevant. It’s very refreshing.

I could shout about CILEx from the rooftops, it’s such a brilliant, flexible and cost-effective option compared to the LPC and has got me where I wanted to be without being saddled with unaffordable debt. Unsurprisingly, I am now an evangelist for CILEx and am encouraging other paralegals and graduates at the firm to go down the same route.

CILEx educated me on the practical, specialist application of the law after my degree, enabling me to apply my skills to real work. My next goal is to become an associate and then hopefully one day a partner. I like the idea of helping others so that they can enjoy the benefits of the brilliant career that I now have.

Gemma Richardson is a chartered legal executive in the London office of BLM.