A golden autumn morning last week saw Lord Justice Holgate and Melissa Murphy KC visit Davenant School in Essex to speak to Years 10 and 11 on the subject of “who’d be a lawyer”, as part of the school’s careers programme.
Since Davenant is a very large comprehensive school, Years 10 and 11 combined filled the school hall for the talk. The young people listened carefully to the overview of the legal system provided by the Lord Justice and asked some brilliant questions about his experience of sitting as a judge. It was a particularly special occasion, since the Lord Justice attended Davenant as a pupil. He and Melissa Murphy KC spoke about coming from their state school backgrounds into the law.
The Planning and Environment Bar Association is very grateful to the Lord Justice for giving his time to visit Davenant, and to Davenant for the invitation. The slides from the talk are on the PEBA website.
For more general information about the judiciary, there are some excellent resources available on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website, see this bank of educational resources available which includes notes for lessons, fact sheets, and other material to help schools facilitate learning about the justice system and rule of law. Schools or universities who would like to invite a judge to speak to students can visit their Schools and Universities Engagement page to find out more, or email schools@judiciary.uk.