Taryn’s Training Diary #2
It has been a busy few weeks at Lewis Rodgers since my last diary entry. Lat week was a busy week for various Court hearings and we were also on police station call over the weekend. We have had a committal hearing, which officially sends a case to a Crown Court from the Magistrates Court when the Magistrates Court do not have the jurisdiction to hear the case and we have had some initial appearances in the Magistrates Court, at which anybody appearing there will be expected to enter a plea. A guilt plea will then proceed to be sentenced, or in some cases a short report will be required by probation. A not guilty plea will be listed for a trial.
I also made a visit to a prison for a conference with a client this week and have also been along to the Youth Court for the first time, although I was observing somebody else do the actual hearing, as I do not yet have the rights of audience to appear before the Magistrates as a Trainee Solicitor. I was there for my client who’s case I have managed the whole way so far and also to gain further experience observing the Solicitor doing the hearing.
Along with the various Court hearing last week, I have been in the office preparing for some trials that we have coming up over the next month at different Crown Court. There is a lot of work to do in the office and in-between all the various hearing to ensure that the case is ready for a trial. I spent half of one day last week listening back to the tape recordings from a police station interview due to a dispute over what was said and what had been transcribed.
I am looking forward to the weeks ahead and attending at the trials we have been preparing, it is interesting to see all the work you do behind a trial be used and see the outcome. Although we do the background work, it is sometimes a Barrister who the presents the case to the Court for us. However, my training principle, Mr. Stephen Rodgers, is a higher Court Advocate, meaning that he has the same rights as a Barrister and therefore, will do the majority of our Magistrates Court trials and a lot of the Crown Court hearing too. I hope to have the same qualifications one day, but first I need to continue in my training contact and become a qualified solicitor.
Keep reading our website to follow mine and my colleague’s training progress and other interesting legal news!