BLS Obiter Dicta Freshers Issue 2016

Bracton Law Society

Obiter Dicta Freshers’ Edition

2016

PRESIDENT’S Welcome I

t’s time. You’ve worked tirelessly, landed yourself a place at a top university and satisfied your ambition.

But this is only the beginning.

international firms coming to campus every week during Term 1. This includes exclusive BLS-only open days at global law firms, an on-campus careers dinner with a large group of City law firms, and the new BLS Our primary focus is helping our members - Commercial Awareness Forum. Attending studying law or another subject - to succeed these events make you more employable, and in pursuing a legal career. With over 920 expand your network. members, we’re one of the largest law societies in the United Kingdom, and we’re During second year, many of you will be extremely proud of what we have on offer. searching for that elusive training contract or Continually, we are recognised as one of the vacation scheme, and law firms will ask for most active and successful law societies in evidence of consistent performance the UK – last year we were nominated for throughout your degree. I can’t stress enough Best Overall Law Society. that your first year grades And we’re only on an a nd e x tra - cur ric ul a r upward trajectory: this activities count. Now is year our plans are even the time to get involved bigger, and even better. with what’s on offer.

“Now is the time to get involved”

Equally, what success means for you may well be completely different. If you’re looking at alternative career paths, or simply want to join a community with your peers, we have lots for you too!

Having fun is important to us too. That’s why we have three BLS sports teams for our members: mixed touch rugby, football and netball.

Throughout the year we’ll also be hosting a range of informal socials where you can relax, and get to know your peers. But perhaps most importantly, we’re predominantly renowned for hosting the most impressive formal balls on campus, from the Winter Law Ball to the End of Year Gala. Tickets to these sell out fast, so stay tuned.

Bracton Law Society has an exceptionally strong core offering. This features mooting, debating, pro bono, multiple socials, our Obiter Dicta publication, careers events, and a group for aspiring barristers – all under one roof. We’re proud to boast 15 mooting competitions, including our own internal competition, in addition to international If you see me around campus, please stop and competitions. We also offer 6 pro bono have a chat! We are excited to have you with projects, including the sought-after Prison us this year. Let’s make it great.

Project.

This year, we’re partnering with over 35 law and professional services firms to bring our members the very best bespoke opportunities, events and workshops – with

Matt Nestor BLS President 2016/17

LETTER FROM The Editors

Hello people of the Bracton Law Society, and welcome to your first issue of Obiter Dicta!

We are delighted to be editing Obiter Dicta for the coming year. You can look forward to all sorts from the magazine, including academic articles, news from the society and information from the committee. As you struggle up Forum Hill – or for some poor, unfortunate souls, Cardiac Hill – whilst getting to lectures, we hope you can read Obiter Dicta and feel intellectually stimulated and challenged, just as much as you will be physically challenged.

Allow us to quickly thank the new committee for being brilliant and supportive in providing material and helping to pull this issue together. Also, a big thanks to everyone who has written an article for us. And as ever, thank you to our president Matt Nestor for his continuing support.

Best of luck for the coming year and make sure you keep an eye on what the society is doing! We are busy souls and pride ourselves in bringing you the very best events and opportunities. Enjoy reading!

Hannah Bristow & Satchit Srikanth

3 President’s Welcome 4 Letter from the Editors 6 Meet the Committee 12 Careers 14 Introducing...

20 Articles 26 Wine & Dine in Exeter

COMMITTEE I’m Matt – your new BLS President! After being elected as one of your Pro Bono Officers last year, I’m now incredibly proud to be responsible for leading and managing the day-to-day operations of Bracton Law Society.

Matthew Nestor President

Being at the helm of Bracton Law Society includes implementing strategy, overseeing all events, leading the committee and representing BLS to external contacts such as our commercial sponsors. BLS has an exciting, opportunity, packed year ahead. My advice: get involved!

I’m Izzi and I am thrilled to be your Vice–President for this academic year. Having been a member since first year, and elected as last year’s General Secretary, I am confident that joining BLS will be one of the best decisions you make at university.

This year, we’re striving to make BLS bigger and better: an expansion of the Careers Dinner is just one of the ways I intend to assist in this. Here’s to another fantastic year; I look forward to meeting you all!

Izzi Pill-Williams Vice-President

I’m Rebecca and I’ll be your General Secretary for the next year. I am an English Literature student, hoping to pursue a career in commercial law. Aside from my studies I work part-time at the Students’ Guild shop and am Campus Ambassador for Ashurst.

Rebecca Fenton General Secretary

As General Secretary it’s my job to look after the organisational and admin side of the society, as well as all of the Bracton Law sports teams. We have mixed touch rugby, mixed netball and boy’s football teams, so I do encourage you to get involved!

2016/17 Jason Elward Treasurer

I'm Jason Elward and I have been elected to the position of Bracton Law Society Treasurer for an unprecedented second time. I am passionate about what we do as a society and my job is to ensure that funds are appropriately managed to facilitate all of the opportunities we offer. I have partaken in various mooting, pro bono and sporting events as part of the BLS over the last two years and I am excited about the events we have planned for the upcoming year, some of which are sure to be highlights of your university experience.

We are Hannah and Satchit and we are your Obiter Dicta editors for this academic year. As Obiter Dicta editors, our role is to design, edit and publish Bracton Law Society’s official magazine. The magazine gives members information on events, topical issues, academic submissions from members, as well as offering articles to expand your commercial awareness. Further, it offers tips and tricks for members to make the most of their BLS membership. We hope you will make the most of the opportunities available!

Hannah Bristow & Satchit Srikanth Obiter Dicta Editors

Natalie Cheng & Saad Soomro Social Secretaries

We are Natalie and Saad, and we are your Social Secretaries for 2016-2017. We are both third year law students, and have highly appreciated the fantastic opportunities the Bracton Law Society has given us. That said, the socials were always the highlight for us! The events you can look forward to are: Winter Law Ball, Halloween Party, Spring Ball and last but not least the End of Year Gala. In addition, we also have informal socials. All these events are not to be missed!

We look forward to meeting you all very soon!

Arsalan Motavli & Sophie McAuley

As Publicity Officers we are responsible for your weekly newsletter which will keep you up to date with BLS news and events from socials to presentations and everything in between. We have a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where you can keep up to date on BLS news, along with posts from law firms, information regarding careers opportunities, and photos from socials.

We're both very approachable and very friendly, so don't think twice about asking us any questions. We look forward to meeting everyone soon!

Publicity Officers

I‘m Joel and I will be your BLS Academic Officer. I am currently in my second year of the LLB Law degree. My role will make me responsible for all of the academic and careers focused events and workshops that BLS has to offer. I also have to liaise with and integrate our society’s diverse international and non-law membership base.

At Exeter, I have been involved with almost everything BLS has to offer including mooting, pro bono and the society’s touch rugby team. My advice would be to take advantage of the many opportunities BLS offer.

Joel Wish Academic Officer

My name is Zaina and I'll be your Bar Group Chair! I'm in the final year of the graduate LLB Law program. I'm responsible for organizing events related to the Bar of England and Wales.

Zaina Mahmoud Bar Group Chair

This year, I plan on having special guests, a workshop series on getting to the Bar, visits to different courts, and a debating competition. My main focus is diversity at the Bar, and I hope to encourage a wide range of students to participate.

Amy Carter & Ellie-Mae Toole Mooting Officers

We are Amy and Ellie-Mae, and we are your Mooting Officers this year! We are both second year law students – Ellie-Mae studying straight law and Amy studying law with European study, taking a module in Spanish. In our first year we both took advantage of many different mooting opportunities such as Devon Chambers (Amy receiving first place and Ellie-Mae third), a national competition in Ireland and a varsity with Bristol. We are excited to develop the mooting programme and encourage you to get involved in the many opportunities that we’ll offer. Make sure you like BLS Mooting on Facebook in order to stay in touch – we look forward to meeting you all soon!

We are Sarah and Alessandro and are looking forward to being your Pro Bono Officers for the coming year. We are in charge of the six projects the society runs, from organising talks with some of the largest law firms in the world with Pro Bono in Practice to bringing members into HM Prison Exeter with Prison Project. Members will also be able to help give presentations to local secondary school students as well as conduct research and organise events for the Personal Support Unit. Coming from America and Italy respectively, we hope you enjoy your first year at Exeter and hope to work with you in the coming year!

Sarah Edwardson & Alessandro Fanin Pro Bono Officers

922

MEMBERS

INTERNATIONAL

TRIP

6 PRO BONO

PROJECTS

3 FORMAL

BALLS

15

MOOTS

3

PUBLICATIONS

CAREER Opportunities

B

racton Law Society is here to support you in achieving the career that you want. Throughout the year we provide many exclusive, member-only opportunities that will expand your knowledge and skills. Networking with leading law firms and alternative employers aims to enhance your employability in your chosen career.

Commercial Awareness Forum Members will be able to attend the Commercial Awareness Forum in order to critically discuss ‘big-ticket’ commercial issues. As a new series of events for 2016 2017, the BLS Commercial Awareness Forum will convene three times per academic year. An invite will be sent to all members. Each Forum will feature multiple speakers, including at least one lawyer. Students will begin learning how to analyse relevant commercial issues by listening to and discussing with representatives from the sponsoring firm – similar to how a lawyer would do so in practice. Collaboration will be key. More information on how to sign up will follow after freshers’ week – stay posted!

Careers Dinner Introduced as a new event last year, the Careers Dinner provides you with a platform to network with law firms of interest to you personally. The evening will provide members with the opportunity to sit with three law firms during the night: one firm for starter, a second for the main course, and a third for dessert and coffee. We have even more leading City law firms attending this year. Hence, this event has been dubbed the “networking event of the year” – make sure you secure your place well in advance!

Alternative Careers Not certain that commercial law is for you? This year we’re partnering with a handful of banks and professional services firms to present you with alternative options. Look out for these opportunities in our newsletter throughout the year.

Workshops Engaging with law firms early-on is vital to secure that dream training contact or vacation scheme. That’s why we’ve decided to bring you even more bespoke, BLS-only, on-campus events this year. From competitions and mock interviews, to commercial awareness sessions and corporate team challenges – we have a whole host of events run by our Academic Officer that will equip you with the relevant skills to succeed in commercial law. The networking opportunities aren’t too bad, either.

Open Days Commercial law is, unsurprisingly, highly competitive. That’s why relevant legal work experience matters – to make you stand out from the (very large) crowd, and let employers know that you’re clued in to the industry. But we realise this experience can be hard to obtain. To combat this, we have arranged an itinerary of bespoke, BLSonly open days for our members. Again, keep a close eye on our weekly newsletter for more information on how to apply.

SOCIALS Introduction S

ocials are an important part of BLS. WINTER LAW BALL They are used for networking, The reputation of the Winter Law Ball speaks for dancing and celebrating members’ itself with each year our members queuing achievements throughout the year. earlier and earlier in the hope of securing an Formal socials give members the opportunity to exclusive ticket. This year, it’s set to be the have an outstanding evening of food, wine, biggest and best Ball yet – with 300 tickets entertainment and fun in amazing venues! available and an exciting new venue. This event Informal socials are great evenings in a less is a great way to celebrate the end of the first formal setting. All of these events are not to be term and to wine, dine and dance the night missed and are undoubtedly the best on away. Scheduled for just before the Christmas campus. break, this is the sure way to get you in a festive mood!

BOAT PARTY One of the first events of the social calendar is the Boat Party. This is a great way to meet other members whilst enjoying the coastal views. The themed party always has a great vibe, great entertainment with great company and it comes highly recommended!

SPRING BALL Placed during the middle of second term, the Spring Ball comes at the perfect time to allow you to let your hair down for a night of entertainment. Last year, there was a giant dance floor, local food vendors and an amazing atmosphere – and it’s set to be even better this year.

HALLOWEEN BALL After the success of the Halloween informal END OF YEAR GALA social last year, the social secretaries are creating this new themed party to add a great This is the main night of celebration in our night to an already extensive list of events. event’s calendar. Members receive awards for their achievements throughout the year, such as Top Fundraiser and Best Article in Obiter Dicta, as well as the announcement of the new INFORMAL SOCIALS committee. The night involves performances These events happen at ad-hoc intervals from on-campus music groups, such as Semithroughout the year. They are great socialising Toned, and is a great way to finish an amazing evenings and a chance to meet new people year of events.

Social Secretaries emails: across the society including the committee. ncc208@exeter.ac.uk srs216@exeter.ac.uk

MOOTING Introduction

Mooting can appear an intimidating prospect but this stereotype does not reflect the fun, rewarding and exciting opportunity which it is!

What is mooting?

Mooting is a mock trial in which participants are given a case surrounding a legal issue. Whilst either representing the appellants or respondents, participants must make oral submissions in front of a judge to resolve the issue.

Participants are judged on areas such legal knowledge, judicial intervention and etiquette.

Why get involved?

Undoubtedly mooting is impressive to any employer as it shows public speaking skills, the ability to think on your feet and competence in legal research. It can also help you with your studies at university as it gives you a chance to put into practice some of the legal principles which you learn in lectures. But, most importantly mooting is a fun experience which allows you to meet many new people throughout the society and enhance your confidence. Don’t be put off if you have not mooted before – Devon Chambers is the perfect opportunity for you to see what it’s all about! For many years, novice mooters have reached the finals.

Top tips Attend our mooting workshops before competing in order to ask questions and understand proceedings better; Practice presenting your submissions with friends before a competition to increase confidence;

Use Westlaw and LexisNexis when conducting legal research to access the most useful and current cases; Plan ahead when preparing a case and think about potential areas which you could be questioned on.

Mooting Email:: blsmooting@gmail.com

PRO BONO Introduction What is Pro Bono?

Pro bono, short for pro bono publico, is a latin maxim which translates to "for the public good."

This is professional work undertaken voluntarily and free of charge with the aim of providing services to those who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

illustrate how they carry out their pro bono work.

School Project requires members to give presentations to local school students about different topics such as human rights and internet safety.

Personal Support Unit is a new initiative this Bracton Law Society offers a range of different academic year where members will take on the pro bono initiatives for our members aimed at role of researchers and event organisers for the giving back to the community and helping PSU charity. individuals understand their legal rights. In addition, the society works with the Together, the two Pro Bono Officers are international charity, Lawyers Without Borders, responsible for organising and co-coordinating to raise awareness of different issues affecting projects run by the society. communities across the globe.

Our Projects

We highly Prison Project involves giving presentations to involved. small groups of inmates in order to inform them of their rights regarding disclosure upon the completion of their sentence.

Pro Bono in Practice sees law firms come to Exeter to host talks and receptions in order to

recommend

members to get

Pro Bono email: blsprobono@gmail.com

SPORTS Introduction Society sport is a fantastic opportunity to keep fit and get away from all the academic pressures that come with starting University.

Getting involved in BLS sport is a fun and enjoyable way to meet new people across different years by either continuing with a sport you love or learning a new one. Playing for the BLS will mean representing one of the most prestigious and exciting societies at Exeter.

Everyone is welcome to get involved with all BLS sports, in football, netball and touch rugby, and although matches are played, there is also a social aspect. This year, our teams are hoping to raise their standard further than before and retain their wins against Bristol in the BLS v UBLC Varsity which is taking place in Bristol this year. Varsity provides great memories for all involved whether playing or spectating. We really encourage you to get involved and to go to training!

Men’s Football

Mixed Touch Rugby

Mixed Netball

Captain: Matthew Bell mjb269@exeter.ac.uk

Captain: John Ebenezer je324@exeter.ac.uk

Captain: Abi Thrasher art211@exeter.ac.uk

Captain: William Davis wd232@exeter.ac.uk

Captain: James Russ jr471@exeter.ac.uk

Vice Captain: Laura Kendall lck204@exeter.ac.uk

BAR CHAIR Introduction

The Bar is the legal profession of advocates Additionally, there will be different court and advisers. It is a highly competitive visits to witness the law in application. The place and getting there can be tricky.

Supreme Court, the Crown Court, as well as With different deadlines and applications, various other courthouses will be visited to securing a mini-pupillage, applying for the allow a wide range of exposure to the BPTC (Bar Professional Training Course) different Bars. and eventually securing a pupillage can be Finally, the debate competition allows for difficult to manage. an enhanced level of public speaking. The The workshop series will be designed with debates will revolve around a legal theme success in mind, with help from many but participants will be encouraged to think outside the box. Many of the topics will different professionals in the field. Talks given by different barristers will relate to the material studied in class as well demonstrate the various ways of getting to as relevant commercial and constitutional the Bar, emphasising their diverse topics. backgrounds. Special guests will come in to All in all, this year is going to be incredible! discuss the advantages of having a diverse For any questions about the Bar or about court system and how to get success. this year, don't hesitate to contact me!

Bar Group Chair email:

zm243@exeter.ac.uk

ACADEMIC Officer

This year is the second year that there has been an Academic Officer position on the BLS committee. The role is focused on both integrating our large and diverse membership as well as organising events with a focus on academics and a career in law. We will be taking serious steps this year to branch out to the international and non-law members of our society and we strongly encourage them to feel equally involved in our student community.

The duties of this role requires liaison and collaboration with other faculties and alternative employers, holding workshops and careers events with law firms, and hosting speakers and other guests for the

society. By allowing the BLS to branch out, we can provide a wide range of events that will cater to a spectrum of academic and legal interests.

Our society is extremely careersfocused. BLS is able to cater for the wide legal career aspirations of its members from being a solicitor to pursuing a range of alternative legal careers. Whichever path is taken, BLS is proud to offer guidance and workshops to improve commercial awareness, confidence in application writing and other key skills to support each and every member.

Any questions, please get in contact.

Academic Officer email:

jfmw201@exeter.ac.uk

EQUALITY

The unattainable dream?

E

quality, as defined by the Oxford dictionary is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities. By looking at a comparison of the different types of equality, for example the contrasting concepts of equality of opportunity and equality of outcome leads to an evaluation of arguments for and against of political, economic, and ontological equality.

Equality is a core element of western societal values as well as many religions. Therefore, the three basic functions of equality are an absence of special privileges in society, presence of adequate and equal opportunities for development for all and an equal satisfaction of basic needs of all.

Equality of opportunity is a political ideal opposed to caste hierarchy fixed at birth, gravitating towards a competitive meritocratic society on equal terms. Formal equality of opportunity is a non-discriminate view, that access to opportunities should be equal, however all applications should be accepted and fairly judged on merits. In contrast

Substantive Equality of Opportunity or ‘equality of fair opportunity’ criticises proportional equality as creating indirect discrimination regarding socio-economic status. Affirmative action is necessary to rectify adversities suffered by some within society with regards to substantive equality of opportunity. The scope of Equality of Opportunity is that all individuals are equally encouraged, developed and rewarded.

In contrast, Equality of Outcome is radically different to equality of opportunity, which conflicts with the concept of liberty and dynamism. A goal of radical socialism, equality of outcome ensures that all individuals have the same amount at the end or an equal result for example material inequality. There is an egalitarian moral element similar to all forms of equality, however equality of outcome is flawed in theory as it encourages fallacious essentialism, so therefore positively harmful to society. Importantly, individualism and meritocratic structure of society is destroyed.

The levelling down objection to equality of The co-existence of economic and political outcome, is that equality brings all people down equality is difficult, as economic equality would to the lowers level, stunting utility. mean the re-distribution of wealth, which would violate individual’s political equality, individualism and liberal state within society.

There is an inevitable and fundamental conflict Furthermore, one individual’s human rights between equality of outcome and equality of would theoretically be equal within political opportunity that affects the concept of liberty. equality, however in reality this is impossible in Both involve intervention that may compromise practice. Rights co-inside, violating individual individualism and liberty. However, the two must rights, for example such as the right to freedom work together to achieve a better society. of speech can infringe on another’s right to live in peace. There are regulations being put in place to ensure that there no discrimination. The Political equality is equal individual rights and liberal government in Australia is currently liberty between all citizens under the law passing the Racial Discrimination Law, which regardless of their financial or social position would ban offensive satirical cartoons that may within society. An example of this is the universal offend anyone based on race or ethnicity, in turn right to vote. Which according to Rawls’ political creating political equality for all, regardless of conceptions of justice will include rights such as their individual characteristics. This would be free expression, liberty of conscience and a necessary in the UK and Europe if individual political conception will give special priority to rights to exist without discrimination are to be. these rights and liberties. Power inequality causes political inequality within all levels of the political process, which can create uneven To conclude, many concepts of equality have governance of resource distribution, impacting been dichotomised creating conflicting ideals. individuals. Therefore, democratic equality is Equality of outcome, equality of opportunity, required, even for the process of selection of political, and economic equality are undesirably political leaders. The ideal substantive equality juxtaposed. However, if equality and fairness are requires fair opportunity within the political to be achieved, then no doubt affirmative action spectrum at every level. to achieve a balance of individual rights and Economic Equality is the non-discriminate concept that all individuals are equally wealthy as they have the same opportunities and possibly outcome. Therefore, the three economic metrics of inequality occurs in the form of wealth, income and consumption. A Marxist perspective would argue for economic equality as a fundamentally necessary element required in order to achieve a fair and just society. In contrast, Anthony Giddens under a Labour government, argued it is possible for a democracy to exist with economic liberalism of the free market whilst ensuring social justice. In practice, modern day 1% of the world’s population, holds over 50% of the world’s wealth.

reduction of adverse circumstances that might hold individuals back in social-economic stance. Equality is possible within its many forms, however the three basic functions of equality must be obtained; the absence of special privileges in society, presence of adequate and equal opportunities for development for all and an equal satisfaction of basic needs of all.

Rachael Doyle Second Year LLB

CHRISTINA WALTON Behind the Books

O

n a sunny day in June, OD were lucky enough to spend an afternoon in conversation with Christina Walton to delve beneath academia and find out what makes our favourite lecturer really tick and why she decided to become an academic.

This was an interesting life moment as I imagined, with a first, that I would just fly in. I thought I was overqualified if anything, so that kind of put me off and made me re-evaluate. I still wanted to teach but my enthusiasm had been dampened.

So I decided to apply for a masters, which is what people do when they decide to put off time! I bought myself another year and secured a masters in Philosophy at KCL. But I realised I didn’t like What did you do immediately after philosophy; it was a bit too abstract for me university? whereas law held the right balance having enough that was concrete but with the ability to reflect on C: I had a clear idea that I wanted to teach, even at the law and be creative and normative with it. university, so I didn’t apply for (law firms). I did a vacation scheme at Hogan Lovells but declined So, how did you get into practice? their offer of a training contract interview. I was pretty clear that I didn’t want to be a lawyer and very clear that I wanted to teach.

C: During the philosophy course, heard about the I also knew I wanted to do a gap year so I went to LPC and it was recommended that I apply to New Zealand and taught history at a secondary Slaughter and May. My interview was interesting, school. Quite random, I know! I also spent some it quickly became clear that I had no commercial time in London, going to schools and seeing what awareness but they called my referee and he said it would be like to teach at them. In the meantime, it was fine so they took me on.

I applied for a PGCE in Oxford, which I didn’t get.

bit different and keen to give people opportunities. Immediately I accepted and, once approved by the board, I deferred the LPC for C: The first research task on my training contract teaching at Oxford for a year which I absolutely was in trusts law, which I thought was an absolute loved. banker because I had taught trusts. So I got really I had imagined that to be an academic, you had to into it and I handed in my research note and my be incredibly clever – most probably from supervisor said firstly, it was too legal and knowing Simon who is very intelligent. But it secondly that I had taken too long. It became turned out that that wasn’t necessarily the case. evident to me that the law was almost irrelevant to But through an insecurity that I think we all have, I a certain extent; it was very much a commercial didn’t think that I would be able to become an job and I don’t have a very commercial mind so I academic although I still wanted to be in the wasn’t particularly well suited to the job. I also realm of teaching. I was ready to stick out the had to account for all of my time which I found training contract for the full two years but found extremely tiresome. out that Christ College Cambridge were looking I found it hard that, as a trainee, I was a cog in a for someone to teach Land and Trusts. I realised very large machine and I was working on one part that I would have to leave the training contract to of a transaction without really having an idea of do this instead. what was going on around you. I never really had the big picture and I found this quite frustrating.

The nature of the work, to my mind, was quite What are the pros/cons of being an pedestrian and not very creative. I once tried to academic? change one word in a standard form document, that didn’t go down well! It’s worth saying that I was in two finance departments, so if I hadn’t C: I think one of the pros is control over your time, worked in those departments it could have been which is really important for me. Obviously we very different. I had seats coming up in pensions have activities timetabled, lectures and and tax that could have been more stimulating, workshops are mandatory, but there are only 6 but I definitely knew that I wanted to quit; it was hours of those a week approximately, and the rest just a matter of when. That’s a very powerful of the time is preparing for teaching, researching position to be in when everyone is worrying about and doing admin. I work weekends, but I don’t their job and whether they’ll be kept on at the end mind because the quid pro quo is that I have more of two years. So I didn’t work particularly hard, time off in the week or I can work from home all but I had a great time and made a lot of great day in my pyjamas. My friends in the city working for large law firms have no flexibility and are friends. I would do it all again! completely unreliable when it comes to meeting up. For me, life is quite predictable and I can be wherever I want, when I want which is nice.

How did you become an academic?

Why did you decide to leave practice?

C: I had emailed my tutor in Oxford, Simon Gardner, asking him to be my referee for the LPC but his reply was, “Sure, do you want to cover my teaching at Oxford for a year?”. This was the pivotal point I guess. He was taking a sabbatical to write a new edition of his Land Law textbook.

Most people would ask a friend in the neighbouring college, but Simon’s always been a

Another pro is that being an academic is a very rewarding job. The rewards come in two spheres, in research, being published and being recognised in your area of law. I’m not saying that I’m recognised by any means, I have a long way to go, I’m still quite junior! The other type of reward is, of course, working with students. Our role is quite diverse in that way.

Continued

Do you have any tips for students on It’s great when a student comes with a problem research, perhaps for people considering a and I can help them to understand; the teacher in dissertation? me enjoys that a lot. Learning and building up an expertise in an area is great too! I look back on My top tips would be: the land law and trusts that I learnt when I was a Keep open minded – it is likely that your student and I think, “I knew nothing!” Obviously it  ideas will change, and that is okay; was fine at the time, but every year I’m learning more and it comes together like a jigsaw and I  Choose your supervisor rather than your have a more complete view of how everything topic to ensure you get the right support; links together. Also of course, a great group of If you can approach someone to discuss your colleagues who really pull the department  topic that is great – this will further your together is a big pro in this job. understanding and may bring up ideas which There are cons too. What people think is the con of you previously hadn’t thought of; this job is that we are undertaking two very Have conversations early with potential different roles; we are researching and teaching.  supervisors to allow for maximum To be good at one does not mean that you are researching and writing time; good at the other; they require very different skills. To be able to break down material and  A dissertation is a good thing to do – it convey it to students in a way that is easily develops your writing skills in many different comprehensible is very different to writing a ways and give you expertise in a different sophisticated piece of research for a journal. Some area. people are brilliant at one or the other; it is very difficult to be brilliant at both because we only have a certain amount of time per year. I personally focus more on my teaching and as a result my research suffers. There’s a lot of pressure for research to be of a high standard as it is externally assessed regularly. There is also a lot of pressure for teaching to be better, students have become like consumers and as teaching fees rise, they rightly expect a lot more from lecturers..

What does the future hold for you?

C: My aim is to get a doctorate by publication, it is a kind of PhD that you get by writing a series of articles that centre on a theme; mine would be politics and charity law. Then you can top and tail the articles with an introduction and conclusion and then submit it as a doctorate. This is a longterm goal, but it will open me up to funding opportunities, which is another part of the job, attracting funding from external bodies. I’ll certainly be better placed to do that once I have the doctorate.

Christina Walton Lecturer in Law

WINE & DINE In Exeter

Old Firehouse

Samuel Jones

The Old Firehouse is an extremely worthwhile trip. The infamous pizzas are truly unique and great value for money. It is extremely popular with students and offers a great atmosphere to wine and dine. Head down there every Sunday for some great live music.

Located on the Quay, this restaurant offers fine cuisine, and a large selection of wines. It offers class and great views down the Quay especially on summer evenings.

Monkey Suit Monkey Suit is a great place to have a few cocktails before an evening out or for a Although new to Exeter this year, Turtle Bay’s sophisticated night in. There is a wide variety reputation for great food and amazing cocktails of drinks so there is truly something for proceeds it. 2-4-1 cocktail deals along with everyone.

Caribbean cuisine means that this is sure to be a hit with students.

Turtle Bay

Starz Bar & Grill This American diner is known for the size of its plates and the value for money. You are ‘A Bar’ as it is frequently referred to sells great unlikely to ever leave Starz hungry and, along wines and coffee all through the day. Need we with great food, they have a great selection of say more? cocktails to complement their menu.

Artigiano Coffee & Wine Bar

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