Thursday 11 October 2007

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Since commencing my pupillage I have been much preoccupied with the issue of the dignity to be accorded to the pupil.

I got off on a bad footing on the dignity front thanks to some duff advice from an older and supposedly wiser friend (see earlier post). Since said friend is now in the invidious position of doing a third six, having failed to get taken on at the end of his 12 months, I should perhaps have viewed his advice on how to get a tenancy with a certain degree of circumspection, but we'll have to chalk that one up to experience.

I have learnt my lesson that I shouldn't be a pompous a**e, but I still haven't got to the bottom of whether it is necessary for a pupil to surrender his dignity entirely and to adopt the "ever so 'umble" persona of a Uriah Heep. Call me the eternal optimist but I am still clutching to the hope that grovelling subservience is not a necessary part of the role.

In order to preserve a scrap of dignity whilst undertaking the all-important but menial duties that are the condicio sine qua non of pupildom, I have resorted to a certain amount of elaborate subterfuge. I ensure that I get into chambers for 9:00 each day so that I am always in when PM arrives at 9:15-9:30. I make sure to have a nearly empty mug of coffee on my desk so that once PM has hung up his coat and started powering up his computer I can head for the door, mug in hand, before offering almost as an afterthought to make His Grace a cup of coffee too. This way I manage to avoid acknowledging that the brewing of hot beverages is central to my role, whilst not derelicting my duties in that regard. It is a saving of "face" that I think would have been appreciated in imperial China, but I suspect that the subtleties of this morning dance are lost on PM. He has certainly never commended me on the neatness of my solution and I don't expect that he ever will.

I would not describe PM as loquacious.

He is engrossed in the final stages of preparation for trial on a large professional negligence matter. I won't go into the facts for fear of breaching all manner of duties of confidentiality, but suffice to say that the claimant is a hedge fund investor in a CDO and the defendants are the lawyers, accountants and investment bankers involved in its structuring and documentation.

The claimant's pleaded case is that the scribblers, bean counters and City boys sold them a pup or, in the alternative, done them up like a kipper. Apologies if my legal analysis is a little too technical for lay readers.

Wish I could say more as, if the FT coverage of the credit crunch fallout is to be believed, there should be plenty more disputes of this nature and the case does seem to throw up some interesting issues.

Anyway, PM is so dug into the papers on this that since his rather harsh words on my first day I have barely heard a squeak from him. Counted the words spoken today, and reached only six:

"Yes, thank you" in response to coffee offer on arrival; and

"Yes, thank you" in response to coffee offer at 4pm.

That's it.

My other rather rudimentary conversational gambits ("Good morning, PM"; "I'm just popping out for some lunch - back in 20 minutes") were met with silence. Now I am not one of the world's chatterers, and can enjoy companionable silence for hours on end, but I am finding the monastic hush of PM's room somewhat intimidating and it makes me want to blather, which is probably what I am doing now, so I shall leave you all and endeavour to make more sense tomorrow.

Cheerio

71 comments:

Android said...

This is just horrible! Does he ever leave his room?!

SM said...

I have confidence in you. Daniel Serota QC (now Judge) was a bit like this and it took me about 4 months to discover that he never said very much when working to anyone except the typist. Then, when the pressure was off he would go all loquacious and I would be totally thrown.
Otherwise there was a shelf full of work, from which I was supposed to select something to do. Then, when ready, we would go through it. Also I knew how to do everything in Con except introduce the case and put the clients at ease because I was always making the coffee when that happened. In fairness to Daniel, he sorted that when I pointed it out to him - and he did buy us a load of pans when we got married and has been a good friend ever since. Also, he did a crappy County court 1 day trial just for me so that I could see him do it - aim for that and you'll learn lots.

Anonymous said...

My master is also very, very, very quiet as he works like a demon - at first I found it a bit intimidating but now I realise that it is not a hostile silence, on the contrary it has become rather companionable. Though I have to say, and this is carrying on from the point I made below, that I think you could do with a bit more humility if I'm honest. Sure, it's not nice to feel inferior but you ARE inferior. As pupils, we all are. They are barristers, we are not, and it rests in their hands. Things like making coffee are only humiliating if you have an inflated sense of your self-worth. I do feel like tenancy is being waved in front of me like a carrot and I didn't expect that, but I just feel that acting like a dignified arse is not going to get me anywhere! It's one year, and I'll do what it takes!

on the clapham omnibus said...

Oh dear. Have you read "My Brief Career"? One of the author's pupilmasters is described as being very similar.

Paranoid Pupil said...

Tabula Rasa - Haven't been able to locate My Brief Career - could you post a link? Sounds ominous - am hoping that mine brief career is a long one (even if the odds are against me)!

Anonymous said...

Spare yourself from that truly hideous tome!!! If any book is EVER designed to put people off pupillage for LIFE, it's that one!!!

Anonymous said...

the writer of "My Brief Career" dare to tell everybody that he has failed to get the tenancy. How about you? Guts or coward?

Anonymous said...

Based on your posts so far I think that much of your problem is that you believe you are a stage.

Your approach seems to be "this is what I want, what do I do now, to whom and when to get there?"

Hence being pompous with your senior clerk (ouch ouch ouch) sucking up PM with coffee etc.

Simon has offered positive words of PM who became a life long friend; so all is redeemable.

Nice, life isn't a fairy tale. My PM despised me them and I them. I would knife two of them if I could maneuver them into a darkened alley - and I'm not sure I'm joking. Annoy clerks PMs at your peril.

Try to be sincere and sensible instead of a phoney calculating buffoon. I'm not saying you are a buffoon, merely that so far you've been acting as one.

Got a First? big deal, doesn't mean anything, 10 a penny - I have one too. You need to pick up the art of the Bar, the art of dealing with punters colleagues and judiciary.
This isn't a tutorial.

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My master is also very, very, very quiet as he works like a demon - at first I found it a bit intimidating but now I realise lost on PM. He has certainly never commended me on the neatness of my solution and I don't expect that he ever will.

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