Amber Morgan is a Family Paralegal at Evolve Family Law. She explains how she started her journey with CILEX and, with years of experience, she'll soon be qualifying as a CILEX Lawyer.
My route into CILEX is quite unusual. I was following the more conventional route, having done an undergraduate law degree and then going on to do a Master's in family law and then the Legal Practice Course (LPC). I even managed to secure a training contract. But COVID hit and my training contract was dropped. At that point, I thought my chance of becoming a lawyer had gone.
I applied for a paralegal role and at the interview my now boss suggested CILEX as an alternative route to qualification. I looked into it and jumped at the opportunity. She saw how much experience I had in family law and recognised that, alongside my qualifications, this would be enough to let me qualify through CILEX. To demonstrate the qualifying employment, I had to be able to show I had worked in law doing a job of a wholly legal nature for three years — basically fee-earning work as opposed to administrative tasks.
It has still taken me 18 months because I applied to become a graduate member of CILEX when I had been working at Evolve for six months. Once you become a graduate member of CILEX you have to have one year of your qualifying employment as a graduate. So, after all that I am about to complete and submit my work-based portfolio. Assuming all goes well I will have achieved my childhood ambition of becoming a lawyer.
I work in family law, which I find hugely rewarding. I work predominantly in children matters, helping people who going through a really tough time with issues such as child contact after a breakup, as well as international abductions.
When I've qualified as a CILEX Lawyer, I will be running my own caseload under the supervision of my boss, and really making a difference to people's lives. I'll also be able to progress my career, representing clients in court myself, and, if I want, to cross-convert and become a Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) solicitor.
Being a CILEX member means that I’m part of a regulated professional body that sets very high standards in terms of professional competence ad behaviour. I also receive weekly newsletters with helpful tips about career progression and a range of other ‘lifestyle’ benefits including discounts at gyms – my husband particularly enjoys the discounted golf memberships!
Although I was gutted that I lost my training contract, I think this has actually been the better and less stressful way. I describe CILEX as an unsung hero of legal qualification because it offers you flexibility and time to progress your career at your own pace. So looking back, I wish I'd known about it when I was at university because it offers much more flexibility in your career progression and puts you in control. I would really recommend it to anyone who is looking at a career in law.