When developing your CPD schedule for the year, you will be considering a variety of providers, but it may not have occurred to you to look at the Inn’s programme of Qualifying Sessions (QS).
When you see the QS label attached to one of our events, the chances are that your response will range from, ‘remind me what those are’ to ‘isn’t that what students have to do?’ to ‘lucky students, back in the day I had to eat 24 dinners’.
All true, of course. Under the current regime, students have to attend a minimum of ten QS, covering five themes (Ethics, Standards and Values; Advocacy Skills; Legal Knowledge, Justice and the Rule of Law; Equality; Diversity and Inclusion; and Preparation for Pupillage, Career Development and Wellbeing).
While the framework of our programme is defined by those regulatory requirements, the essential idea remains that QS provide an induction into the professional community and its ethos. To that end, we aim to provide inspiration by offering a wide variety of topics and speakers. We want students to hear and think about things which are relevant, but which may not be part of the university or Bar course syllabus. The fact that over half of our students attend more than the compulsory number of QS (in many cases significantly more) suggests that we get the mixture broadly right.
Many of these topics are of interest to practitioners as well as students, fitting comfortably into your personal CPD schedule. In the past year, for example, sessions covered topics ranging from prison overcrowding, parole and early release, to what Artificial Intelligence means for public lawyers and the risks and rewards of comparative law. Some Qualifying Sessions also involved exploring the new legal issues arising from recent advances in Artificial Intelligence and asked the question, ‘can a machine be a person?’
An early session in the new term will address ‘Standards in Public Life’, featuring Master John Bowers in conversation with Master Rupert Jackson. Then, of course, there is our series on Philosophy and the Law, addressing a range of jurisprudential questions; our next speaker in that series will be Professor AC Grayling.
Information on the programme can be found on the Inn’s website at https://www.middletemple.org.uk/events. Sessions are usually held in the Sherrard Room in the Library. Starting at 6:15 pm, the substantive part of the session finishes about an hour later. Afterwards, participants are encouraged to continue the conversation over drinks and sandwiches. By attending, you would therefore not only meet your own CPD requirements in a stimulating environment, but also contribute to the students’ educational experience.
Hope to see you there!
Christa Richmond is responsible for the Middle Temple Education Department, which looks after the ‘cradle to grave’ provision of education, training, and general advice for members of the Inn. A former teacher, she has a particular interest in the Inn as a place of learning and development in a professional community.
