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In profile: Birmingham Law Society President
An alumna is looking forward to an exciting 12 months after being elected President of the Birmingham Law Society.
Joining illustrious past presidents such as Arthur Ryland (1873, 1876), Sir Thomas Martineau (1888) and Sir Richard Alfred Pinsent (1901, 1926), Inez Brown will be taking the reins of the organisation that represents more than 5,000 legal professionals in the city and wider Midlands region.
A Partner and Head of Clinical Negligence at the Medical Accident Group Limited, part of Harrison Clark Rickerbys, Inez studied for a BA (Hons) Law degree at the University of Wolverhampton on a part-time basis between 1994 and 1998, before completing the Legal Practice Course (LPC) between 1998 and 2000.
COMMITMENT
During the day, Inez worked as a legal secretary in a busy litigation practice, which meant full-time study was out of the question. She enrolled for part-time studies, committing to spending six years travelling between her home in Birmingham to the Law School two evenings a week, demonstrating a real determination to realise her dream of becoming a lawyer. “I was impressed that the University gave me the opportunity to study as a mature student and it prepared me for my professional life assisting with organisational, advocacy and analytical skills,” she said.
“Although the degree was parttime, I received the same level of support from the University that was also offered to full-time students. I was able to take part in regular mooting sessions, which helped me to improve my debating and advocacy skills that are essential skills for a solicitor, and I was also invited to take part in the University’s work experience scheme. This opportunity is key to law students to help them to gain legal experience, but thankfully I was able to arrange my own work experience, due to my former role as a legal secretary.
“During my degree studies, I valued the support of Professor Peter Walton who operated an ‘open door policy’ to any student who had questions or needed additional support. I recall contacting him on a few occasions to discuss an
area of business law that I did not understand. I have never forgotten the level of patience that he afforded me together with his ability to make business law seem so interesting.”
After completing her studies, Inez decided to move into medical negligence law, where she has remained ever since, chalking up 18 years in this highly complex field. She started her traineeship at Anthony Collins Solicitors in 2002, enjoying the challenges of advising on medicine and the law, as well as being given the opportunity to work with eminent clinicians in their fields.
PROMOTION
She joined Harrison Clark Rickerbys in January 2012 as a Senior Associate and Head of Clinical Negligence and was promoted to Partnership just five months later. In November 2013, the clinical negligence department was rebranded as Medical Accident Group.
“Medical negligence is an interesting and satisfying area of law to work in because you are given the opportunity to apply medicine to the law, which is quite fascinating,” she said. “Over the years I’ve been able to work with so many children with brain injuries and young adults, together with disabled clients, to either obtain compensation for the
injuries that they have sustained due to medical negligence or they have been able to have closure following an investigation.”
She became involved with Birmingham Law Society in 2011 and has held a number of positions, including a member of the PR Committee; a member of the Personal Injury Committee for three years; and Joint Honorary Secretary for two years before becoming Deputy Vice President in 2018. In 2019, she was appointed VicePresident before being elevated for 2020-2021 to President.
“I feel privileged and honoured to serve the legal profession as President of Birmingham Law Society and to also raise the profile of the legal profession that I feel so passionate about,” she said. “I would like to be an Ambassador for the Society and to also encourage more people to join the profession as we have so much to offer to our local community.”
She also wants to use her 12-month presidency to set up a diversity access scheme and to raise awareness of law and technology within the legal sector.
“I’m from a disadvantaged background but was fortunate to have teachers and lecturers who believed in me and encouraged me to have goals, to work hard and to never give up,” said Inez.
“I have also had the benefit of having some good mentors on my journey. It’s really important to me to able to give back to my local community by offering students from disadvantaged backgrounds a helping hand and support to enter the legal profession. I believe that I can do this by setting up a diversity access scheme for disadvantaged students to apply to enter the legal profession. It will be my legacy to the Law Society but I will expand on this initiative during my inauguration in July 2020.”
A SENSE OF PURPOSE
Sean Kyne, LLB (Hons) and LPC, fell in love with Wolverhampton when he came to study in the city. He stayed in the region and is now Senior District Crown Prosecutor at the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He tells WLV Life why he’s a proud alumnus.
LM (Life Magazine): What are your memories of your time at the University?
SK: I arrived in Wolverhampton from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1994, aged 18. I was a long way from home but I loved the region and stayed in Wolverhampton for quite a few years after I graduated. I completed my Law degree and the LPC at Wolverhampton. My abiding memory of those courses is that they were very practical and the lecturers always gave real-life examples and shared their experiences with good humour.
The courses reflected what happens in the real world and brought legal practice to life, be it via mock advocacy in a real courtroom environment, mock client interviews or exercises involving client care. These all provided me with some key skills and the confidence that I needed to succeed. I know from speaking to colleagues that this experience isn’t reflected everywhere.
I was very happy at the University, and in fact, I’m still in contact with people from Compton Halls of Residence where I spent my first year. We’ve all been to weddings and I’m godfather to some of their children, so I can honestly say by coming to the University I literally made friends for life.
LM: You started off in private practice – how did you find that?
SK: In all honesty, like a lot of people, I initially wanted work in an environment that would be lucrative. I’d enjoyed studying business law during my degree and took it as an elective during my LPC. On leaving university I successfully obtained a job at a global market leader in Birmingham and felt like everything was falling into place. It didn’t take long for me to realise that it simply wasn’t for me and I left after a year, not before being told that the decision was the biggest mistake of my life. As it turns out, it wasn’t!
From there, I then joined one of the oldest high street law firms in Wolverhampton. I loved it and found the role of a criminal lawyer exciting. I didn’t know it then, but the role that would give me the most satisfaction meant I would need to move to the opposite side of the courtroom.
LM: Why did you decide to move to the CPS?
SK: I was defending a two-day youth court trial against a senior prosecutor, who, at the conclusion of the case, recommended that I should think about a career with the CPS. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I decided that it would be a really good career move. At the very least I felt it would make me a more rounded lawyer. I successfully applied for a job as a junior lawyer at CPS West Midlands and 17 years later I’m still here.
In 2016, I was appointed as Senior District Crown Prosecutor and I am presently Head of the Crown Court Unit, which deals with some of our most serious casework, a role I greatly enjoy.
LM: What are the challenges to being a prosecutor?
SK: The work of all prosecutors carries great responsibility. Decisions surrounding whether a case enters the criminal justice system will have significant ramifications for everybody concerned, whether that be the person accused of committing a crime or the person who is the victim of a crime. It is important never to lose sight of that. Being a prosecutor is not an easy job because making the right decision may mean you are not making a popular decision. What we do is constantly under public scrutiny and subject to challenge. It is important to all of our people that we get it right and we exercise great care, often in challenging circumstances, in ensuring that we do get it right.
LM: Do you no longer go to court yourself?
SK: I do. I like to keep my hand in because I don’t want to be a lawyer who never goes into a courtroom, so I still go to court myself when I can. It’s really important to me that I continue to do that.
LM: What do you love about your job?
SK: The job satisfaction from being a prosecutor is immense. Making my contribution to keeping the public safe is something that gets me out of bed in the morning with a sense of purpose. I feel the same way about that now as I did all those years ago when I joined the service as a junior lawyer. No two cases are ever the same and knowing I’ve played my part in helping to secure a conviction in our cases is incredibly rewarding.
LM: And you’re working with the University, too?
SK: Yes – it’s been wonderful to maintain a connection with the University. I have had the opportunity to go back to speak to the undergraduate students about my career and I always relish the opportunity to talk to them afterwards. The response from the students has been great. The CPS employs about 3,000 lawyers, so in ‘law firm’ terms we are the biggest in the country.
We have a highly successful legal trainee scheme that attracts thousands of applications for these posts, some of whom have and will come from the University, which is fantastic. Locally, we also have a thriving work experience scheme and some of our lawyers who now work for us ended up doing so because they enjoyed their time with us so much they decided to make it their career. Having the opportunity to nurture the next generation of lawyers is something that I find incredibly rewarding and am keen to continue to do.
