Dealing with Aggressive Lawyers

When on work experience, I was asked to read about a current matter and draft a response to the most recent letter from the opposing side.
Now we enter the realm of the Aggressive Lawyer.  The Aggressive Lawyer likes to be wordy and overly formal.  Behold (including a font change).

Dear Sir, I refer to your previous correspondence of the twenty third instance...

Right possum, two can play at that game:

"Dear Sir, With due indication to your correspondence of the third epoch..."

Yeah. Come at me.

Tales from the Court Room Part I

Source: http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/books/barrington/ch_04.html

Defendant picks up Bible

Judge: "Oh you don't need to swear on that, we'll just ask you some questions"

Defendant nods

Defendant "BELCH"

Unsurprisingly the defendant's case was unsuccessful.

Twitter Fame!

Hey :) Love your blog. I've got 18,402 followers on Twitter...

Swell. What does that get you in the real world? Nowt.  Smiley face.

Advice from Graduation

As studies loom from January onwards, from nowhere I remembered parts of the speech given at the beginning of my first graduation ceremony. Yes I actually listened:

"An awesome combination of sheer genius and utter dedication with everyone totally committed to the cause, I see every day at this University. This is one of the main reasons we like working here so much.  How many of you, Graduands, have this attitude? <silence>" [...]

"You may not realise, but in addition to learning your own subject areas, you have learnt to articulate what you will offer to an employer, you are self aware, you can manage your own thinking [...] and are very well placed to use these skills in your careers."  

"We are all very sorry to see you go, please accept my very best wishes and do your best to make a difference."

Ok we shouldn't expect save the world so better put the capes away. Many people graduate with too much debt and no job, but so many transferrable skills. Remember to use them even if it's like drawing blood from a rock.

Even a small difference is a difference.

Play Nicely

By Søren Niedziella from Denmark [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I once heard a story regarding the Main Library at the University of Manchester.

Law Students were so caught up in the perceived level of competition for high grades that they removed essential chapters from textbooks or just stole them outright.  This was back in the day where the internet was pretty useless, so if you were in a higher year you could be industrious and make some money by pretending to be a library.

Getting one up on others, in a fair way, is how things work. I’m all for it –  at the top didn’t get where they are by being the same as others.

This behaviour of the students is just a substitute for hard work, revolving around jealousy.

The reality is that most of these students ended up with pretty normal degrees, predictable CVs, and bad attitudes.  Not surprisingly this isn’t good conduct for people who want to be counsellors of Her Majesty’s Justice.  

The culprits most probably failed to secure placements and Training Contracts, and can be sighted in middle management at your local Adecco or Paddy Power.

Apprenticeships in Law: A Profession in Crisis?

UPDATE: The New Paralegal Route 

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority intends to introduce apprenticeships as a route to qualification. Very Important People say this could lead to creation of a two-tier profession which, in reality, already exists. 

Law is elitist

It’s impossible to deny.  It has a self-styled Magic Circle, almost all in London. Yet the profession now tries to move away from this label: 

“Look how inclusive we are!” translates into unclear promises in application form guidance.

“Look how modern we are!” becomes free pens and post-its at law fairs doled out by people not wearing ties.  One of my friends managed to bag an inflatable sofa from a top twenty firm (but didn’t secure a training contract).

“Anyone can be a lawyer!” results in a reluctant showing at career events for lesser known Universities.

Now. A law degree is a law degree is a law degree. We can’t escape that.  However, there is the unuttered opinion that a well-known firm considering, say, a BA (Hons) in Law at Sheffield Hallam, against an LLB (Hons) from a Russell Group University, would undoubtedly (in the majority of cases) favour the latter, all other things being equal.  Prove me wrong.  

Perhaps we are being led down the garden path to the tune “it doesn’t matter where you’ve studied, you can do law at any firm you fancy” loosely disguised as ‘inclusivity’ so a few boxes can be ticked and the main predicament I am about to open the box on is avoided.

There are too many lawyers today

Legal Aid seems to be dying/scrapped, especially with regard to criminal and family law.  The unthinkable from twenty years ago is reality – potential Barristers unable to secure pupillages or stable positions with the LPC; and as for budding Solicitors, training contracts are as rare as unicorn fart flavoured jelly babies.  So currently you need ‘connections’.  See above!

What's happening now?

Returning to the proposed change.  Regional Law Societies are undertaking reviews to see what this means for their profession in the future, and what concerns those Very Important People already in practice.  Reports are due in the new year.

Even tentative murmurs of this has raised rather cross comments, with aspersions cast along the lines of “the profession is being thrown to the dogs…”

It’s a tricky one.  There are already so many ways into legal practice but higher education remains essential at the moment.  Will the apprenticeships move through Paralegal positions? Will you be sent to do a degree or a diploma? Will you end up with letters after your name? When will training start? Can you eventually become a Very Important Person despite having gone through a non-established route? 

First, let’s have agreement that a different way to regulate very large firms must be introduced. Mend what’s already frayed, then add another ingredient to the cake mixture.

 I wait to see, if this scheme sticks, which firm will take up the baton...

A Medic's Foray into Law

Dear Learner Lawyer,

Congratulations, we are delighted to offer you a place...

A very large mug of strong coffee was poured whilst contemplating how many different colours of highlighter one can get away with before needing to pretend they are for a small child's first day at School.  

The first tentative steps taken to Medical School were done armed with absolutely nothing except the required grades and work experience.  One should assume the successful candidate has visited the city; been to an open day; spoken to current students or alumni; has a firm knowledge of the course ahead and able to speak at length about it. 

No. None of that.  There was nothing I could do about it then anyway.

The night before my Finals, I found a message scrawled into a desk where I was cramming.  Of course then came the unrealistic visions - presented at graduation with all sorts of ludicrous high achiever awards (that only seem to get awarded to people you've never met yet somehow studied alongside for five years), maybe a speech from the Duchess of Cambridge...  Instead I settled for a half a crisp sandwich, lukewarm coffee, and a secret promise that I would get the word "willy" into my exam paper.   

 This is my last ever day in JRUL!! Good bye!! Good luck!

Now Law.  Why do I want to study the Law? Well, why not?! A non-conventional background background shall make this fun.  Armed with a little more than nothing, perhaps a passing interest in the past three years.

The course starts in January. I suppose I'd better visit the city I shall be studying in.