DICTAeducation
Which aspect of the legal profession do you think requires defence
against public misconception?
One effect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) will be to restrict recovery of fees and
costs available to human rights plaintiffs as of April 1, 2013. The one
UK firm involved in this type of action is Leigh Day. Their funding
model is based on the ability to recover from defendants’ full legal
costs, success fees, and litigation insurance premiums (which protected plaintiffs against the risk of covering a victorious defendant’s
costs). LASPO has generally eliminated the recovery of success fees
and insurance premiums while limiting cost recovery to “proportionate” costs. In addition the Rome II Regulation means that damages,
for injuries incurred after 11 January 2009, must be calculated under
the law of the nation were the injury occurred. These will generally be
lower than those awarded under English law, as the lex fori.
In ‘Learning the Law,’ Glanville Williams argued, “Law is the cement
of society and also an essential medium of change. Knowledge of law
increases one’s understanding of public affairs. Its study promotes
accuracy of expression, facility in argument, and skill in interpreting
the written word, as well as some understanding of social values.” Is
this an accurate reflection of the study of law?
I entirely agree with what Glanville Williams has written. I am a
great fan of ‘Learning the Law’ and would recommend it to anyone
about to embark on the study of law.
How has the structure and substance of UK legal education changed
since your days at Brasenose College, Oxford?
I think what has changed is that there is a huge array of optional
units on offer. Also, when I went up in ‘73 the UK had only just joined
the Common Market, as it then was. EU Law is very prominent now
but hardly featured then. I believe the Oxford system of tutorials is
still intact. There were two in a group and we took turns to read our
essays which then formed the basis for discussion. The non-reading
person would hand in their essay to be marked and returned at the
next tutorial. One notable feature of my BNC education is that it was
all-male. BNC went coeducational in my second year - too late for me
to feel the benefit.
What are your current research projects?
Completing a book, ‘Human Rights and Corporate Wrongs.
Closing the Governance Gap.’ This will be completed over the next
year when I shall be on research leave.
As the M.A. Law Director, what is your vision for the future of the
programme?
To continue to provide a stimulating academic postgraduate law
programme which enables students to get jobs in the practice of law
in the UK. At the end of this academic year I shall be handing over
the baton to A.N. Other whom I am sure will carry on the good work.
What do you find most endearing about your time at Bristol University?
The number of students who refer to me as ‘Professor.’ A case of
‘equity regards as done that which ought to be done,’ I think.
DICTA
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