The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointment, for 4 years from 1 May 2024, of Christine Nwaokolo as a non-lay member of the Legal Services Board (LSB).
Christine Nwaokolo
Christine qualified as a solicitor in 2011 and since then she has specialised in family law. She is a Law Society Children Accredited Panel Member and has Higher Rights of Audience in Civil Law. Christine has worked at various high street firms where she has been appointed to leadership roles such as managing teams, supervising trainee solicitors, and managing Legal Aid Contracts.
Most recently, she has moved into undertaking legal work as a Consultant Solicitor, a role which will her enable her to continue her passion for court advocacy as well as manage a caseload of childcare cases. She is regularly instructed in proceedings involving neglect, non-accidental injuries, mental health difficulties, substance misuse and abuse representing children, parents and other relatives involved in such matters.
Christine has also worked for two local authorities: London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the London Borough of Lewisham. At Lewisham she was a senior lawyer and the lead court advocate.
Alongside a legal career, Christine has developed her practice in panel decision making roles. From 2018 to 2021, Christine sat as an Independent Lay Member for the East Sussex School Admissions Appeal Panel. In 2021, she was appointed as an Independent Lay Panel Member for Five Rivers; a charity which helps children recover from trauma or family breakdown, where she sits on the foster panel. In 2022, she became an Independent Lay Chair for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Fitness to Practice Hearings. In 2023, Christine was appointed as a Legally Qualified Chair of Police Misconduct Hearings, for the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime.
Christine has a keen interest in education and governance and sits as a school governor.
The Legal Services Board (LSB) is the independent body overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. Its goal is to reform and modernise the legal services marketplace by putting the interests of consumers at the heart of the system. It is independent of government and the legal profession and oversees the approved regulators which themselves regulate lawyers. The LSB also oversees the Office for Legal Complaints and its administration of the Legal Ombudsman scheme that resolves complaints about lawyers.
Appointments and reappointments are made, by the Lord Chancellor, under the Legal Services Act 2007, and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. These reappointments have been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.