DICTAeducation
In the US there is a lot more emphasis on clinical skills based training
with courses such as Lawyering and clinical courses where students work
on actual court cases. This is catching on here and it is a good development as it gives students valuable insight into how law actually works.
Entry to the legal profession itself is more apprenticeship-based here
in the UK, whereas it is law school and Bar exam-based in the US. This
means we are preparing students to make further choices about their lives
here whereas in the US they are usually on a set career trajectory already
(although many do change careers later).
have an appreciation for the inventiveness of human ideas and the human
spirit in different places. I myself love learning about history, fiction, music and other cultural forms which can feed into my imagination of what
I may know about the law in different countries
Is there a particular book, film, documentary, or news source that you
would recommend to law students?
There are so many. It is a constant discovery. I would distract students from their core studies if I gave you my full list! Classics for enjoyIs it possible to identify a pattern of correlation between
ing British Public Law are of course ‘Yes, Minister’ and
the nature of state action, reaction by the legal profes“As law students ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ (both on television and on stage).
sion, and resultant outcomes of rights agitation by lawThe Danish TV serial ‘Borgen’ is excellent for underand lawyers (or
yers?
standing how politics (particularly coalition politics)
academics) we need works. It even had an episode on extraordinary rendiIt is very difficult to generalize this, but we can say to ‘do’ law and ‘talk’ tion and Guantanamo Bay!
that lawyers are more likely to engage for core rule of
I tend to hear a lot of legal and political programmes
law in everyday
law issues such as access to justice (court and counsel)
on radio. I grew up reading Rumpole of the Old Bailey
rather than any expansive rights (such as socio-economic
by John Mortimer and still follow all the episodes that
activities and
rights). If state action erodes these we see rights agitacome up on Radio 4. Rumpole is my ideal barrister.
situations.”
tion by lawyers in liberal democracies. I find that this is
Do not rely on any one news source. You never
more likely now than say two decades back in both the
know what gets edited out. Some media sources are not
US and the UK and have examined why this is so in my PhD thesis.
very reliable. Also, try to read websites from different countries. I hear
Radio France (RFI) and I read the Toronto Star (online) just to get difHow would you advise law students to develop a sharper sense of so- ferent perspectives on US and European politics. If you visit any part of
cio-political awareness in their studies?
the world or have a close friend from a different country, do sign up for a
weekly newsletter from that place as that will keep that region alive for you
Reading newspapers (not just one but a variety of newspapers and and widen your world. After all, politics is not about dabbling around in
preferably in print) and following the political news closely develops a various ‘isms’ -- like law, it is about life i