Students from the University’s Law School had the exciting opportunity to meet with a range of experienced judges across jurisdictions within the Northern Circuit to learn about diverse pathways into the judiciary.
Students gathered in the School of Law and Social Justice event space to hear the stories of 20 different judges from across the country including Anita Bhardwaj (Area Coroner for Liverpool & Wirral), His Honour Judge David Swinnerton (Liverpool Crown Court) and University of Liverpool alumna Deputy District Judge Rebecca McGregor.
All judges present had taken unique pathways to judicial excellence. The students were able to hear from the judges first hand and find out more about different careers as well as express interests in work experience opportunities to help their future careers.
The students also had the opportunity to split into smaller break out groups to discuss perceived obstacles to embarking on judicial careers and hear about how measures are being put in place to tackle under representation of women, people with disabilities and people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the judiciary.
Yussur, a student who attended the event said: “I really enjoyed the event as it reinforced my belief in the innovative and adaptive nature of the legal system.”
James Betts, a Solicitor and Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, who organised the event said: “We were really pleased to welcome so many students to hear first-hand from eminent individuals on the front line of justice about how they progressed their different careers.
“It’s great that the Judiciary are actively reaching out to our students to ensure transparency in pathways to judicial roles and to help form a more diverse judiciary of tomorrow.”
Professor Helen Stalford, Head of Law at the University of Liverpool said: “We are incredibly grateful to all of the judges who took the time out of their busy schedules to inspire our students to engage in the next steps of their legal careers.”
