Lady Britannia

Just a follow-on thought.

What in other posters' opinions constitutes being seen as an intellectual heavyweight - i.e. is it ability to ask questions, pick holes in an argument, facility in stating one's case, etc?

Unfortunately I have seen too often someone with some really valid points being demolished by their more skilled opponents.

Ian C

Members of the Bar,
They carry more weight in legal circles (for obvious reasons) regardless of argument.


Having said that I don't regard Barristers as intellectually heavyweight - they are just doing a job.

Aardvark

It's a job you can't do though isn't it?

The Bar qualification is a post-graduate degree. Last time I checked it required an entry requirement of a 2.1 or better. It used to require any honours degree, but I took the Bar Finals in the year that pretty well everyone with a third in their first degree failed and the limit was raised to 2.2. I scraped a third at the Bar and drank my way to a 2.2 in my first degree (back in the days when a 2.2 was acceptable in a world with a lot less graduates). I couldn't get pupillage, the practical training, in a competitive world (1000+ took the exam, 750 or so passed it and there were only 150 pupillages in England and Wales, including those taken by overseas students). The Barristers in my year who went on to practice were incredibly clever people, often with 2 other degrees, and some of them I would consider amongst the finest minds I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with (who does a post-graduate degree in their third or fourth language?).

It is not always obvious, when watching sausage machine justice, that there has been a lot of careful thought and preparation. The best prepared cases are the ones where very little is said or done as everyone has ensured they've followed all of the procedures and has limited their questions to getting only the relevant information. That requires a lot of knowledge and an incisive mind. Often **** ups revolve around clients and witnesses surprising their own counsel with sudden changes in their stories and it is not the fault of the lawyers who have been misled.

If anyone thinks becoming a Barrister is easy just pop out and get the qualification.

__________________
When in Woking do as the Wokes do.

"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008

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