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Sarah Margee, Go Prosecute, CPS Leeds
Sarah Margee, a criminal barrister who took a break from the law to raise her children, is delighted that the CPS Go Prosecute for Senior Crown Prosecutors initiative has given her the opportunity to return to practice
The Go Prosecute scheme is an initiative by the Director of Public Prosecutions to enable and facilitate lawyers who have been out of the criminal justice system to retrain in-house with the Crown Prosecution Service.
We get to make the most of all the training facilities and resources, and they are plentiful. I am amazed and impressed with how much information is available on the intranet. There are so many different learning courses to dip into – in-person courses, instructor-led courses and eLearning modules. It is a very comprehensive programme that can be structured according to an individual’s learning needs.
Last summer, during the pilot Go Prosecute campaign, I was encouraged by friends who work as lawyers to give it a go. Basically, what drew me was the opportunity to learn, grow and develop without an expectation that I would be able to walk straight back into where I'd left my legal career.
I'd been out of law for many years because of childcare responsibilities. Obviously, I was aware that the law moves on, but in addition there's been a whole tech revolution. I was considering a return to the self-employed Bar but wasn’t sure how to plug the gap in my knowledge and rebuild confidence in my ability to be a prosecutor again.
I was absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for interview, to do the assessments, and then to be offered an opportunity to retrain and to join a team in Leeds and to get back ‘where I belong’, as my friends say!
I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity and proud that I had the courage to test myself in this way.
The Go Prosecute scheme is an initiative by the Director of Public Prosecutions to enable and facilitate lawyers who have been out of the criminal justice system to retrain in-house with the Crown Prosecution Service.
We get to make the most of all the training facilities and resources, and they are plentiful. I am amazed and impressed with how much information is available on the intranet. There are so many different learning courses to dip into – in-person courses, instructor-led courses and eLearning modules. It is a very comprehensive programme that can be structured according to an individual’s learning needs.
Last summer, during the pilot Go Prosecute campaign, I was encouraged by friends who work as lawyers to give it a go. Basically, what drew me was the opportunity to learn, grow and develop without an expectation that I would be able to walk straight back into where I'd left my legal career.
I'd been out of law for many years because of childcare responsibilities. Obviously, I was aware that the law moves on, but in addition there's been a whole tech revolution. I was considering a return to the self-employed Bar but wasn’t sure how to plug the gap in my knowledge and rebuild confidence in my ability to be a prosecutor again.
I was absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for interview, to do the assessments, and then to be offered an opportunity to retrain and to join a team in Leeds and to get back ‘where I belong’, as my friends say!
I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity and proud that I had the courage to test myself in this way.
Sarah Margee, a criminal barrister who took a break from the law to raise her children, is delighted that the CPS Go Prosecute for Senior Crown Prosecutors initiative has given her the opportunity to return to practice
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