Handy legal primer for aspiring lawyers

Most books that are written for young people thinking of a career in the legal profession seem to be by solicitors. I am not sure why that is. Perhaps we are trying to warn them off, or at least alert them to the challenges ahead. However, there are several very positive books setting out the many routes to a diverse career.

This book – by a father and son team who are both barristers – explains to young people what law is, why we have it and how it can be fun. The book considers in detail what types of law there are, how laws are made and the courts system. It is not primarily a book on careers, though it would be very useful for anyone contemplating entering the profession, or simply wanting to know more about law. 

Each chapter ends with a set of questions for discussion or reflection. I found these thought-provoking. Why we have rules in life – whether personal, national or international – is a vital topic.

Both authors have extensive experience of legal life in the US and the book contrasts the different systems.

It also contains the best analysis – grounded in history and culture – of the reason for natural and basic laws I have read. There is a tempting further reading list at the end.

There is also an interesting section on Lord Atkin’s dissenting judgment in Liversidge about the detention of enemy aliens in wartime without trial or even any explanation. Courts on both sides of the Atlantic have grappled with this issue.

As well as appealing to students thinking about a legal career, there is much in this book that a more experienced lawyer could learn.

There is a nice quotation I had not seen before, presumably from an American lawyer: ‘Better than any other discipline, we combine the theoretical and abstract with the realistic and concrete...’  As this book says: ‘The law isn’t what it looks like on TV. It’s more interesting.’

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury