Nevine Bentley

Law student testimonial

I was always the “armchair lawyer” around the dinner table, you know, the one who always has an opinion on legal matters and is swift to dive in with a “what you want to do is....”, so when my 25 year career as a bi-lingual Personal Assistant to top Chief Executive Officers proved ever-contracting, I actually bit the bullet, and in my late 40s applied to do the LLB with the Open University. 

No other University gives you the ability to work at your own pace and in your own time. Yes, you need to be self-motivated and organise your time realistically, but if you do hit a stumbling block, the tutors and OU staff are always ready to help out and solutions are swiftly offered. If it wasn’t for this back-up, I for one, would have floundered and given up many years ago.

My tutors never once made me feel bad for falling behind or not understanding a point. Whether it was organising a one-to-one session, a telephone mini-tutorial or merely answering a query by email, it was always done quickly, quietly and graciously. What a bunch they are! 

Recently, I have been lucky to be given the opportunity to shadow solicitors and barristers, and the one thing that I hear time and time again from them is how much they respect a law degree from the OU and how they much they respect me for undertaking such a task on my own. It shows we have commitment and self-motivation. 

Praise for the Open University Law School came again in July 2011 when I was one of the fortunate recipients of the Graham Rushton Award where Lord Low personally told me how much he admired anyone who had come into law via the OU route. The Graham Rushton award is for blind and partially sighted people embarking on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for intending solicitors.

I developed serious sight problems half way through my degree course and although life and study methods changed drastically overnight (and my grades were never as good as they were before the problem struck) I am grateful for the help I received from the OU Disability Support Team who were brilliant. Thank you to them and my tutors.

There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed or downright bored with legal text books – everyone does – but take advantage of the support network so carefully put in place by the OU and you will soon be back on track. 

I want to go into Family Law where my legal background coupled with my mature “been there, done that” age, I am sure will count as a bonus! I shall be 55 when I finish the LPC – the oldest trainee in the country? Bah humbug! You are never too old to learn, thanks to the OU!