I am 60 years old, very soon to be 61. I don’t feel it, I hope I don’t look it, and I certainly don’t act it!

My life has been quite eventful, and I have tried to do things that are interesting and different. When I talk about my life at work nobody believes half of what I say, or they say I’ve lived a couple of lifetimes in one! The fact that I am over twice most of their ages anyway speaks volumes! My background was in scientific research, then scientific sales, then logistics. I have worked for research establishments, scientific instrument companies, car hire companies, and the local Fire and Rescue service in their Workshops. I fell into Law at a late stage in my life. I was doing telesales for a local communications company and not enjoying it at all. I walked out after three weeks and went straight to my nearest Temping agency. They had a week’s work just come in from a well-respected firm of solicitors.

I turned up on the first day and was told they wanted some files to be prepared to be sent off for costing. That was it. I was hooked. I worked away at these files – they had built up as the department was new and they hadn’t had time to get them done; they are quite time-consuming. I think I did 4 in the first day, which caused one of the senior solicitors – now a partner – to declare me a “wizard” and they wanted me on the team permanently. I joined on a permanent basis a month later. That was 6 years ago.
As I hadn’t got a Law degree – just a Chemistry one – and to do the conversion, then get a training contract etc, I would be retiring as soon as I qualified, when I hit 60 I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t “past it” and could still give the young ones a run for their money and get a qualification. Looking for a suitable course was difficult as I didn’t know what to do. I chanced upon ILSPA, and the Legal Secretaries Diploma. I thought it looked quite comprehensive, so submitted my request for funding. It was approved, paid, and I started the course in February 2024.

All the course material, assessments and multiple-choice questions were immediately available for me to look at, download, print – yes, I am old school – and peruse. There was a choice of modules, with some that were compulsory, such as General Legal Procedures, Key Legal Secretary Skills, and the English Legal System. My chosen modules were Civil Litigation, Family Law, and Wills, Probate and Administration. These were the ones I felt were more pertinent for my department which is the Court of Protection. There is a wealth of expert help ready for you in the background should you need it. I chose not to, which in hindsight, might not have been the best decision. You can do the studying and assessments at your own pace, but they have to be done within a year. I started off great, with the first two compulsory assessments getting 100%. Then I got ill, spending 2 weeks in hospital and 5 weeks at home feeling very sorry for myself. This led to depression and total apathy towards everything, including the course. I had asked one of my colleagues who visited to bring my folder so I could do some work from home, but it was never opened. It got to January, and the realisation that I had to get the course done in a month hit hard. I did one assessment and failed, which knocked me back even more. I contacted ILSPA and explained the situation and was given an extra three months. That gave me the “kick up the rear end” that was needed, so the course was finished and submitted. I wasn’t hopeful.

6 days later I received the first email back from ILSPA with one of my results. It was a pass. I was so chuffed. The rest of the results followed, and I ended up with a Merit! Me, a Merit at 60! There was a lovely congratulatory email from ILSPA saying about next steps, what I can now do, and what do I want to do in the future. I espied that you could become an Associate or a Fellow dependant on work experience. I’ve got 6 years’ experience; I could be a Fellow and have letters after my name! It was instilled in me at an early age to get a good education and get as high a qualification as you can. Now, at aged 60, I am finally a woman of letters!

The modules were really interesting and absorbing. Having been on the other side of Family Law with a divorce, it was really good to see how and why things were done in a specific way. Civil Litigation was a real eye-opener, and the Wills, Probate and Trusts Administration was also interesting, mainly because we deal with a lot of Statutory Wills, ongoing Trust management and professional Attorneyships in COP. Now I have “graduated”, there are a lot of doors that are opening. The CPD modules that ILSPA offer look to be quite comprehensive and diverse, so I will certainly be looking at doing some of those.

In short, ILSPA has been an experience never to be forgotten. The support is unbelievable so please take advantage of it. Going forwards, the wealth of knowledge that is available is vast. If it isn’t there you don’t need to know it! I am grateful to ILSPA for the support they gave me at my lowest time, and the push to get the course finished. The Certificate is now framed and has pride of place behind my desk at work. None of the other Secretaries here have this qualification, so I feel quite elitist about it.
As an aside, I found out the same day as I got my results from ILSPA, that I had passed my assessment to be a Deputy Secretary of the Meeting for the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC), so it was a double celebration in our house that night.

Thank you ILSPA!