She spoke to the girls about the possible career paths to becoming a lawyer: initially you would need a degree, not necessarily a Law degree; if you did a non-Law degree you simply need to do a year's Post Graduate Diploma in Law. After this you would need to make a decision whether to train to be a solicitor or barrister. To train as a solicitor you need to do a year at Law School to qualify with an LPC followed by 2 years training in a firm. To become a barrister, you would do the BVC exams followed by one year's pupillage in a barristers' chambers. Ms Head also mentioned alternative routes into the profession: as a Chartered Legal Executive or through a new scheme, as a Legal Apprentice. Whichever route you might take, she put us in no doubt of the competition for places in firms and chambers. Becoming qualified is no guarantee of a job!
Ms Head then got us all to 'think as lawyers' by showing us some CCTV footage of a road traffic accident involving a pedestrian and a bus. She got half the audience to argue the case for the defendant (the bus driver) and the other half to come up with a case on behalf of the claimant (the pedestrian hit by the bus). On first looking at the footage most us felt that the pedestrian had acted negligently in the manner in which he had crossed the road and seemed largely responsible for the (serious) injuries he sustained. However, with Ms Head's guidance, the case was shown to be rather more complicated, with the law generally favouring pedestrians over motor vehicles. In the end we learnt that damages has been awarded to the claimant with responsibility being split 40%:60% in favour of the claimant.
What became apparent from Ms Head's talk was that there is no such thing as a 'right answer' in a court of law. Both sides need to argue the case and either a judge or jury will provide a verdict.
For most of the girls present, this was their first introduction to law and the sorts of issues that lawyers have to deal with. Ms Head's lecture provided a perfect picture of the uncertainties and peculiarities surrounding the law, as well as some very useful advice on what you should do if you want to become a lawyer. We are extremely grateful to her for giving up her time to talk to us.