sutton044

Instead of sitting on this side of the Court room - whether as a barrister, solicitor, client, or member of the public - have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the bench? What goes on behind the scenes once the usher closes the door at the end of proceedings? What is the judicial application process in the UK? What are your chances of a successful application if you have a non-traditional background (which in the UK can be taken to mean someone other than a white, male, Oxbridge-educated barrister)? The IPKitten - trying before she buys These questions - and many others - were addressed at Wednesday night's excellent event: "Take your seat at the Bench", organised by ChIPs London Chapter .  The formidable panel of women judges (see below) was introduced by Amy Crouch of host Simmons & Simmons and the discussion moderated with some friendly but pointed questioning from Charlotte May QC.   The panel introduced themselves by explaining their career to da...

Have you ever criticized or commended a decision of a judge?  Did you ever say over drinks to your colleagues, "That decision made no sense whatsoever!  They completely missed [insert grievance]"?  Have you read a decision only to get at the end to think "Would I have decided it differently?" or "How on earth did they manage to keep awake during those submissions and summarize everything?"  Does a judge's ability to give ex tempore judgments fill you with awe and, equally, dread as you white knuckle it through that particular courtroom rollercoaster (::clench::)?   Chances are, if you are a warm blooded litigator, you have answered "Yes!" to all of those questions. Time to dip those fuzzy little paws into life as an IP judge Yet, for all of our claims, criticism and commendations, so many of us solicitors do not entertain a career at the bench.  But, it is about time we start giving it more thought. We need more IP judges, especially as our...