Motivating Talk by Senior Judge
Recently, Year 12 and 13 had the opportunity to hear from Deputy Senior District Judge and Deputy Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, Tan Ikram CBE.
After earning his law degree from Wolverhampton Polytechnic, Tan went on to spend 17 years on the front lines of the legal profession. He began as a magistrates’ court clerk, progressed to practicing as a dual criminal defence and prosecution solicitor-advocate, and rose to become a partner at a major law firm specialising in complex fraud and serious crime. His career as a judge began when he was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2003, before being promoted to a full District Judge in 2009 and then stepping into a major national leadership role as a Deputy Chief Magistrate in 2017. Judge Ikram has been a prominent national voice advocating for equity, inclusion, and representation within the legal system, speaking out about the need for a diverse judiciary that truly reflects and understands the communities it serves – which underpins equality of access to justice in the law.
Louise McLuckie, Year 12, shares her thoughts on the talk and encourages Year 11 and Year 12 to get involved with the upcoming St Bart’s Mock Trial!
“And then you know what happened – I failed!”… That was the chorus that many of us sixth formers familiarised ourselves with when Tan Ikram told us about his life and career. However, this was certainly not the story any of us had expected from the Deputy Senior District Judge of England and Wales; Judge Ikram’s story is the living embodiment of perseverance and self-determination. We were taken through the many unexpected (often downward) turns of events he experienced, and how nevertheless he worked until qualifying at the bar and eventually becoming one of the most senior judges in England and Wales having specialised in seemingly everything from political cases to extradition. However, what struck me more when conversing with Judge Ikram in a Q&A after the event was not simply resilience, but a refreshing matter-of-fact attitude. In a world where us students are greeted with the looming question of: What do I do to become a lawyer/achieve any of my aspirations? Tan Ikram simply replies with “hard work”.
The moral of this Judge’s story is that achievement and the overcoming of failure simply comes down to seizing every opportunity and working for it. He emphasised the importance of good grades, but also how engrossing oneself in one’s subject is critical for success. For future lawyers, this could be reading, debating or even (for the Year 11s and 12s) joining the St Bart’s Mock Trial. I strongly encourage you to, like Judge Ikram, seize the brilliant opportunity that will be running next half-term. Not only could Mock Trial be an excellent addition to your CV, but you could also steep yourself in the proceedings of a magistrate’s court in order to learn a working understanding of not only the law, but from the community of talented orators, analysts and performers we have here at St Bartholomew’s.
Look out for more information on the St Bart’s Mock Trial in upcoming student briefings and bulletins.
