If you’re a lawyer, s1jobs is a great place to build your career. There are openings here even if the ink’s not yet dry on your diploma, while if you already have an impressive track record you’ll gravitate towards the senior positions – both within the legal profession and the public and private sectors that rely on in-house legal advice to carry out their business.
Best be aware, however, that if you’re intent on being devilled to an Advocate in order to practice law in the toughest of theatres, those courts where criminal trials take place, you might need one extra talent that wasn’t on the curriculum at law school: stamina.
It’s not a quality you usually associate with the practice of the law but all that changed earlier this year when the longest trial in UK criminal history was finally concluded at the High Court in Glasgow.
It began in September 2015 and even though it was recognised at the outset that the allegations which it involved would necessitate the submission of huge amounts of evidence, nobody could have predicted it would take Crown prosecutors more than a year to present their case.
In fact, the trial lasted for an unprecedented 320 days, during which time one juror got married, others took sick or went on holiday – all of which, for a time, brought a halt to proceedings – and the judge actually retired, although he was permitted to continue in his role until the trial finished.
At one point the court, with all its legal trappings, had to be set up in the house of a witness who was too ill to attend the High Court.
This was a trial packed with legal firsts and the bill was around £7.5 million, with £2.4 million paid to defence lawyers in legal aid.
Long cases are not new but having to be fully immersed in huge amounts of evidence and able to present often complicated financial dealings in ways a jury can understand takes concentration and determination.
But if you are up for the challenge, criminal law can prove addictive. It’s not for the faint-hearted – courts are filled with super-sharp legal brains who can pick even a strong argument to pieces.
Just make sure before you start down this path you have the stamina to stay the pace.
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