Tag: student

Writing Goals for June

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post today. I hope you have had an enjoyable week and are looking forward to the weekend celebrations. I read a post on social media describing someone’s writing goals on the Medium platform. I have published a few posts there myself, however my site is my main source of writing. Plus, you all get to see it! It would take a while to build up to the same amount of followers on there, so will add to Medium every once in a while.

So my motivation was sparked by that post to add my own writing goals for June. I listed 3 main goals in my notepad. I also listed 3 lesser goals. Here they are:

1) To Complete my Masters Submission for the 10th June.

As part of my law course I have to do a masters too, it is on clinical legal education and involves a critical reflective report. I have managed 2,500 words on it today taking the word count to just over 6,000. I have to write between 8000-9000 words overall. So tomorrow I will edit what I’ve written today. I am planning to have completed it by Sunday or Monday which will give me a few days to review and edit it.

2) Finish Beach Town: Survivors

The new upcoming and horrifying novella which I plan to release in August 2022. A summer release for what I think it quite the gruesome and dramatic story. I’ve managed to crank out 2,500 yesterday or more, and tonight I suspect I will be able to finish the story. There has been a lot of surprises whilst writing, namely that it is just full of bizarre twists and turns and unexpected happenings. You can see a little more about that by going to the post below, where you can also see what I hope is going to be a good cover!

https://psychedelicwizard.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/a-new-story-coming-to-you-this-summer/

3) To Reach 600 Followers on WordPress

I really enjoy connecting with you all here on WordPress and putting out content which is so well received. I would love to hit 600 followers by the end of the month. I don’t have that many to go and have exceeded my expectations massively this year, as I’ve gained so many great new ones and likewise discovered so many new and fascinating blog sites here.

4) To Write More About my Life

As I recently started counselling sessions I hope to be able to keep a more accurate diary of my days and to try and incorporate that onto this site sometimes. I think it will allow me to actually see where things are improving, and where things are still in need of support. Many people do this so why not dedicate more time to it?

Well that is all for now and as usual thank you for reading, if you enjoyed then like, comment, reblog and follow and share all over. Also, check out the Dawn of the Dead (1978) movie review below if you like.

https://psychedelicwizard.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/dawn-of-the-dead-1978-movie-review/

Youth Offenders – Dangerous Children?

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

What would you say to a child who had stolen some money from your purse? What if they apologised and you decided to show remorse? Think about this, what would you do if that same child, exactly a week later, was arrested and charged with causing grievous bodily harm because they smashed a glass bottle over another childs head?

Youth offenders, also called young people, young offenders, are rampant in the United Kingdom. In fact, the UK has the highest rate of youth offenders across Europe. (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/sep/22/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation) Although the article is from 2008, what does it tell us? Charity Barnados stated in that “custodial sentences are ineffective because 78 per cent of 10 to 14 year olds reoffend within 12 months of release”. Quite a significant figure. If you look at what is available to youth offenders, or children, you will see that the criminal justice system or youth court system powers vary widely when dealing with children.

Before going any further, it would aid if you understood exactly what a child is in the eyes of the law. The age of criminal responsibility is from 10 years old. This may bring up mixed emotions when you read it, as surely that is too high, or surely, is too low? Under 10 and you cannot be arrested and charged with a crime, a rather frightening thing though isn’t it? (https://www.cps.gov.uk/crime-info/youth-crime). Some suggestions out there state that people are born good or bad, and if that is true, and a child is bad and commits a heinous crime, like murder at 8 years old… that leaves open a massive hole, which will likely be filled by media misinformation. Young persons therefore, are from 10 to 17 year old. Actually, its 14 and under at which they are classed as children, at the point they committed the offence. 18 onwards is classed as an adult by the law of England and Wales. However, it gets complicated with the 18 year olds. If sentenced to prison, they will enter an establishment called a young offenders institution that holds 18-25 year olds. To read more about the sentencing guidelines of youths read the following (https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/overarching-guides/magistrates-court/item/sentencing-children-and-young-people/).

“…that leaves open a massive hole, which will likely be filled by media misinformation.“

 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA) 1999 introduced safeguards for children which would allow youth court to operate completely differently to the normal courts. The youth court would not be as formal as a crown court. Counsel would not be wearing wigs or gowns and the child will be addressed by their first name, to help put them at ease. There is no public in the court and the identity of the child is to be kept hidden to protect them, although the press is allowed into the youth court. Usually there would be a parent or guardian required if the youth is 16 or under. There would be someone there from the youth offending team (https://www.gov.uk/youth-offending-team) if appropriate along with a court officer. The court will deal with offences such as theft and drug offences, (https://www.gov.uk/courts/youth-courts). More serious crimes like rape or murder, also called grave crimes, will be sent to the crown court.

There has been an overall decrease in young offenders and child offenders ( (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2020-to-2021/youth-justice-statistics-2020-to-2021-accessible-version), however, what the statistics show is that a lot of the crimes committed are predominantly by males.

Young persons committing these crimes seems to be an integral part of society, it drags it down and doesn’t look promising for the future of our country when the children are turning to the dark side of crime. Take a look at the following post by the Crown Prosecution Service – https://www.cps.gov.uk/wessex/news/59-year-old-man-stabbed-and-beaten-teenagers. Both defendants were young offenders at the time of the offence, Clarke being 17 and his unnamed accomplice 15. Upon sentencing, at which point Clarke turned 18, he was stripped of the protection of the youth courts in terms of keeping his identity hidden. His accomplice must have been 16 and thus, they cannot name him. This change in age is significant and it will impact the sentence they received. It was a heinous crime involving stabbing a 59 year old man. Clarke received a sentence of 3 years detention in the young offender institution as has been touched on above. Notice also, that he was sentenced in the crown court. This is because of a few factors, most notable is that he is receiving a sentence above two years. The youth court cannot deal with him due to his age. The youth court can only impose a maximum of a 2 year detention and training order, Section 34A Children and Young Persons Act 1933. (https://yjlc.uk/resources/legal-terms-z/youth-court#:~:text=The%20maximum%20sentence%20in%20the%20youth%20court%20is,Section%2034A%20Children%20and%20Young%20Persons%20Act%201933). Reviewing this 3 year sentence, it does seem appropriate, given his age, given the nature of the offence and his plea. Had he been sentenced under 18, he may have received a detention and training order from the youth court at a lesser rate.

Moving to Clarke’s accomplice, who pleaded guilty to battery and criminal damage at Southampton Youth Court in June 2020. He received a 12 month referral order and must pay £50 compensation to the victim. Being I presume 16 at the time of sentence means he is still within the definition of a young offender. He received a referral order, meaning that he was pleading guilty and would have likely been his first offence. A referral order “must be imposed on any youth with no previous convictions who pleads guilty to any imprisonable offence, unless the court is considering an absolute discharge, conditional discharge, Mental Health Act order or custody” (https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/pronouncement-cards/card/referral-order/). The justice system determined that 12 month referral order with a fine was sufficient. Due to the complex nature of the various possibilities with youth offenders, it will not be possible to cover all of it here.

There is more to young offenders and children being convicted of crimes. There appears much scope for the issues to be tackled before the crimes are committed. Perhaps targeted towards the rampant availability of dangerous weapons which are easy to get hold of. Or, perhaps the inadequate or uncaring parenting that is resulting in damaged children seeking some sort of justice for the way they feel? Is the crimes being committed by children due to a lack of education or empathy? Maybe a lack of human contact or support, drug use, housing issues, family issues… the possibilities are endless. This articles suggest some of those reason – https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/preventing-involvement-crime. Parents are not invisible to the court system though, and should they find their children involved in crime, may be given a parenting order. Such arises where a child doesn’t attend school or commits a criminnal offence (https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/magistrates-court/item/ancillary-orders/19-parenting-orders/). (https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/law/research/criminology-research/parenting-orders-criminalisation-parenting/).

Ultimately, what someone does or does not do can come down to a range of varying factors, some of which may never come to light, due to embarrassment, such as mentally ill children who have been abused, or those who come from broken homes, or lower income families. It isn’t about blaming anyone though. We can’t resolve an issue by ignoring possible solutions whilst pointing the finger. Youth offending teams and the multiple charities supporting young offenders is incredible. Support is there to give them the rehabilitation they need and possibly more. It is easy to judge someone if they have a child who is convicted, but how would that affect you? Do you see beyond the newspapers and the mostly rhetorical nonsense that the news tells us about the real reasons for young people committing crimes? Do you better understand the legal definition of children and the possible sentences available, so when you see stories purportedly suggesting a 15 year old ‘should have got 10 years’… what will you say?

This has been an article on children and young offenders.

An Update On My Results

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Thanks for following my journey into law and my experience on the bar course. You may recall that back in November I posted about criminal conference as my assessment was due to take place in December. A lot has happened since then. I’ve been very depressed and had my ups and downs over the last month. Today I checked my results.

This month, February, is particularly busy in terms of completing mock assessments. I completed a mock drafting assessment in December where I had to complete a defence and counterclaim (D&CC). Sadly, I did not do as well as I hoped on that. I also recently completed another D&CC and didn’t do too well again. I was getting the marks, but one or two marks from what I should have got. But, the good news is this, the final drafting assessment for the D&CC which is the 21st this month, is the same type of law and area as the one we just completed. This is a relief, as it means, that I believe I can do well since I already have a grounding and example of what is expected in this. I pray to God to let me succeed, please.

Yesterday I also pumped out a professional opinion. The opinion writing mock assessment. To be honest, the brief was 10 pages which was a huge relief. I also spent an hour letting it sink in, before realising the area of law that I needed to research. I hope I was correct in both my research and in the matters in issue. It concerned a case of work being completed which later turned out to be dangerous, and there was no contract in place as the architect had done the work for free. If anyone knows a little about this, feel free to drop a message below!

I also have a professional ethics mock this month. Apparently there is a 2 week window to complete the mock assessment. I do not know when this is since it is not shown. Anyway, I hope I do well. It is 1 hour 30 minutes. Ethics seems to be an area that hasn’t been taught to us as students, and the university seem to have left it all to self study, which I find unfair since we are paying for the course and if this module is expected to be examined on, then we should receive classes on it.

This was a brief post so I thank you for stopping by and continuing to read about my journey. I passed the conference assessment. Now, I just need to pass the real drafting assessment on the 21st. Yes, I am scared and yes, I really will do my best. I also have next week off, a sort of revision week in which I intend to go over all the drafting materials and feedback that I can find. Wish me luck, and may God guide me through this challenging time.

I Have Power

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

7am in the morning until 9pm at night.

I had a 12 hour day, all to most of it busy and occupied by something or another. I ended the evening by hoovering my bedroom and spare room after cleaning out 2 snake tanks. When I checked the clock, more like 9:13pm to be fair, I was surprised how much I had done. The feeling of changing from a suit to ‘normal clothes’ is such a relief.

Sounds crazy. This morning I was freezing my ass off in 4 Celsius. When I got home, it was still 4 Celsius. It had reached 1 Celsius by 9pm. England autumn, now prepping for winter.

The picture above was taken from Bing images. It isn’t mine, but it reminds me of a dream I had. In that dream I was walking through an empty field, and it was sunset and I could feel the breeze. I felt relieved. The dream was probably a reflection of my meditative mind. I don’t tend to have dreams like this anymore.

I spent about 2 hour browsing YouTube, watching videos by content creators I actually like, rather than random things. I usually listen to a couple of songs as well. Consolidation of the days work comes as soon as I get home, so when it does come to night time, I am free. As mentioned in another post, there is a lot of hours in the day and to occupy all of it with ‘work’ or similar is questionable. 12 hours today, for me, wasn’t all bad, it was just the time I was active rather than relaxing.

I’m starting to consider writing a small guide to meditation or stress relief, which will help other people, I guarantee it… for free of course. 

I Have Power

Early rises

waxy blinkers

foggy melon

hazy skies

pillow no longer 

I have the power

it surges around me

from me

to my path ahead

keep me strong

determined

You Can Do It.

Rough cut guide to student productivity

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

After moving swiftly from the cold dark embrace of an autumn night to the gushing waves of the particulars of claim and witness handling, came a soaked insight.

I am now going to share with you some tips that you could incorporate to increase your productivity. Or maybe, possibly, just to increase the ideas you already have about how to best study and achieve when you are studying law. This is for all law students at any level, and people, yes, from earth… unless you know of any other kind?

How am I finding the bar course? Honestly, it is extremely tolerable at the moment. The biggest time consumer is engaging with the required reading for the campus sessions. Other students have echoed this. I also find it hard to recall what I have read, I remember the gist and the topic and maybe the sections, but not specifics or exact words or phrases. Not yet at least.

But the sessions build into one another, so you go from pre action conduct all the way to civil litigation trial throughout the course (civil litigation course)… From my understanding. The same applies to criminal litigation. I am enjoying the course though, which is a bonus, and getting up 7am for campus days is a real draining thrill. Motivation comes from a combination of fear and desperation, trying all so hard not to miss anything in the reading for this expensive course. Not to mention class preparation and the need to behave cohesively with the cohort.

Motivation comes from a combination of fear and desperation

I reckon I could round up the 3 most important things I have learned so far on the course, and the 3 things which are helping me to stay on top of the work and finish drafting those documents for the deadlines… did I mention witness handling? Conferencing? One session of each and next week, more conferencing, but that is a ‘practical skill’ and practice we will.

  1. Training the brain to engage with the new routine

When I finished my degree I was both relieved and tired. Mentally exhausted at some points. But, satisfied that I had an expensive piece of paper which I could now flash to prospective employers should they so wish to see it. I also had mine laminated, come on the paper was thin!

The routine I had developed was considerably different to that on the bar course. Why? The bar course had a structure which involved few actual campus classes, 2 days a week to be precise and the rest of the time was prepping and consolidation of what we had learned in our skills workshops. This meant that I had to adapt, and quickly, because I have to leave the apartment at 7:45am on campus days to reach campus for roughly 8:30am, depending on if the trains are delayed…

Get up early. There is no way around this. You either get up early for campus days and arrive for 9am or you simply get marked absent, and if you don’t attend 80% or more classes then you fail the course. It would be a shame to fail because you were late, rather than not passing the assessments. Mentioning assessments, this is at masters level and unlike undergraduate, there is a HIGHER PASS MARK. 60% pass mark for all of the assessments. 11 total assessments, combining practical skills and MCQ (multiple choice question) exams. I won’t bore you with that though, at least until I have an idea of if I will fail or not (:P).

Not only is getting up early vital, but you need to train your brain to do it everyday, maybe skip on Sundays like I do. Sunday for me is essentially a rest day, although I work on Sundays the majority of the time. If you get up early, you build a routine, your brain adapts, and it gets easier. You will have more time to do the reading, and more opportunities to finish early and enjoy the evening. That is not me saying 7am everyday, you could wake up at 8am on your none campus days. It is down to you to build a morning routine which engages your senses and gets you pumped and ready for the slaughter… excuse me, the day! Be sure to eat breakfast, be sure to hydrate. Collect what you will use the night before and have it ready to get into when you begin to work.

Don’t train your brain to overwork either. If you spend all day, from 8am to 10pm working on something, including the reading and any practical activities or written submissions, then stop and re-evaluate that schedule. You are setting yourself up for a very boring study life, one where fatigue and lack of exercise could kill you. Not to mention, working 14 hour days doesn’t seem productive or efficient. Why does it take so long to read and get it done? Come on, I could read a 400 page book in a day, so you can do the reading in less than that! Make sure you aren’t glued to the desk and get up and walk or stretch, exercise and healthy, frequent eating is great to keep to fueled for all that awesome work you are going to produce.

Healthy habits, will lead to an adapted mindset. Unhealthy and unambitious yet ridiculous schedules can train you into poor study habits. Make it work!

2. Don’t be afraid of the dark

You’ve never studied law before, or you have just started the bar course, or the legal practice course, or you are doing something in a law firm and you have no clue what to do, despite the preparatory reading and revision and countless hours spent completing a draft or trying to perfect a piece of work.

You get some cruel, hurtful comments… “your work was not good enough” or “this is not quite right, try this.” These are comments of a highly helpful nature. Utilise those comments, integrate them into the work, go back and do it again with the revisions. Try harder, be better, no excuses. It’s easy to think you are not good enough because you made a minor mistake, or perhaps you were completely off on this occasion, however, you are good enough. You got this far, this is a big chance to LEARN! Learning is at the core of what you are doing, you didn’t know how to do it before and now, after some time reading and being taught, you have had a bash at it. Well done, you are not a failure based on some constructive criticism. Learn to take that on-board and learn to understand where you need to improve.

Every bit of advice and feedback given to me thus far, I have taken with me, and used to my advantage. I also accept that mistakes will be made, since the course has not long started. That doesn’t deter me, we all make mistakes, and it’s those mistakes that we all learn from. If you are afraid of feedback, you need to start getting used to it.

3. Have a life for goodness sake

Many students, especially full time students, feel as if they have nothing else they can do because all their time is “taken up by studying.” FALSE. There is 24 hours in each day. Last night, I didn’t fall asleep until gone 2am and I had to be up for 7am. I didn’t have a longer sleep because I knew that if I didn’t get up, I’d be late and be marked absent. I had enough time to sleep is my point. I made the most of the little sleep I had.

Because I had prepped and done the reading over the weekend I was not particularly concerned about being behind. In fact, preparing for class is my strength currently, but that may change as the course intensifies. From an intellectual standpoint, and I genuinely mean this, it is not the hardest thing you will ever do, trust me. Again my perception could change, we will see. How does this combine with having a life? Let me tell you…

Studying full time, regardless of the ‘level’ of the academic work, whether that school grades, college or university, or postgrad, is going to require a set amount of time for the work. I guarantee that most full time courses do not require 12 hours study 7 days a week. University courses including the bar course require around 35 hours a week realistically, possibly going up to 40.. Let’s work this out, so I can show you why you HAVE TIME for a social life and time to do things you want to do.

35 hours a week / 7 = 5 hours a day

That will be the recommended time or the time that the institution says is required on the course.

There is 24 hours x 7 days a week = 168 hours in a week

Assuming that you are awake for a portion and asleep for another portion.

Time management is what I am excellent at. Keep a diary if you need to. Keep a study schedule and adapt as required. Make sure you plan in advance and don’t have conflicting arrangements. If you feel that 168 hours a week excludes you from a social life when a full time course would require (estimating) 35 hours a week, then something is seriously wrong… so go get a coffee and biscuit and let’s sit down for a long chat… lasting approximately 35 minutes during which you have a panic attack and rush home in time to complete that essay for next Monday.

rush home in time to complete that essay for next Monday

It is all about welfare. Be healthy. Be happy. Be free. Have fun and don’t give up on things you enjoy, otherwise your mental health could decline and depression could set in, and that’s is not good for productivity at all. If you have hobbies, keep up with them. I enjoy playing Xbox games, being on the bar course doesn’t exclude me from playing at 8pm at night when I have finished my work for the day. Nor does the thought of being too busy in any way stop me from taking on new opportunities, provided that they don’t clash with my schedule.

So, there you have it. 3 sections, each of which will provide you with a different perspective of being a law student. Bar course students do have a harder time, but when I hear students complaining they have no time or joke that the course is killing them 4 weeks in, then I am sorry but the problem is coming from the inside, not the outside. Unless a meteor happened to have crashed into your goat barn the evening before that opinion was due in. Haha?

Stay safe, happy lawyering!

Catching the sunrise

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Good morning all you loyal followers of Psychedelicized!

Up at 6:20am in anticipation of my alarm which was set to ring at 7am. I thought to myself, if I wait until the alarm goes off – buzzing – then I am more likely to a) be annoyed at the sound and b) avoid getting up for another hour or possibly not at all.

First official day on the campus for my course. I was experimenting with wake up times, starting with 5am for a while, then 6am, then a bit inbetween. Now I realise that 7am will be about right, or just before, as I need to be in Manchester city centre for 8:30 latest. Today is different, i have to be there on campus at least 30 minutes before the 9am start as to gather the ID badge and other materials. Probably some sort of induction.

I am glad I attended the tour back in August! Feels much more inviting when you have a brief idea of the layout. I also bought a nice leather backpack last month. It looks good in Italian leather, and has a usb cable to charge the phone on the move. I won’t be needing to use it as I don’t have a portable charger device or a smartphone (at the moment). It won’t be big enough to fit my books in I don’t think so I am looking to get a small suitcase that can accompany me… I will try to fit it all in the bag, sort of, for now at least.

Anyway, here is the poem – Sunrise

Sitting on yesterdays throw aways

Under the beams of your head

Nothing to do but be careful

Really don't know who I am

Is life so damned beautiful

Some say is not what it seems

Except I am left here waiting, waiting for you to be seen.

The Coroners Court – the inquisition

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Let me take you on a journey. It’s a warm and sunny day in middle England. Surely as the crows fly and the cars rumble along will there be an inquest at hand. Welcome, to the coroners court!

Surely as the crows fly and the cars rumble along will there be an inquest at hand.

me

The best experience a law student can gain in their summer period or time off is to either undertake some form of work experience within a firm or chambers or to visit the courts themselves. Many people are probably under the assumption that crown and magistrates courts are the only courts in the land. This is not the case; there are many courts, including the coroners court, the high court, the royal courts of justice, the supreme court! England didn’t begin to create the common law system for one bloody courthouse. Many centuries ago now, the courts would travel around England and impose the law as they arrived, not very effective at blanket law enforcement.

So, the coroners court, pour yourself some whiskey for the hours long inquisition into the death of an individual. Very much an individual. There is a presiding man or woman – I have no idea what there title or qualifications are. All rise, so I assume a judge of some variety, Apparently I was in luck as the woman overseeing todays case was the ‘top’ dog, or in other words, the boss of everyone else who works there apparently. Friendly staff and a much more welcoming atmosphere than the crown court. For one, there is no body scanner or “empty your pockets!” You are free to enter and the guy at the desk was apparently serving an apprenticeship – a great choice of area – and he was kind enough to give me the details of the court and the upcoming inquisition.

An inquest is the best to see and witness, and I enjoyed observing. The court was big and fresh, lots of breathable space. The session also lasted from 2:30pmto 5pm… two and a half hours! There was a brief 15 minute break around 4:15pm. Inside, in front of the judge is the clerk, and usually the room would be full but due to the current situation the doctor was communicating with the court with microsoft teams. It’s different to criminal proceedings, the family have access to a microphone and the overseer is much friendlier and more empathetic. I am interested in the work of coroners and the court process, but sadly I don’t know what law applies to these inquests, so that is something I’d like to learn more about.

The case today concerned the death of a family member who the family argued was released from hospital incorrectly as they were considerably ill, they later died at home after being discharged. The findings of the court was that the junior doctor had failed in their duty, and so did the accident and emergency department. I don’t really know what the family get out of it, as there was no mention of monetary compensation at the conclusion. There was mention of contacting the department for health and educating the juniors to avoid future recurrences. I’ll be honest, the hospital in question has a long list of questionable deaths that have previously been to the coroners court, and I myself have witnessed the dire performance and negligence within its walls. It’s the reason I refuse to be treated or seen there anymore.

I’ll be honest, the hospital in question has a long history of questionable deaths that have previously been to the coroners court, and I myself have witnessed the dire performance and negligence within its walls. It’s the reason I refuse to be treated or seen there anymore.

me

A somewhat emotional hearing, an inquest with family that have recently lost a mum, wife, grandmother etc, and who are grieving. Empathy and understanding go a long way and this is the reason the law needs to maintain high ethical and moral standard. Without it, we’d have a court system run by evil prejudice hylics! Maybe the conclusion was one that the family wanted. Throughout, even I could assess that it was the hospital and doctors failings that led to the death, and the court rightly found the same. I would have been pretty angry if it hadn’t. To deny the evidence and to avoid blaming those who are culpable is not the milkshake society I want to live in. Have courage to do justice.

It would be nice to return for a pre-inquest hearing – not sure if that’s the name – when all the press turn up to get the gossip. Why do I want to be there at the same time as the press? Because during my court visits I have been mistaken for the press, firstly by a barrister, secondly by the court usher and thirdly the ‘inmate security officers.’

I will add this, that I managed to see a brief amount of a case in the magistrates before heading to the coroners. The defendant was unrepresented. Honestly, I think considering they wanted counsel for a plea in mitigation, give me the papers and I’ll do it. But, I’m not qualified yet and I don’t fancy lying to assist the unassisted. Luckily, the magistrates postponed the sentence so he could discuss the issue with the duty solicitor. There is also 1 court open in the entire magistrates court building, an absolute joke. If you’ve followed the news, you’ll see that the backlog of cases in England is substantial and they have ‘nightingale courts’ open. Government take my advice, society has gone back to normal, nobody is concerned about the pandemic anymore. Open the courts and let all of its facilities be used… one courtroom a day means the running costs of the entire building.

Have a lovely evening all and may peace be with you!

Welcome to the start of my journey!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

As some of you may know, I have just recently completed my LLB degree. As a recent graduate (unable to attend a graduation ceremony yet) I feel extremely glad to have achieved what I have up to now – a degree in law. Graduating with a 2.1 upper second class undergrad LLB is an honour, and I graduate with honours.

This is when the real journey starts. Granted, I could have recorded my progress on my LLB and I considered doing so many times. The time wasn’t right and at the end of the day, the journey starts now, not during a course when you have no clue as to the future.

Satan once said that… no quotes from the devil in the same post as the law! A honourable and age old profession, lawyers are one of the oldest professions in the world. The legal profession has its origin in ancient Greece and Rome. Not quite as old as toolmakers or tailors, but relatively. If a couple of thousand years counts. To this day, the barristers of England and Wales must be a member of one of the four Inns of Court. Namely, the Lincolns Inn, Grays Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple. The temples have roots in the knights templar and the original knights templar Temple Church is located within Inner Temple grounds. Hosting the yearly ‘crossing the bar’ ceremonies. Some would say that the general area of Temple, London, is one big elite showground where big money talks and large, costly infrastructure gentrifies you as soon as you enter the area. Notable for its historic buildings, including the Royal Courts of Justice building, a recognisable legal piece.

See the source image
Picture from Bing images.

The barristers of England and Wales also get a reputation for being paid a lot. I can assure you that with some research and general internet reading that this is not the case. Solicitors have the stability and high pay of prestigious law firms and they instruct barristers to work in court on their clients behalf. A steady income for many. Barristers on the other hand are self employed, earning from the work they do and not a penny more. They have chambers rent, overheads, accountant fees, clerk fees, travel costs, indemnity insurance and the list is rather extensive. Naturally the longer they practice the more of a reputation they have and more income. Trainee barristers completing their ‘pupillage’ – a year long apprenticeship with chambers, are given a lump sum of money at the start… and criminal law is abysmal both in terms of pupillage awards and general pay, probably being the lowest paid out of all areas coupled with public law.

So they don’t earn a lot off the bat. In fact, they have accumulated in the region of £50-£60,000 in debt to become a barrister. It’s a 3 part journey. First, the degree. I say degree, because you can complete any degree, yes any, and then complete a 1 year graduate diploma in law (GDL) before progressing to stage 2, the bar practice or vocational course (BPC). They have recently updated the courses and now there are more options when choosing this path, including splitting the course into two, but more on that later. So, the GDL is essentially a fast track course and to be honest, I do not accept that GDL students can possibly learn and comprehend 3 years of law study in a year, including exams.

Anyway, rage aside, from either the law degree or GDL you go onto the barrister training course. The course consists of theoretical and practical exams, mock trials, plenty of advocacy and courtroom practice, mooting, pro bono (if you want) and the possibility to combine a master of law (LLM) with the course.

The costs for the bar course and a masters is going to set you back between £13,000 to £20,000, depending on study location and university or institute offering it. Passing the course is hard like anything else, more so for law students as its tons of reading and stressful work hours. There is also no guarantee of passing nor of going on to successfully get a pupillage. Many graduates work as paralegals during their courses to gain invaluable experience. I am completing pro bono voluntary work currently with an ‘environmental’ law firm. Don’t worry, I won’t blame the course fees on the environment.

So there you have it. I hope this post is of interest to someone out there. I also hope you enjoyed reading it. I will be posting things on this page, including photos when I get a camera phone again, so that you can follow my journey. It might be a weekly post, it may be a monthly post. All I know is, I can’t wait to sip that cold mojito on that warm beach.

Peace.

A mini-celebration; hallelujah

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Today I received my module results for the law degree that I have been studying. I know a few years ago I said it was a waste of money and to be honest, it is. Education should be cheaper and free, as it is in some UK countries, but not England.

I achieved a 2:1 result in this particular module. In England, degree grades (overall) range from a 1:1 – 2:1 – 2:2 to a 3rd. So, to achieve a 2:1 is great to say the least! In a module which I did find difficult, land law. I was warned by a few kind ex-students that land law required more preparation and reading than other modules. The concepts at times are bizarre and confusing but, with determination and grace and love, I stuck to the path.

What does this mean for my overall classification? It means that most likely, highly likely in fact, that I will be gaining a 2:1 Degree classification overall. Great news, which will allow me to progress to the next step in my career and studying goals.

It’s that time of year when students get their results and given the past 16 months or so, most of them should be extremely happy to be graduating at all. Those with pre-existing conditions who have managed to get through the entire situation are brave and should be praised for their sacrifices. We can’t live in the past though, the future is now and we are forever moving forward. Take a hold of your life and begin to actually seize the day and enjoy it! You won’t wake up happy unless you want to be.

The next step involved some variety of further study and training, for a hefty fee.

Thanks for reading that egotistical and preachy introduction to this blog post too! 🙂

POEM OF THE DAY: MY RAGING DESIRE

My raging desire
Oh, how you are shaking
Feel your legs, breaking
As I come close
Move far
I can see who you are, now
And I am ready
We embrace
Gushing waves
A inflatable day
Your desirable haze
Becoming me.

Shalom, namaste and greetings from my radiating positivity.

Stay safe and be well!