2O19 AND CIVIL PROCEDURE THE YEAR IN REVIEW (5): WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS – CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TWITTER
This year has seen a number of posts where contributions have been drawn from Twitter threads, with people accepting invitations to write on particular points. The advice is usually practical and sometimes profound. This is an appropriate time to remind people of the useful advice that has been given over the years and pay tribute to all those who have contributed.
“I was bullied horribly at a former chambers. I was made ill through it and would have left the Bar. I was saved by moving chambers but if I hadn’t confided in a friend who told me to move, and that I had value, I would not have had the confidence to even apply elsewhere. I was so ground down I couldn’t physically go into chambers, and I genuinely thought there was nothing I could do but change career. I would never have believed I could be affected by bullying, as I’m fairly robust and usually popular, and I had never experienced anything like it before. It came out of nowhere, it seemed, and the people you simply don’t expect it of get caught up in it. All I can say is that no one is immune, and no one knows how much it affects them until it happens. Thank you for raising it.”
MARCH: LOTS OF ADVICE ON BEING A LITIGATOR
“To bring to the litigation the expertise, experience, insight and detachment that the individual would ideally have, but can’t realistically be expected to. To obtain the best outcome at the minimum cost (in the widest sense of the words). And to limit the collateral damage.”
“Don’t write letters threatening to report us to the Legal Aid Board. It hasn’t existed since 2000 and we’ll laugh.”
“Be kind to people. Few can expect to be the best lawyer in the room, but anyone can be the nicest.”
APRIL: PARENTING AND LAWYERING – AND THE DANGERS OF WORKING ON A TRAIN
“Honest answer. You will have to make sacrifices. Either as a lawyer or as a parent or both. It’s up to you to decide what’s best. I spent 2 years trying to carry on like nothing had changed. Simply meant I wasn’t doing a proper job at home. 1/For the past year I’ve had to make a concerted effort to do a proper job at home. Inevitably that means saying no to certain trials. Not accepting super urgent/last minute drafting and not going to every meeting/chambers event. I’m poorer but happier. I can always earn more later”
“As a journalist, I want you all to keep chatting and leaving your documents out to read. Ignore the naysayers.”
MAY: THE BALLAD OF READING COUNTY COURT LIFT
JULY: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WRITE & DEALING WITH BULLYING AT WORK
“Opposition solicitor insisted on advising me of his “astonishment” every time we corresponded recently. It turned into a bit of an office meme. (Of course, I won, and remained resolutely unastonished)”
“I was bullied horribly at a former chambers. I was made ill through it and would have left the Bar. I was saved by moving chambers but if I hadn’t confided in a friend who told me to move, and that I had value, I would not have had the confidence to even apply elsewhere. I was so ground down I couldn’t physically go into chambers, and I genuinely thought there was nothing I could do but change career. I would never have believed I could be affected by bullying, as I’m fairly robust and usually popular, and I had never experienced anything like it before. It came out of nowhere, it seemed, and the people you simply don’t expect it of get caught up in it. All I can say is that no one is immune, and no one knows how much it affects them until it happens. Thank you for raising it.”
AUGUST: GOING ON HOLIDAY
“As a solicitor leaving a “holiday list” of files where you anticipate something happening whilst you are away a) concentrates your mind on what is really important and b) gives your team an idea of what to look out for. Means less stress all round”
SEPTEMBER: STARTING PUPILLAGE OR A TRAINING CONTRACT
“Bottle of water and a snack (as you never know if / when you will get to eat or drink). Pens and notebook or laptop. Phone charger (not a plug one as you might not find a plug!) Nothing that will get confiscated at security (like perfume!) Good luck and welcome to the Bar!”
“Why would you go to a Premier Inn and not have a breakfast?! What’s the point in being a lawyer if you can’t have weird fry-ups in random towns?”
OCTOBER: COUNTER-SCHEDULES
“It should be realistic – not wishfully low.”
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