A week in the life of a Bar course student: 29th April - 5th May 2024

Prior to starting the Bar course, I was not sure what the course would entail so my hope for this blog post is that it provides some detail on what the Bar course is like. It is somewhat specific to the The Inns of Court College of Advocacy in that at ICCA, in part one we study the BSB civil and criminal exams, and after passing these we move on to part two which involves all of the skills-based modules and profesional ethics.

This blog post is written like a diary entry so there are also some personal comments on how I am performing and the course in general. This blog post is written like a diary entry so there are also some personal comments on how I am performing and the course in general.

For context, this diary entry is week nine of part two. There are 14 teaching weeks in total, followed by four weeks of exams.

I wrote this diary entry Monday 29th April to Friday 5th May 2024.

Monday 29th April 2024

I started part two of The Inns of Court College of Advocacy Bar course on 4th March 2024, which means we are somehow nearly half way through part two. This is a bit scary. I am loving the course, I am learning so much so quickly, and I feel pushed in a good way.

My classes did not start until 2.30pm today, so I spent my morning looking over my notes for my cross examination later today. I read through the papers again and then got the train into London.

2.30-4pm criminal advocacy session

• Today's session involved cross examining a prosecution witness.
• Over the weekend, I practised this cross-examination twice with friends on the course. I find cross examination challenging but practising allows you to see whether your preparation is effective and your peers can give you some pointers and feedback. I did not feel myself improving in criminal advocacy until I began practising outside of the sessions.
• A couple of weeks ago I was described as looking agitated and nervous by the tutor, but today I was described as having good stillness and being well-poised. The biggest improvement of all was probably my confidence: I felt much calmer. I watched my video on the way home and wrote down the feedback properly. I always watch my videos back - this can be a hard watch sometimes, and a reassuring watch sometimes - you have to take the good with the bad!

This evening I received my first marked opinion via email. I found writing the opinion difficult, I got caught up in the law and spent a lot of time worrying. I was a little disappointed with my grade but it was only my first attempt. There are lots of things I could work on and improve and I am here to learn.

Tuesday 30th April 2024

I got to my class 40 minutes early at 8.20am today which gave me some time to look through my preparation for my drafting class today. I finished off drafting a defence and counterclaim.

9-10.30am opinion writing session

• We went through the feedback on our opinion which helped me to understand my writing style needing tweaking and there are ways that I could improve. I know now which law reports are best to cite and that I could make better use of practitioner texts.

10.45am-12.15pm drafting session

• We looked at drafting a defence and counterclaim. I tend to prepare as much as I can for the civil modules on the Bar course because I find them challenging and technical. This was helpful today because I had spent time drafting the defence and counterclaim, although this was not required, it helped to be able to compare my version.

1-2.30pm examination in chief practice

• Four of us from my course went to a room we had booked at ICCA's office. We practised an examination in chief and gave each other feedback. It was really helpful to see other people's approaches and to receive feedback. It was also good fun as you can have a bit of a laugh and get theatrical with your performance when you are the witness.
• We then went to the library and I reformatted my plan for my examination in chief as I thought my questioning order needed tweaking. I am learning sometimes chronological order is most efficient, but not always. After this, I did some professional ethics work, which is self taught online. I then read through the news ahead of a debate competition I had that evening.

5.45-9.30 Debate Shield

• This evening, Niamh Kenny and I competed in The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn Debate Shield Final. The question was "This house would abolish the House of Lords". This was not my area of expertise per se, in debating I prefer an ethical issue, but I was determined to implement the feedback I had last week on structure and speed.
• We won the competition and we are going to have our names on the debate shield which is so exciting. This was a huge (but amazing) shock!

I am so lucky to be such good friends with my debate partner Niamh Kenny . She encouraged me to do my first debate, even though I was nervous, and in the process spent time teaching me and encouraging me with so much patience. Debating at the Inn has given me valuable advocacy experience and experience performing in front of people, which in turn has given me confidence in my advocacy classes at bar school. Moreover, I met some lovely people.

• There was a drinks reception after the debate where we chatted with the judges and other competitors. It was a really exciting night.

Wednesday 1st May 2024

This morning I woke up early. I definitely needed more sleep but I got home from the debate shield late last night with some lingering adrenaline and I found it hard to sleep!

On Monday, our conference mock exam papers were released. My goal for the morning was to read the papers thoroughly and begin preparing for this. It seems like a challenging area of law so I need to take my time.

2.30-4pm criminal advocacy session

• In today's sessions, we did an examination in chief of the defendant. Examination in chief involves taking the defendant through their story and letting them tell it. However, I also learnt in todays sessions about when you can lead and why this can actually be really effective. This is something I need to work on more.

4.30-6pm Dean's Lecture

• This lecture was a talk from the senior clerk and?senior practice manager from Serle Court , and representatives from RBC Brewin Dolphin . This was a great talk where I got some more detail on the role that clerks play. Furthermore, I definitely need to improve my financial literacy and I know that I have lots to learn ahead of starting pupillage so it was helpful to start thinking about pensions and accountants!

After the lecture, the local Wetherspoons was filled with ICCA Bar course students. One of my favourite parts of this course is the people. I think I appreciate it more because part one is self taught and you don't see other students.

Thursday 2nd May 2024

10.45am-12.15pm civil advocacy session

• I had a civil advocacy session today. This session involved preparing for our upcoming civil trial. In this session, we talked about the strengths and weaknesses of our case and identified any gaps in the evidence that may weaken your client's case and think about how they might be resolved.

Friday 3rd May 2024

My parents came to visit me and we went for lunch and had a catch up!