Podcast No 7 and the plan for future podcasts…
The quote by E L Doctorow in the title amused me. I aslo have some empathy with this one: ” You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ~Ray Bradbury
Yesterday, I interviewed Dr John Birchall. John came to law as a ‘mature student’ in his late thirties. As it happens, I taught him – and it does not appear to have done him any great harm. John does many things: a writer on litigation, etymologist with the Oxford English Dictionary, opera fan, wine drinker and he lives on a boat. He is currently involved in producing a DVD on ‘Good English writing for lawyers and other professionals’ . I interviewed him about his DVD project of course, but also asked him why he had such a passion for law that he sold his house to read for the Bar as a mature student. His answers were most interesting. His views on why it is important to write (and read) good English are worth listening to.
Here is Podcast No 7: Interview with Dr John Birchall.
My plans for future podcasts
Clearly, I can’t just interview people about why they blog – although I have a few more interviews lined up on this topic. I am planning to do a podcast a couple of times a week – if I can organise this – and want to talk to lawyers and judges about practice, current legal issues, the future of law. I will also, as occasion arises, interview non-lawyers about their interests if I feel this would be of interest to readers of this blog.
As a ‘mature’ student aiming for the bar as a second career, that was an interesting article. I do worry about my age being a hindrance, even though for any other career, I’m not that old (I had the dreaded 3-0 birthday last week)!
Still, I’m having a go anyway, on the basis of bringing some unusual prior career experience to the Bar – I have previously been both a nuclear safety engineer (like Homer Simpson but smarter!), and a ‘Gamemaster’ for the online computer game ‘World of Warcraft’…
And… I somehow commented that in the wrong spot. Go me! 😀
Good luck, Aex. The Bar has always been competitive – but, as Toby Davey observed, other experience is looked at closely by many Chambers pupillage committees. As they say… “Go for it!”
Thank You