ILEX Council Members 2011 - 2012                                

President - Susan Silver F. Inst.L.Ex

Susan Silver became the 48^th President of the Institute of Legal Executives on the 15 July 2011.

She has been a Council member since 2004 and currently sits on The Regulatory Committee and the Equality and Diversity Working Party. She is also a member of the Review of Civil Litigation Costs working group. She previously sat on the Disciplinary Tribunal and has been a member of the Investigating Committee. 

Along with her partner, she runs a Legal Advisory Consultancy covering general commercial litigation, debt management, debt collection, land and property purchase/sale, and employment.  The consultancy also has associations with a number of law firms in Cyprus and represents their interests in the UK. 

Susan left school at 17 training to be a beautician followed by a spell in the fashion industry where, at 21, she became the youngest manager in the Dorothy Perkins fashion chain.  She also worked for a number of years with her then husband who owned and ran one of the top cabaret clubs in the UK.

As a Mackenzie Friend, she undertook some legal help for a friend and developed a taste for legal work, subsequently studying to be a lawyer through ILEX, becoming a Member of the Institute in1999 and a Fellow in 2003.

She began her legal career in private practice with a mixed workload covering P.I. Crime, Housing, Welfare Benefits and general Private Client matters and ran a legal department for a group of companies before setting up her own company in 2007.

Susan has also been Chair and Vice-Chair of the ILEX Greater Manchester Branch.

She lives with her husband in Cheshire and has two daughters, a step-son and three grandchildren.

Vice-President - Nick Hanning  F. Inst.L.Ex.

Nick Hanning has been a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives since 1990 and in 2000 was one of the small group to qualify as the first ever Legal Executive Advocates. He has been a Council Member since 2005 and is closely involved in Finance, Litigation Rights and Legal Services Reform.

From June 2007 to July 2010  he was Chair of the Pro Bono Forum. Closer to home, Nick is Secretary of the Bournemouth & District Branch of ILEX.

Nick is partner with the Poole law firm, Reynolds Williams  LLP a personal injury lawyer where he specialises in occupational stress claims, especially for the targets of bullying and harassment. Having secured the then largest ever award for a first breakdown case in 2001 he also acted for the Claimant in the seminal House of Lords case of Majrowski -v- Guy's and St Thomas's NHS Trust which established the principle of vicarious liability of employers under the Protection from Harassment Act.

Deputy Vice-President - Stephen Gowland

Stephen Gowland has been a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives since 1998. He is the first joint solicitor and legal Executive to sit on the council and is a council member for the north.

He is also actively involved in the local Newcastle branch.

He began his legal career representing claimants, before spending a number of years defending claims made against local police forces, local authorities and high profile clients such as Pirelli, BNFL and McVities.

He now runs his own personal injury firm in Durham, ILS Solicitors which was established in 2004.