Senior Lawyer and Crossbench Peer Lord Alex Carlile provided an inspirational insight into his life and career, while giving a talk to students at Wrexham University.
Law, Criminology and Policing students at Prifysgol Wrecsam/Wrexham University heard all about Lord Carlile’s career highlights and how he juggled his Barrister role, alongside being a politician, as well as answering students’ questions.
During the session, Lord Carlile, who was born in Ruabon near Wrexham, stressed to students that working as a law professional in their own communities would not make them any less valuable as a lawyer than a professional working in the field in London.
He said:
“I think there’s this skewed misconception that Lawyers will have a much more successful and valuable career in say, London – and I have to stress, that is simply not true. There is a great deal to be said for being a Lawyer and a leader, and helping people and solving problems in your own communities.
“Some extremely successful Lawyers have come from Wales – not being in the big city hasn’t held them back in anyway – myself included, David Lloyd-Jones from Criccieth, Emlyn Hooson from Denbighshire – I could go on.”
“A career in law and politics is actually an excellent combination because there is quite the crossover of skills, expertise and attributes – for example, to be a Lawyer, you need to be a great problem solver but also as a politician you do, with many problems from constituents landing at your door,” he said.
“Also, having that attention to detail and being able to scrutinise effectively is also really key. The two careers really do go together well and I’d strongly encourage people – particularly women – to get into politics. Politics is crying out for more female representation.”
Lord Carlile also touched upon his time as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and the Independent Reviewer of the Government’s 2011 PREVENT strategy, as well as being the independent reviewer of National Security policy in Northern Ireland.
Dylan Rhys Jones, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader of Law, added:
“A huge thank you to Lord Carlile for his fascinating, illuminating and unforgettable talk, and question and answer session with our Law, Criminology and Policing students.
“It was a huge honour to listen to him recount his experiences, as well as share his wisdom with students. We are incredibly fortunate to have such speakers supporting us here at Wrexham University.”
