Lucy students visit Middle Temple

On Monday 21 March, Lucy students were given a special opportunity to spend the day at Middle Temple, London, one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers.

The trip was made possible by the generosity of Lucy alumna Geri Peterson (Law, 1993), who is Master of the Bench at Middle Temple.

The students, including students of Law as well as those who wanted to find out more about a career at the Bar, were accompanied by our Director of Studies in Law Poorna Mysoor.

The trip began with an outdoor lunch at The Garden Room, and then Middle Temple’s Outreach Officer, Richard Frost, gave students a tour of the Inn, detailing its history. He also gave a talk, offering guidance to students on pathways into careers at the Bar, as well as advice on scholarship and pupillage applications.

Richard commented:

“The visit from Lucy Cavendish college was a delight. It was brilliant to see so many engaged and enthusiastic law students, but it was especially good to see so many from other disciplines, undergraduate and postgraduate alike, investigating the career. I very much look forward to meeting some of them again, and hope to see another cohort for a visit in the future!”

The students were then taken to Temple Church, where they met Master of the Temple, The Revd Robin Griffith-Jones. Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters and is now jointly cared for by Middle and Inner Temple. The Church also hosted negotiations between King John and the Barons ahead of the sealing of the Magna Carta in June 1215.

To end the day, Geri gave an insightful talk on her career at the Bar and the day-to-day duties that she experiences, alongside student Barrister Wendy Barnes.

Geri commented:

“It was a great pleasure for me to be part of the Lucy Cavendish visit to Middle Temple. My fellow Lucians were told that the toast given to each other by members of the Inn is ‘Domus’ - the Inn is our professional ‘home’ - and so I hope the welcome to our home demonstrated the warmth and regard we have for student lawyers. We showed how the education of student lawyers is at the heart of the Charter granting the Inn’s right to occupy the Middle Temple by King James in 1608; such visits are of real importance to the Inn, as is the support and service we provide to our student members as they begin their journeys to rewarding careers at the Bar.”

The trip was an enormous success and students benefited greatly from all of the talks and tours. We hope to arrange a similar trip next year for Lucy Law students.