CILEX mourns passing of trailblazer Nick Hanning

15 January 2024

Nick Hanning, who last year became the first CILEX Lawyer appointed to the post of Recorder, passed away on New Year’s Eve from cancer at the age of 60.

Nick is a former CILEX president who led from the front as chartered legal executives were granted rights which put them on a par with solicitors and barristers – he was one of the first to become a partner in a solicitors’ firm and one of the first CILEX Advocates too. He was appointed a Deputy District Judge in 2020.

A Recorder has broadly the same jurisdiction as a circuit judge. The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, presided over his swearing-in, which was attended by his family.

It was only in 2023 that the government updated the law so that suitably qualified CILEX Lawyers could apply to become Recorders and Upper Tribunal judges, where previously they were unable to apply for posts higher than district judge.

His appointment was an historic milestone for the profession, showing that CILEX Lawyers have the training and skills needed to meet the competencies required for these more senior judicial posts.

CILEX President Yanthé Richardson says: “Nick exemplified the best of CILEX – from his many professional accomplishments to his dedication to pro bono work – but more than anything, he was simply an extremely nice person. He always had time for others, encouraged many colleagues in their careers, and was the perfect ambassador for where a CILEX qualification can take you.

“He bore his illness with the fortitude and humour that characterised him. He will be sorely missed by the CILEX and wider legal community, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

Nick Hanning was an experienced and skilled practitioner who specialised in cases involving employment, discrimination and occupational health law. He had particular expertise in cases involving work-related psychiatric injury. He acted for the claimant in the seminal House of Lords case of Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust, which established the principle of vicarious liability of employers under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

He was a founder of Poole law firm Reynolds Williams in 2000, which became RWPS and then Dutton Gregory, which acquired RWPS in 2014. From 2017 until earlier last year, he was an independent consultant lawyer, continuing to work with Dutton Gregory and also renowned London firm Anthony Gold. He provided advisory services to law firms through strategic and compliance consultancy DG Legal as well.

Nick was a CILEX Council (now Board) member for 10 years and served as president for the year 2012-13. From 2019 until 2021, he sat as a professional member on the board of CILEx Regulation. He was a member of the Civil Justice Council between 2018 and 2021, sat on the Litigant in Person Judicial Engagement Group and served on the Bach Commission on Access to Justice.

He was a dedicated supporter of pro bono work, and chaired the South West Legal Support Trust for more many years. He is a former chair of the CILEx Pro Bono Trust and trustee of Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit).

—

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Kerry Jack, Black Letter Communications on 07525 756 599 or email at [email protected]

Notes to editors:

CILEX (The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) is one of the three main professional bodies covering the legal profession in England and Wales. The approximately 18,000 -strong membership is made up of CILEX Lawyers, Chartered Legal Executives, paralegals and other legal professionals.

CILEX pioneered the non-university route into law and recently launched the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), a new approach to on-the-job training that marries legal knowledge with the practical skills, behaviours and commercial awareness needed by lawyers in the 2020s.

The CPQ is a progressive qualification framework that creates a workforce of specialist legal professionals, providing a career ladder from Paralegal through to Advanced Paralegal and ultimately full qualification as a CILEX Lawyer. CILEX Lawyers can become partners in law firms, coroners, judges or advocates in open court.

CILEX members come from more diverse backgrounds than other parts of the legal profession:

• 77% of its lawyers are women
• 16% are from ethnic minority backgrounds
  • 8% are Asian or Asian British
  • 5% are Black or Black British
  • 3% are from a mixed ethnic background
• 85% attended state schools
• 33% are the first generation in their family to attend university
• Only 3% of its members have a parent who is a lawyer.
• 85% attended state schools
• 33% are the first generation in their family to attend university
• Only 3% of its members have a parent who is a lawyer.

CILEX members are regulated through an independent body, CILEx Regulation. It is the only regulator covering paralegals.