Applications are currently being invited to work directly for some of the country’s top judges, at the UK Supreme Court in London. Former judicial assistant Alice Normand writes about her experience and recommends that fellow lawyers consider the opportunity.
The Court’s judicial assistants scheme is now in its 12th year, and over that period, dozens of lawyers have benefited from spending just under a year as legal researchers to the Justices (or Law Lords before them).
As judicial assistant to Lord Hope, deputy president of the UK Supreme Court, I gained some invaluable insights into the workings of UK’s highest court.
Each judicial year, the Supreme Court appoints seven new judicial assistants, or ‘JAs’, to join its one permanent JA in working for the 12 Justices. The JAs are selected from UK-qualified solicitors and barristers. The role affords a unique opportunity to observe, and contribute to, the behind-the-scenes workings of the UK’s highest court: the preparation for hearings and the judgment-writing process, as well as the discussions, debates and dilemmas that take place after court has risen.
The judicial assistants have a wide range of responsibilities. They are responsible for helping to handle the applications for Permission to Appeal; they assist their Justices in hearings before the Court (and the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, which shares its judges and administrative support with the Supreme Court); and they discuss issues with the Justices before and after the hearing.
JAs also have a hand in producing and summarising the judgments - which form legal precedent on other courts in the UK. They assist in the judgment-writing process – not by drafting (a process which is jealously guarded by the Justices – and rightly so), but by reading through drafts to check for inaccuracies and inconsistencies, and perhaps to suggest small revisions to improve clarity. And they also draft the press summaries of judgments – the public’s main insight into the court’s decisions and a vital means of improving the court’s accessibility to the public, one of the main priorities when the new court was established.
On top of all that, JAs are available to assist their Justice in any way he or she may require, whether by conducting background factual or legal research into cases coming before the court, or by helping to prepare the many lectures and talks given by the Justices throughout the year. My own role even extended to helping out at the Edinburgh Primary Schools mock trial competition, at which Lord Hope was presiding – a great initiative for opening up the world of law and the courts to primary school pupils.
During my year at the Court, I had the opportunity to be involved in cases on such interesting and varied matters as the right of access to a solicitor during police questioning; the application of the Working Time Directive 1998 to offshore workers in the oil and gas industry; the duty imposed upon States by Article 2 ECHR in relation to voluntary (rather than detained) psychiatric patients; the break-up of the Lehman Brothers Group; age discrimination in employment contracts; the operation of the system of European Arrest Warrants; financial provision upon the break-up of a cohabiting couple; and the meaning of persecution for a political belief.
And an account of my time as a JA would not be complete without mentioning the particular highlight of the year: a trip to Washington DC to visit the US Supreme Court and meet with Justice Antonia Scalia - a quite unforgettable experience. My background is in general commercial litigation, but I have also completed a Masters in Human Rights law and I have a particular interest in public law and human rights.
Since leaving the Supreme Court, I have joined the Treasury Solicitor’s Department in the public law team, specialising in immigration and asylum judicial review. The work of the Supreme Court of course involves a good deal of public law, but, as noted above, the cases that come before it are hugely varied in subject matter.
What the role of judicial assistant therefore offers is an insight into the way that judges think, and the way the decision-making process works. It teaches precision, clarity of expression and thought, and an analytical approach to solving legal problems. It also highlights examples of best practice in conducting litigation, with regard to both written and oral pleadings. And it is of course an opportunity to observe the highest standards of advocacy in the UK. It is hard work, intensive and exciting – and an invaluable experience for any litigator.
If you are interested in applying to be a judicial assistant, find out more on the Supreme Court website.
Alice Normand is a Scottish qualified solicitor with a joint Honours degree in Law and French at University of Edinburgh, including one year at Université d’Aix-Marseille (France) and a Master in Human Rights Law (Strathclyde University). Her curriculum includes internships at Scottish Human Rights Commission and European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a training contract at large Scottish commercial firm, with 3 years’ post-qualification work as litigation solicitor working in general commercial litigation, 8 months work as legal consultant for an international human rights NGO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She is currently working for the Treasury Solicitor’s Department in the public law department, specialising in immigration and asylum judicial review