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Going Back to Basics
With a reading list as long as your arm, pro bono events booked in seemingly up until the end of your degree and enough work experience applications on the go to rival the amount UCAS receives; it is easy to forget what made each of us fall in love with the law to begin with.
Last week I had an extremely rare day off due to one of my seminars being cancelled. I decided to do something different for a change and popped down to Norwich Crown Court for an hour or two. I asked the Court Office what trials were being held and it emerged that all the trials were rape cases. I decided to sit in Court Room 1, and despite not knowing anything about the case, I managed to walk in at the perfect time as the prosecution and defence were just about to begin their closing remarks.
The case at hand was rather a horrific one; the three defendants were charged with sex trafficking, rape, indecent assault and supplying drugs to a thirteen year old girl. It was quite heavy for a Friday morning, but interesting regardless. Watching and listening to the prosecution barrister was more exciting than any television show or film could ever be – the language, both spoken and physical, used to convince the jury of the defendants’ guilt was incredible, emotive and powerful. As I sat in the public gallery I began to think about the power of the jury in the proceedings; the fate of their fellow citizen, sitting just feet away from them, was in their hands.
Leaving the court, my determination and enthusiasm to become an advocate in an English court of law had grown once again. It had inevitably wavered during the long days and stressful nights that occur mid-semester – something that a lot of law students seem to suffer from. I highly recommend that take the time to visit, regardless of whether or not you want to be a lawyer, to see first-hand the work of our advocates and our courts. Visit if you love the law, visit if your only idea of a court is reading a Lord Denning judgement and definitely visit if you are suffering from mid-semester blues – you’ll jump back into seminar preparation and revision like never before.
The Forgotten Pro-Bono Experience
In addition to the wonderful work done with the Norfolk Community Law Service, the thriving Innocence Project and the ever popular Street Law scheme; there is another organisation offering pro-bono opportunities which sometimes seems forgotten by students … the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.
Despite the widely held belief that the Bureau is government run, it is actually a charity and 21,500 of the 28,500 people that work for the service are volunteers, including myself. I have volunteered for Norfolk Citizens Advice Bureau for four months in the role of Gateway Assessor. I interview clients to talk through their issues and I am then able to explain the options available to them. It may be as simple as them needing some assisted information in the form of a website address, leaflet or telephone number. However, where a client needs further help they may be booked in for a general or specialist appointment with a trained advisor or directed to another charity or organisation.
The issues I have encountered since starting at the Bureau are wide-ranging and never fail to interest or surprise me. From a client thinking her rabbit was going to drown due to a burst pipe to a someone who had a matter of days left until he was going to be removed from the country; you never know what you are going to see until you walk into the assessment room and see the client for the first time. In my experience the issues that crop up the most are those surrounding welfare benefits, debt and employment which in today’s economic climate is really not that surprising. If we find an issue is coming back to us again and again we evidence the problem for social policy reasons. It may be that collectively the Bureaux can push for change, as recently happened with the campaign for a ban on expensive telephone numbers for government departments which was dissuading people from contacting agencies.
Volunteering at the Bureau has enabled me to improve a number of skills including team-working, verbal communication, organising, investigating and analysing as well as allowing me to demonstrate my ability to think on my feet and work under pressure! The best part of it all though is seeing a client leave the Bureau a lot happier, with a large weight off their shoulders, knowing that I was able to assist in some way.
Hello! I am one of your diarists!
My name is Bethany Hudson and I am one of your law blog diarists. I am a second year LL.B student here at Norwich Law School. Why law? Studying law is something I have always wanted to do; my school life, A-level years and work experience have all been geared towards this. The law is interesting, challenging and affects the world in a way incomparable to anything else. My main legal passions lie in the chancery subjects but I also have interests in employment law and immigration law.
I volunteer with Norfolk Citizen’s Advice Bureau as a Gateway Assessor and I am also part of the publicity team there; we are currently working on advice articles for publication in the Eastern Daily Press. Whilst at the CAB I provide information to Clients on a wide range of issues including welfare benefits, debt, employment, relationships, consumer and immigration matters.
I am an aspiring barrister and I am currently in the process of applying for mini-pupillages and to Inner Temple. I have secured one mini at a medical negligence/personal injury set and have already completed long periods of work experience in solicitors’ firms, Parliament and the medico-legal office of my local hospital. I will be posting articles about my experiences both in and out of the school with regards to my work experience, volunteering and general life as an LL.B undergraduate!
Introduction
‘There is no place like home’
L. Frank Baum’s fantasy The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
This is a phrase I believe the majority of university students will have thought of at some point during their first year at university, whether on the first day (before you tuck into your first student priced pint) or not until your second semester (with cooking and the ever decreasing student loan taking their toll). After you have got through this period, university life can truly begin (as does the partying). For me, this took me a year and a change of university of 217.1 miles.
Being the first person in my family to take A-Levels, deciding I would apply to go to university to pursue my dream job of become a solicitor was a big and daunting deal. I had no idea which university to go to, only the course I wished to study. One factor I did not even comprehend was the location of it. I thought going to university would be straight forward, so finding a university that had a good social life and was reasonably well respected I set off down South. However I shortly found that being too far from home; I missed family and friends and could not see myself living there happily for the next three years, despite having met an amazing group of people. I could not put my finger on what it was that was stopping me from being completely settled but I knew I had to do something about it. Surprisingly UEA was not one of my original choices. I believed that I would not get into such a highly regarded university and in my eyes, settled for second best. This was my mistake, I doubted myself and my ability. Confidence is something that can be easily knocked, especially starting in a new environment, but recognising my mistake is why I chose to do something about it. We must learn to pick ourselves up and if needs be start again, we can and we must.
In the summer I set out to apply for a university transfer to UEA and it is the best decision I have ever made. Being the new student, where friendship groups are already established, it was a daunting experience but one I was sure I could make work. On my first day people made me feel like they wanted to help me, especially with my attempts to negotiate my way around the Arts building. I realised that although I didn’t initially know anyone, it was all going to be okay.
Changing universities has made me realise that Law is the area that I still want to go into and I have completed work experience in a firm based around Norwich. The most important thing I have realised since starting my second year as a law student is that we must make the effort to do what we can and reach out for any opportunities given to us within university and outside of it. Being now half way through my degree this is something I will be doing in my new university and new city.
UEA Law Blog 