Assembly Speaker - 29 April
Kate Grange KC and Charlie Cory-Wright KC
This week’s assembly was led by barristers Kate Grange and Charlie Corey-Wright. They discussed their journey through their careers: the advantages, choices and complexities of being barristers.
Kate attended a state school in Nottingham before attending Cambridge and heading straight into law. While there, she enjoyed activities from swimming to rowing, yet she felt like a fish out of water, and she developed a sense of imposter syndrome as if she didn't really belong there.
However, over time, she realised that the feeling of inferiority fades and many of the people who seemed smart were in reality not so. Charlie elaborated later that an essential part of being a good lawyer is confidence beyond what one's impression of what a ‘good lawyer’ may be. He said that most barristers feel, to some extent, out of their depth, and the most important thing is the pursuit of personal improvement, rather than attempting to emulate the idea of a successful brash barrister, or in Kate’s case, her peers at Cambridge.
Kate relayed that she continued with the bar exam, and then doing a pupillage; that is when recently graduated lawyers get to experience life in the chambers. She highlighted an impactful case, while in the pupilage, of a boxer with a brain injury who was suing the boxing association for poor first aid in immediate response to his injury. The personal experience with this boxer and his family was very touching. Charlie added later that these connections with people are a meaningful part of being a barrister. Kate would continue, that no two days are the same; one day she is working with a boxer and his family and the next she is dealing with badger culling. As part of the 'taxi rank' policy (which means that barristers have to take on any case, regardless of their personal views) Kate was tasked by the government to advocate in favour of badger culling to prevent the spread of Bovine TB. Despite reservations about this on a personal level, she was able to prove that the culling was legal. This was a really interesting example of personal ethics colliding with the job in hand.
Following on from this, Kate led an inquiry into the tragic Grenfell tower. It is clear that the job of a barrister allows growth and change, because they are constantly applying themselves differently.
Charlie’s path into law wasn’t straightforward. He began studying English at Oxford, providing the analytical insight he needed to pursue law before being recommended to the profession by a friend. Some striking examples of a case he worked on is defending terrorists. He described the complex process of sharing evidence with the defendant. Meanwhile, Kate has worked on another occasion, on the other side of things, by working with MI6 and investigating how they accumulate data. What's captivating about their careers is how vast their field can go, and yet how intricate the motions of law are as well as how to successfully apply them.
They also covered the ethics of such cases; how does one defend the culling of badgers or terrorists for that matter, if they don't agree with it. However, they both agreed that the foundational principle of law is that everyone has the right to receive defence regardless of the crime or how odious they are.
Their final message was that, ultimately, the field of law is a very interesting and complex one. The main takeaway is that law is an accumulation of many skills, particularly being able to learn and apply knowledge from many areas, and whichever path someone takes, they must remember to be self-assured.
Maya
Sixth Form Head Girl
