Today Ms. Heaton let me know that I will be working with Quadrant Chambers for the first three weeks of the scholarship. She is still waiting to hear from the chambers where I might be placed for the second half of my trip. Rebecca, my co-scholar, will serve with Blackstone Chambers and Serle Court.
Ms. Heaton is also making arrangements for Rebecca and I to visit Edinburgh and Belfast over a weekend.
When I run into co-workers at the office, they often ask me to remind them when I am leaving for London and how long I will be away. I have also collected from them several questions that interest them about the English legal system. Among them are:
Are English lawyers compensated as well as American lawyers?
Who decides how many judges are needed, and how are they appointed?
Are there administrative courts?
How do the courts manage their caseloads?
How is entry to the profession of barrister limited?
Is it easy to choose law as a second career?
Are appellate standards of review similar to the standards used in the federal courts of appeal?
How do barristers manage their fees?
Additionally, because I have been interested in oral argument practices in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, I am similarly curious to know how cases proceed to oral argument in the English system, and the extent to which the role of oral argument is different there than here.
