Caroline Hurst

My greatest achievement was being awarded Chartered Legal Executive status on 23 April this year. Chartered Legal Executives can now become Partners and Judges and therefore stand side by side with their solicitor colleagues.

I trained for this position while working as a secretary at Langleys. I’m also employed in a unique role in Langleys and in community care and human rights’ law. I am part of the expanding Health & Welfare team, one of only a handful of such teams in the North.

This means that I can cover the work of a solicitor and a barrister - appearing in court –I also represent patients with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Autism, learning disabilities and other health issues such as epilepsy, assisting them in obtaining justice and better services.

Having epilepsy, puts me in a unique position to empathise and understand the difficulties faced by people with such disabilities and health conditions. I came to work at Langleys straight from university eight years ago and worked as a secretary. During that time, I didn’t have one single epileptic seizure as it was a low-stress role. My new job is a lot more stressful but I find ways to manage it and am determined that epilepsy won’t get in my way. I do have more seizures now – I had a seizure at work once during a telephone conference with Cherie Booth (Blair).

I was always insistent I wanted to be a lawyer, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve had a seizure and fallen into a table, then had to go to court the next day with a black eye and bust lip. You can’t let fear control you, or the epilepsy stop you, or you’d never leave the house. My tutor at university said, if you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, you’re right. I think it’s a great statement to live by.

Best wishes,

Caroline