Everyone enjoys a good love story and even more so when we realise we were partly responsible. Two of our former students have got married after meeting on our LLB course back in 2013 and even invited one of their old tutors to the wedding. Their story was featured in an August issue of the Times newspaper.

Anthony Searle (now a Barrister at Serjeants’ Inn) and Lily Tomkins (a corporate lawyer at Eversheds Sutherland LLP) got married on 9 June 2018 at Temple Church in London and cite Warwick’s Professor Paul Raffield as a key player in their relationship, bringing them together. The couple told us, “Paul is an inspiration and a dear friend to both of us. He guided us through thick and thin during our law degrees; some of our happiest memories and most engaging moments at Warwick were from his lectures and seminars in Tort and both of his other modules; and we (along with all of our friends from Warwick) were so glad that he could come to our wedding. We are particularly honoured to be the first of his students to marry each other! The fact that Lily's father mentioned Paul in his speech demonstrates his importance to us.”

Speaking about the wedding, they shared, “the day was incredibly special; Temple Church, the mother church of the common law, was the ideal setting in which to get married, particularly given that the law is the reason we met in the first place. The reception was at Inner Temple, which is the Inn of Court to which Sir Edward Coke belonged. He is one of the protagonists in Paul's modules, 'Origins, Images and Cultures of English Law' and 'Shakespeare and the Law', which we both studied (although not in the same class) whilst at Warwick. All in all, they were the perfect venues in which to celebrate our journey together. Fun fact: we named each of our tables after our favourite judges and lawyers. Of course, we had to sit Paul on Sir Edward Coke's table!”

Paul Raffield felt honoured to be invited along to such an important occasion and has remained close with the couple since they graduated, he commented “it was a wonderful wedding with lots of Warwick law graduates there... they even got me dancing (a terrifying sight); a really happy day.” When asked about the newlyweds he told us, “teaching Anthony and Lily was the greatest pleasure; it goes without saying that they were among the brightest of bright students, but more important than that, they are warm, funny, and kind. I'm thrilled that they are going to have a wonderful future together. They have become my friends, and I look forward to sharing many more adventures with them (but maybe not dancing).”

Anthony and Lily added, “Warwick will always be a special place to us. It's our home away from home and the place where we began our journey together. Our relationship, our love for the law, many of our closest friends: we owe all of these things to Warwick.”

We could not be happier for Anthony and Lily and wish them a lifetime of love and happiness together. Read the full Times article.

Come to Warwick Law School, get a degree, make lifetime friends and maybe even meet your future partner. The possibilities are endless… :-)

Paul joined the happy couple and their Warwick friends for a photo.