JUDGES

Judge Karen Rea

I will start by saying that, before me, no one in my family had been a lawyer. I remember becoming interested in becoming a Barrister at the tender age of 7! At the age of 14, I thought that the Bar was the best profession to aim for, as it provided the platform to argue people’s cases. However, by the age of 16, all I could envisage was going to parties and meeting boys. To my adolescent mind, dusty libraries and endless reading associated with the Bar did not fit this particular remit! So I abandoned the idea of a legal career and opted for my mother’s profession of Nursing.

After 3 years, I qualified as a Registered Nurse, and then quickly went off to obtain my Law degree, studied for the Bar and was Called in 1980 at Gray’s Inn.

I practised in Crime and Civil. After 10 years, I switched to specialising in Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury work. This gradually segued into my current practice of Regulatory Law, where I sit as a Legal Adviser/Assessor in Fitness to Practise cases at various healthcare and financial regulatory bodies. In 1999, I was appointed as a Deputy District Judge (civil).

My plans for the future are to continue much as I am practising, but also to enhance this with lectures/webinars to as many student barristers as I can reach to discuss and inform about life in the County Court and other matters, such as technical law and justice (so-called Lawtech and Justicetech).

I experienced an early bail application as a Pupil barrister at the Old Bailey that resulted in glowing praise from the (stern) Judge. That greatly helped my confidence, but I had worked very hard preparing it. My advice for aspiring Barristers is always to prepare meticulously and to persevere. That should be the foundation of their motivation and drive. 

I have also experienced setbacks, for example, when I could not find a tenancy and had to walk around Temple chambers with my c.v in my briefcase trying to obtain one, in the days before the internet, online applications and remote interviews! I finally found my tenancy, by using a contact from my days as Mooting Secretary at university. Therefore, one major factor to remember is to network and keep close to you all contacts you make.

No matter what befalls you, in terms of judgements against your case, criticism, exhaustion and other Life matters that intervene, just dust yourself off, get back up and carry on, learning along the way. Absorb others’ practices, wisdom and knowledge, but equally, stay critical of yourself, rejecting the “duff” and keeping the “plums” in your armoury.