One Student’s Story:  The London Program

“There are few greater thrills in life that hearing a man in a wig and a robe use something you, a mere American student, told him in chambers to question a barrister in open court. Perhaps that needs some context. For the last week and a half, I have had the privilege of sitting on the bench of the Croydon Crown Court, immediately to the left of His Honour Judge Kenneth MacRae. In front of me, I see a courtroom laid out in a similar fashion to one in the US, but with striking differences. For one, the 9 lawyers in front of me (barristers, as opposed to solicitors) are also in wigs and robes. For another, they are all jumbled together on long benches, defence (as they spell it here) sitting next to prosecution, without the seperate tables and aisles that make it so clear in the States. They address the jury calmly, conversationally; to raise one’s voice or *gasp*, slam a fist on a table would be catastrophic. They address witnesses, even in cross examination, with the same deceptively conversational tone, making statements like ‘I suggest to you that you are a liar’, to which the witness is supposed to calmly respond ‘I disagree.’ There is a reason there are very few British court room dramas.

Yet, I find it far from boring. Being in chambers with a judge or barrister is the ultimate insider experience, one very few ‘yanks’ ever get. My favorite part of the day is lunch time, where I had the great pleasure of dining in the Judge’s lounge, listening to Their Honours discuss politics and gossip like school boys, over the occasional sherry. Hearing first hand opinions about the British Judiciary, discussing the differences between our legal systems, being asked my opinion by a ‘Learned Judge’, these are priceless experiences made possible by the RWU London Program...”

To read the rest of Hala’s blog entry about her London experience, click here.

Dana Merkel (left) and Hala Furst (second from left) in debate at Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park