Claire Jones: Fee-Paid Legal Member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales
Tag:
Wales Appointment type:
Fee-paid Role type:
Legal Claire Jones is a Fee-Paid Legal Member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales (APW). She has also served as Head of Legal and other services and the statutory Monitoring Officer within local government in Wales.
Here, Claire shares her pathway into the judiciary:
In-house and public sector solicitors and barristers have to possess great listening, leadership and team-building skills as well as being able to adapt their legal knowledge and expertise to advise upon and resolve an extraordinarily wide variety of issues. Being alive to the wider political environment is an additional essential skill.
All of these attributes make in-house lawyers ideally suited to chairing APW tribunal hearings.
I originally trained and completed my training within a large commercial practice, however upon qualification I decided to return to my roots in Mid-Wales to pursue a legal career within local government in a rural environment. This provided an opportunity to carry out an extremely varied work-load, lead on large commercial projects and to achieve good career progression.
For nearly the past thirty years, I have held senior management and governance roles, again providing the opportunity to gain useful and transferable skills.
High standards of conduct, fairness and independence have always been integral to my work and career choices and I had always hoped to take up the type of role which presented itself at the Adjudication Panel for Wales. Taking up a part-time role within local government has allowed me to fulfil this ambition earlier in my career than I had originally anticipated.
The appointment process was relatively lengthy, however I found it to be thorough, fair, searching, yet constructive. Thorough preparation and a real desire to carry out the role are the two most important pre-interview considerations in my view.
The legal ethical framework for local councillors in Wales provides a consistent, proportionate and essential safety-valve. The success of the framework is perhaps indicated by the fact that a fairly low number of cases come before the APW.
As an experienced Legal Member of the Panel, I have found the work to be stimulating and rewarding, with plenty of opportunity for networking and training. There are clearly challenges associated with decision-making in an often highly-charged political environment, however I believe that the disadvantages are far out-weighed by the advantages. The President of the APW has also taken an inclusive approach and both Lay and Legal Members are encouraged to contribute to the development of this vital Tribunal.
I would therefore encourage those in-house solicitors and barristers who would not normally consider themselves for judicial appointment to consider applying for this role. You have much to offer!
All of these attributes make in-house lawyers ideally suited to chairing APW tribunal hearings.
I originally trained and completed my training within a large commercial practice, however upon qualification I decided to return to my roots in Mid-Wales to pursue a legal career within local government in a rural environment. This provided an opportunity to carry out an extremely varied work-load, lead on large commercial projects and to achieve good career progression.
For nearly the past thirty years, I have held senior management and governance roles, again providing the opportunity to gain useful and transferable skills.
High standards of conduct, fairness and independence have always been integral to my work and career choices and I had always hoped to take up the type of role which presented itself at the Adjudication Panel for Wales. Taking up a part-time role within local government has allowed me to fulfil this ambition earlier in my career than I had originally anticipated.
The appointment process was relatively lengthy, however I found it to be thorough, fair, searching, yet constructive. Thorough preparation and a real desire to carry out the role are the two most important pre-interview considerations in my view.
The legal ethical framework for local councillors in Wales provides a consistent, proportionate and essential safety-valve. The success of the framework is perhaps indicated by the fact that a fairly low number of cases come before the APW.
As an experienced Legal Member of the Panel, I have found the work to be stimulating and rewarding, with plenty of opportunity for networking and training. There are clearly challenges associated with decision-making in an often highly-charged political environment, however I believe that the disadvantages are far out-weighed by the advantages. The President of the APW has also taken an inclusive approach and both Lay and Legal Members are encouraged to contribute to the development of this vital Tribunal.
I would therefore encourage those in-house solicitors and barristers who would not normally consider themselves for judicial appointment to consider applying for this role. You have much to offer!