Shipping-related trial in a court of justice

Fast pace!

I arrived at the door of Quadrant Chambers Monday morning, and was let in by a barrister with a security key. I introduced myself at the reception desk, and the barrister who let me in the building came back up to me and said, rapidly, "Are you the guest from the Second Circuit? You’ll actually be with me today, we have a trial that starts at noon. Have you done any shipping work?"

They told me I should be expected to start the program running, and here it was!

I explained that I worked for the Fourth Circuit, not the Second, and that I hadn’t done any shipping work, but that I could read. (I felt I had to add something positive at the end. My literacy was all that came to mind.)

"Right," he said, and explained that I would meet with my barrister contact, Mr. Matthew Reeves, and that we would meet again before court so he could explain the case. He also mentioned that he had practiced for ten years in California.

Mr. Reeves appeared then, and we took the elevator up to his office. Mr. Reeves explained that he had been up all night working on written submissions for his first case he had on his own before the House of Lords. The submissions were up to eighty pages. He quickly showed me around the floor, swiftly made me a mug of tea, and ushered me into his rather spacious office that he explained I was free to use as a "home base." The brisk pace of our first comments to each other changed when we sat down in the sitting area in front of his desk, and he took a moment and asked, very sincerely, "how are you?"

I laughed and explained that I was very well, that I had adjusted to the time change and looked forward to seeing the work of chambers. We took a few minutes to discuss my interests as a lawyer and junior academic, and as expected from a person who asks excellent questions for a living, he asked me several things about my work. Mr. Reeves then explained that I would be paired with the gentleman I had met in the lobby, Chirag Karia, to observe a trial beginning that day in the Courts of Justice. The following week I would likely work with another colleague of his on a trial she had up in Manchester (although it wasn’t clear if they would send me to Manchester with her), and for the last week they weren’t sure where to place me, but perhaps I would assist him on his House of Lords case. We then walked upstairs to Mr. Karia’s office, and true to expectation, Mr. Karia cleared off the table next to his desk for me to work. He had just given me a copy of the skeleton of the argument (a paper that outlines a barrister’s initial position and arguments to the court) when we were joined by a French advocate in training named Sebastian, who would also join us at the trial.

"Have you done any shipping work?" Mr. Karia asked. Sebastian explained that he had, and articulated the extent of his experience. Mr. Karia then printed us both copies of the skeleton arguments from the claimant and defendant, and explained that he was the junior of Mr. Parsons, Q.C. ("Queen’s Counsel"), who would be arguing on behalf of the defendants.

Sebastian and I then retreated to the chambers’ library to review the skeleton arguments.

Mr. Karia collected us at 11:45, and Sebastian and I quickly introduced ourselves to Mr. Parsons on the brisk walk over to an auxiliary courthouse to the Courts of Justice, called St. Dunstan’s (presumably because it is located nearly next door to the church of the same name). Just outside the door of the courthouse we met two solicitors from whom the barristers had received instruction, and the group of us entered the court building together and proceeded up to the courtroom.

I should mention that no one was wearing traditional barrister regalia (robes or wigs). They explained that there had been changes in the requirements to wear these items, and that in certain cases, as now, they didn’t wear them.

The courtroom was rather like a large hotel conference room, only without carpeting, and chock full of wood tables set up in rows, most of them with long boxes on them. There was a raised area where it was clear the judge would sit, and an area to the judge’s right where one would imaging a witness would testify (but it was not a traditional witness box, and had a full table before it on which binders were set out), and a row of three ladies sitting facing the gallery. The middle lady was the court stenographer, and the other two ladies assisted the court with the transmission of documents from the barristers to the judge.

The barristers set themselves up in the first row facing the ladies, and each side had a podium area (a table-top podium). Our side arrived first, and the barrister on the claimant’s side, although a Q.C., was arguing the case on his own (formerly Q.C.’s were required to have junior counsel with them at court). Behind the barristers sat the instructing solicitors, two in the row directly behind them, and sometimes one more in the row beyond that. Sebastian and I sat in the fourth and last row of the courtroom, on the Defendant’s side.

Proceedings began with a quick announcement of "Silence: All Rise," and a judge in a regular business suit entered the courtroom and took a seat. The judge first apologized for beginning proceedings late and explained that his bicycle had been stolen, and he was delayed on that account. After a few preliminary matters, the claimant’s barrister began his opening submission.
Opening submissions from each barrister took about 45 minutes each. The barristers set forth the claims and legal arguments they expected to make, mentioning along the way the cases or authorities on which these claims would rely.

The court took a break at 2 p.m., whereupon the group of us on Defendant’s side went out to Fleet Street to get a quick bite for a late lunch. When court resumed, the Claimant’s first witness was sworn in, and after swearing to the authenticity of his witness statement, became available for cross-examination.

After court, I was invited to observe the barristers and solicitors as they prepared for the next day of witness testimony.