Nick Hanning

First legal executive recorder dies at 60

Nick Hanning, the first chartered legal executive to be appointed as a recorder, has died of cancer at the age of 60. A recorder is, in effect, a part-time circuit judge who may sit in the Crown Court, the family court or the county court.

Hanning’s appointment at the end of September was announced at a time when he was already gravely ill, though he asked for nothing to be said about his illness publicly. He was sworn in by the lady chief justice in November.

Hanning at his swearing-in two months ago

Hanning was admitted as a fellow of what became the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) in 1990. In 2000, when rights of audience were extended to legal executives, he was in the first group to qualify as an advocate in civil proceedings. In 2009, when partnership rights were opened to legal executives, he was recognised as the first legal executive partner in a solicitors’ practice.

In 2020, Hanning was appointed a deputy district judge, a first-tier tribunal judge and the first CILEx employment judge. Last year, he became the first legal executive to be appointed at circuit bench level. He had been due to complete a series of courses before sitting for the first time this year.

At his swearing-in, Hanning said:

When I began my legal career, the legal executive route was all that was available to me to progress in a structured way combining formal learning with on-the-job practical experience.

My appointments to previous judicial roles, and now recorder, are evidence of the excellent work that is being done to increase diversity by ensuring that appointment is not about background and qualifications but about demonstrating the required competencies — however they have been acquired.

Hanning had lived for several years with cancer until his death on New Year’s Eve, colleagues from the At Work Partnership said in a tribute:

Nick was a specialist legal trainer at our conferences and events, an important contributor to the Occupational Health at Work Journal and author of a chapter for our book on discrimination law and occupational health practice. He had worked with the At Work Partnership since 2008.

Particularly memorable were his wonderful lectures on the Practical Occupational Health Law Certificate course and his dedication to helping occupational health professionals understand employment tribunal law and procedure. He will be remembered by us all for his legal ability and lecturing skills, his warmth and his great sense of humour — and his cats that always appeared at the end of his lectures!

My condolences to his family — and particularly to his father Jack and Jack’s wife Fernanda, who were very kind to me when I used to make regular reporting trips to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Update 15 January: CILEx has published a tribute.