Mar 17, 2015
Wheely Woes
One of the wheels on my wheely has turned into a square 😞
seen from France
seen from Czechia
seen from China
seen from Japan
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States
seen from Iraq
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Iraq
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Belgium
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Belgium
Wheely Woes
One of the wheels on my wheely has turned into a square 😞
Happy Friday
Advised my client 2 year starting point. Result: 26 weeks suspended. 😁
They call it a job
But it is a life. A way of living. Invested. Physical. Emotional. Tick tock. 5.30pm says the clock. But it doesn't end. The same way it doesn't begin. It just is. All the time. All of me. Cut off. Detach they say. Objective. Impartial. Cut your heart from your brain? But the brain powers the heart. The heart feeds the brain. Dependent. Connected. Fused. To feel or not to feel. Is not the question. Just his lawyer? His friend. Alone. Failed. By the system. By them. By us. Courage in youth. No fear. Nothing to fear. Nothing to hope. Nothing to love. The wrongdoer. The wronged. Blurred lines. Lost time Lost chance to make them clear. --- Change the world we said. Mocked. Powerless. Dead.
A Saturday in January
A District Judge said I had spoken very eloquently today at Westminster MC, before refusing my application for a Pre Sentence Report and sentencing my client to 20 weeks. If you know anything about Westminster, you'll know that's a victory of sorts. One week in to January 2015 and I haven't had the chance to write my standard new year post. Usually consisting of the good, the bad, the ugly and the next steps. Bit like an Advice on Evidence actually. Currently on a train home to Birmingham after Court. Sun streaming through the window. Spring is around the corner. And with Spring comes decision time. Over 15 months down of this 18 month process. Feeling run down, head coldy and snuffly. The final stretch they say. Trying very hard not to break the record of zero sick days in Pupillage... Drafting assessments due this week = 😰😱 But the dream of a life which no longer involves Saturday court is enough to keep the spirit alive. As my co-pupil and friend said in chambers yesterday; 'we're nearly there Zi, can't give up now!' Without my co-pupils, supportive colleagues, friends and family - this process would be near enough impossible. But we're getting there. Testament to the fact; there is light at the end of the tunnel, through adversity there is is strength and with every hardship comes ease.
Soz Povey
Possession of bladed article case this morning in Norwich. Was about to ask for an adjournment for a pre-sentence report but then got a random thought to make off the cuff submissions that the sentencing guidelines in Povey, which suggest a starting point of 12 weeks custody should not apply. Bench retired for a good while. Outcome: a fine and a happy client + family. Early start well worth it. 😊
365 days ago or thereabouts...
Was my first day of Pupillage. I was due to meet my supervisor in Southwark Crown Court. He was in a multi handed money laundering trial. Remember waking super early out of nerves. Making my way to London Bridge. Taking pictures as I went, still being a brummy tourist having had only been in London a short while before.
I remember sitting downstairs in the reception waiting for him. The minutes passed by… A good half an hour and I still hadn’t met him. I asked myself - had he forgotten about me?! I plucked up the courage to call him, to learn he was waiting for me in the canteen…
Where I would go on to have so many grim Southwark CC lunches!
Remember not being able to work the crazy hole punch. Remember answering wrongly to the Q about time limit for service of a defence statement…! One year on. Attendance note-ing on the train, figuring out what I’ve got tomorrow, briefs to sort, juggling lots of deadlines, texting the new pupils to make sure they’re ok… How did that happen?! Thankful and grateful. And the journey continues.
Acquitted.
Concluded my last full week of second six Pupillage with an acquittal for a grateful and deserving client. Having welcomed our new first six pupils into chambers yesterday evening, I can't quite believe how fast time has gone. They fired questions at us, most identical to ones we had asked the previous year. I remember the same excitement, nerves, apprehension and generally not knowing what to expect. I remember the shoes I wore and how they gave me blisters! Going on to do a third six and so the hard work continues. But the big Q* is pending. And it is exciting. And an achievement I feel. Don't have all the answers moving forward, but for now, for this moment in time- this is me. And I'm getting there. Officially qualified on 1st October 2014.
Winds of change are blowing wild & free
Had a last get together with our current third six pupils tonight in advance of tenancy decisions tomorrow. Us starting on our feet on Monday. So many mixed feelings. Excitement. Sadness. Nostalgia. Wondering where you will be next year, with your feet in the same shoes. Build relationships with people. Some will stay. Some will go. Perhaps some will stay even if they do go. Makes you think about time. How little we have of it. How fast it goes. Blink. And it's gone.