Dear readers,
Again I apologise for my delay in posting. It has been an incredibly busy few months. I am pleased to announce I was classified as Very Competent for my BPTC and completed the BPTC with no resits. For those of you who asked, no criminal litigation did not screw me up I achieved 89% so anything is possible and you should never judge your own exam performance. In this post I plan to give advice on pupillage applications and interviews and BPTC exams.
Pupillage
I was very lucky this year and was offered 5 first round pupillage interviews unfortunately 2 fell when I was away in Australia and were not able to be rescheduled. 1 however did result in a second round interview and next week I will discover if I have achieved that illusive pupillage. Many of you facebooked and tweeted me asking for advice on firstly how to get offered a pupillage interview and secondly what to do in a first round interview. So I thought I would attempt a top 3 tips for each so here goes.
Pupillage applications really come down to planning. My top 3 tips for writing an application that will impress are:
1. Research- as much as it sounds obvious research the chambers, not just reading their webpage, actually look at the cases they have been involved in, how their pupillage is run and the kinds of people who gain pupillage and tenancy with them. In the application draw the readers attention to the fact that you are similar to their other pupils, be it because you got a first class degree, won a mooting competition or completed pro- bono work.
2. Plan- draft, draft and draft again. I did at least 10 drafts of my application form this year. I used about 2 hours per day for each day the gateway was open and ensured that each application was completely unique and tailored to each chambers. There are some things that I kept consistent for example why I am attracted to a career at the Bar however even those questions I tailored to the areas of law I was hoping to practice during my second six.
3. Express yourself- I had many people review my applications, some loved the honesty and controversial opinions and some hated them. My advice would be, be true to your personality. I am an opinionated headstrong kind of woman so I wasn't going to deny my opinions on some key legal issues e.g. Brexit, scrapping the HRA 1998 and assisted suicide. However if you go for a full- on expressive tone, be cautious. I worked very hard on appearing balanced yet opinionated. Whenever I gave an opinion I reasoned my opinion out fully and gave reasons for disagreeing with (not dismissing) opposing arguments.
First round interviews, in my view, come down to confidence and presence in the interview room. My 3 tips would be as follows.
1. Knowledge- ensure you know why you want to practice specific areas of law but do not limit yourself. You must have a good working knowledge of the chambers and their areas of practice and pupillage structure etc. However, it is vital that you also ensure that you accept that you cannot know everything, ask questions, concede when you need to and you can always ask for a question to be repeated.
2. Presence- when attending my first round interviews I felt as though the key factor that enabled me to be invited back for a second round was my presence and rapport with the panel. I think that this cannot be underestimated. There is no point pretending you know an area of law if you don't or pretending your father is a Lord if he is not. Although, I am by no means an authority on this, it seemed to me as if what worked was an ability to connect with the panel members, not necessarily through being like them or enjoying the same areas of law or even sharing opinions but by capturing their attention and imagination.
BPTC
Recently, I have also been tweeted and emailed a lot about BPTC exams and the BPTC course in general. For the sake of brevity and utility here are my top 3 BPTC tips.
1. Be consistent- I honestly believe the key to achieving a VC or at least not having to spend the summer doing resists is an ability to work consistently throughout the BPTC course. Do not assume that this is just a uni course and that you can cram in the Spring and make it to the Bar. Firstly their are 12 exams which start (at BPP at least) in December and end in June so you really need to keep the effort levels up. Secondly, if you plan a 40 hr week including your contact time you become used to treating the BPTC as a job and not just as a uni qualification. This makes it easier during the centralised BSB exams in March and April because you will already be used to working long hours and will have had time before to cover a lot of the content as you go along through the course.
2. Consolidate- I was told this 100s of times during the course and as much as it bores you it is certainly sound advice. Every week you must write up your notes and do practice questions, especially for the BSB exams, at BPP last year 70% failed the ethics exam and almost as many failed Civil Litigation. I do not know what caused this but from seeing how my cohort performed I would guess that a lot of the failures came down to failure to understand and learn the content of the BSB exams as it was taught. I will not lie, I did not manage to consolidate every week but I did manage to ensure that by the time the BSB exams were 6 weeks away I had consolidated every Civil, Criminal and Ethics SGS we had completed. This worked out at roughly 2 hours revision per SGS. When it came to exams this was invaluable because most of my notes were already written up into useful revision cards, posters and even small games. This not only saved time but also enabled me to test myself quickly and focus on the topics that I was struggling with.
3. Pride- The last thing to mention is to remember where you are and what you have achieved. This is a tricky one. I believe the key is to balance the feelings of believe in yourself and pride about what you have achieved to get to the point that you are taking exams that enable you to be called to the Bar of England and Wales but not allow this pride to enable you to become arrogant or complacent. When the exams are coming thick and fast and the pressure mounts, take time out, and remember that no matter how impossible it seems everyone is in your position (whether they admit it or not) and you have got this far so you can and you will achieve what you work for,
Thank you all for being so patient when waiting for my next blog post.
Have a wonderful Summer.
KT
A legal blog looking at recent cases, current legal affairs and making a career in law.
Monday 25 July 2016
Friday 29 January 2016
5 things working with prisoners taught me
Dear Readers,
Sorry for the intermittent posting, as the law students among you will know this is a very busy time of year on the BPTC. Revising for BSB exams, non-gateway pupillage applications and trying to fit in all my pro-bono commitments.
As some of you may know since September 2015 I have been volunteering as a Vocalise debate mentor. This involves going into prisons across London and teaching prisoners how to debate and express themselves in a non-violent, non- threatening manner. This has by far been the most rewarding voluntary placement of my life so far and so I thought I would share with you all the top 5 things I have learnt.
1. Debating is vital- as much as I love debating personally I did not realise how important it would be for prisoners. It was not just about debating current affairs or what you would do if you were the last human on Earth, it is about giving the voiceless a voice, giving people who have given up on the outside world and themselves freedom within the confines of the prison walls, to feel like they matter. The whole experience was about prisoners being heard and feeling 'normal' and part of the world again. This for me made this a unique and profound experience.
2. Prisoners are people too- as much as this sounds obvious, I did not expect the emotional reactions in prison to be as varied as they were. I am now acutely aware of the reality of prison life. Prisoners know how people in the outside world feel about them. Prisoners feel outcast, rejected and as if the people who live in society want to take their rights away. This saddened me deeply and has made me decide that I must do more to help the prison community in future.
3. Prison is a community- and no I don't mean just in the 'Orange is the new black' sense. Prisoners are aware that they have been segregated and may never be accepted by society again. This creates an intense bond within the prison community that in some cases overrides gang loyalties. I think there is a lot the outside community can learn from the way prisoners remain loyal to one another, form a great sense of camaraderie and remain aware of their position within the outside world.
4. People outside of prison take way too much for granted- seeing people incarcerated taught me to value the smallest things in life. I can walk outside when I want, I can visit family and friends whenever I like and, within the confines of the law, I have total freedom. This is something that I feel people on the outside do not fully appreciate. Yes, there are problems in the world, no you cannot do WHATEVER YOU WANT but you can, within wide restrictions, move where you want, see whomever you want and say how you feel. In prison this is different, not only are you physically prevented from escape by the prison walls but you are pigeonholed into thinking about your life in a certain way. In prison, you cannot see your family when you want, you cannot say whatever you want because you know there are always people monitoring you. There is very much a Benthamite feeling in prison, you always feel as if you are being watched even though you know it is impossible for prison guards to see where you are 24 hours a day.
5. Law students are blessed- I had no concept of how much prisoners would appreciate the outside contact. I was expecting to be the enemy, especially as an aspiring barristers. The truth is I was not. These people were so humbled that law students had bothered to give up their time to speak to them and more importantly to listen. This truly staggered me. I have never felt more privileged or more of a disappointment. I learnt that I really matter and that despite my concerns about getting pupillage and being good enough to serve my future clients, I can make a difference. The experience taught me never to take my position for granted, never to complain about my workload and never be cynical about this world of almost total freedom that we are blessed to be allowed to live in.
Sorry for the intermittent posting, as the law students among you will know this is a very busy time of year on the BPTC. Revising for BSB exams, non-gateway pupillage applications and trying to fit in all my pro-bono commitments.
As some of you may know since September 2015 I have been volunteering as a Vocalise debate mentor. This involves going into prisons across London and teaching prisoners how to debate and express themselves in a non-violent, non- threatening manner. This has by far been the most rewarding voluntary placement of my life so far and so I thought I would share with you all the top 5 things I have learnt.
1. Debating is vital- as much as I love debating personally I did not realise how important it would be for prisoners. It was not just about debating current affairs or what you would do if you were the last human on Earth, it is about giving the voiceless a voice, giving people who have given up on the outside world and themselves freedom within the confines of the prison walls, to feel like they matter. The whole experience was about prisoners being heard and feeling 'normal' and part of the world again. This for me made this a unique and profound experience.
2. Prisoners are people too- as much as this sounds obvious, I did not expect the emotional reactions in prison to be as varied as they were. I am now acutely aware of the reality of prison life. Prisoners know how people in the outside world feel about them. Prisoners feel outcast, rejected and as if the people who live in society want to take their rights away. This saddened me deeply and has made me decide that I must do more to help the prison community in future.
3. Prison is a community- and no I don't mean just in the 'Orange is the new black' sense. Prisoners are aware that they have been segregated and may never be accepted by society again. This creates an intense bond within the prison community that in some cases overrides gang loyalties. I think there is a lot the outside community can learn from the way prisoners remain loyal to one another, form a great sense of camaraderie and remain aware of their position within the outside world.
4. People outside of prison take way too much for granted- seeing people incarcerated taught me to value the smallest things in life. I can walk outside when I want, I can visit family and friends whenever I like and, within the confines of the law, I have total freedom. This is something that I feel people on the outside do not fully appreciate. Yes, there are problems in the world, no you cannot do WHATEVER YOU WANT but you can, within wide restrictions, move where you want, see whomever you want and say how you feel. In prison this is different, not only are you physically prevented from escape by the prison walls but you are pigeonholed into thinking about your life in a certain way. In prison, you cannot see your family when you want, you cannot say whatever you want because you know there are always people monitoring you. There is very much a Benthamite feeling in prison, you always feel as if you are being watched even though you know it is impossible for prison guards to see where you are 24 hours a day.
5. Law students are blessed- I had no concept of how much prisoners would appreciate the outside contact. I was expecting to be the enemy, especially as an aspiring barristers. The truth is I was not. These people were so humbled that law students had bothered to give up their time to speak to them and more importantly to listen. This truly staggered me. I have never felt more privileged or more of a disappointment. I learnt that I really matter and that despite my concerns about getting pupillage and being good enough to serve my future clients, I can make a difference. The experience taught me never to take my position for granted, never to complain about my workload and never be cynical about this world of almost total freedom that we are blessed to be allowed to live in.