The relentless pursuit of excellence, the weight of extensive hours, the advent of AI … these were some of the topics discussed at Hertford’s inaugural Law Network event, which took place in London on 20 June. A panel of alumni explored why it has never been more important for lawyers to be more human, and how we can create healthy cultures and become inspiring leaders in the legal profession. Below is an account of the evening, written by three of the Hertford second year law students who attended the event.
Eimaan Fatima: Whenever there is an alumni event, especially one with those who studied law at Hertford previously, it is always a fascinating experience talking to them about what Hertford used to be like and their experiences coming out of the Hertford space. On entry to The Dilly, there were drinks and canapés waiting for us and we started mingling amongst ourselves; name tags with our matriculation years identified so we can identify the different eras which Hertford has gone through. We were the newbies. So, when we heard stories of constantly attempting to find the relevant material in libraries all around the university, we were most grateful for the online resources we had at our fingertips. As the drinks flowed, so did the conversations, surrounding studying law at Oxford. It is always wonderful when the alumni community and us current students have the ability to converse and discuss the common ground which we share: Hertford. And so, this law event in particular helps the link between us all flourish and continue, and we help maintain the Hertford spirit outside of the four walls of the physical college.
After the initial greetings and early discussions, we entered the next room to hear Aruna, the Law Fellow, discuss the current upcoming milestones for Hertford; celebrating 150 years since the refoundation of the college as well as the 50 years golden milestone for allowing women to study amongst their male peers. She also mentioned and elaborated on the upcoming library plans which includes an entire renovation of that space to not only improve accessibility around the college but also a new, invigorated space for future students to be able to work in, matching up to the other college libraries in the city. With that, the alumni and the students were updated on the future of Hertford. The last section of the night was the panel discussion on ‘How to be human in the legal profession’. The topic was so diverse in the ways one could debate it, the panel was great in not only looking at the different types of legal professions whether that was from a corporate lens or from a barrister’s point of view but also, whether AI could revolutionise and replace lawyers. Each member of the panel helped bring a different perspective, with a commonality between them all being that the law as an occupation tends to create overworked employees. And with that, the solutions they gave out on ‘how to be human’ resulted in a more empathetic, kind way of approaching one another in this legal space. Personally, this conversation felt so significant for us ‘newbies’ wanting to work in this field, for it demonstrated to us that active work is ongoing to certify the law is not creating ‘overworked perfectionists’. But that the space is an encouraging one, and so the depictions of the reality of working in such spaces just demonstrates the work we will hopefully continue in order that we are all becoming better humans from this experience.
Charlotte Tomlinson: A fine June evening and we gathered for the law networking event for Hertford alumni in The Dilly Hotel. Canapes and drinks got the evening off to a start (my personal favourite was the mushroom pastries) and created a welcoming environment encouraging conversation. As someone who is still exploring potential career paths, I was eager for the opportunity to speak to alumni from diverse professional backgrounds. Even though we get a lot of exposure to different legal careers at university, I was looking forward to talking to those who had walked the same halls of Hertford.
The opportunity to connect with alumni who had once been in my shoes was both exciting and, admittedly, a little daunting. After all, these were people who have established themselves in successful careers, whilst I was a student still uncertain as to what I want to do after university. However, everyone was extremely friendly and easy to talk to. It was interesting to hear about the various paths people had taken in their legal careers, and to compare experiences of Hertford. We learnt about their life decisions, a lot of alumni having stayed on the legal path but with considerable variation in their careers.
The main event, the panel, began with Aruna Nair’s introduction, updating alumni on recent changes in Hertford, milestones being celebrated (such as 50 years since Hertford opened its doors to female students) and in the jurisprudence course at Oxford. The panel discussion was a highlight of the night, offering further insights into legal careers and, more importantly, how to maintain one’s humanity within such demanding roles. The importance of self-care and managing working hours was emphasised, advice that seemed very applicable to my current student life. The joke about lawyers being perfectionist, overachieving eldest children did get a lot of laughs, made me feel like I was in the company of those who understood!
What stood out to me the most was the panellists’ honesty about struggles within the legal profession. They talked openly about the pressures of competition, deadlines, and workplace culture. While they joked about barristers being happier, they were very open about there being difficulties in any legal career. Hearing the panellists speak out against the negative aspects of their work environments and advocate for better work-life balance was refreshing.
What advice did they have for their younger selves – what might we therefore do differently? They would be confident, practise better self-care, and be clearer that ‘your job isn’t your life.’ This really resonated, applicable to student life as well as future careers.
All in all, the Hertford alumni event enabled me to walk away with a clearer idea of what working in law may be like and with valuable advice. Though there was a bit of joking that the honesty of the panellists may have encouraged us future lawyers to pursue a career in academia (away from the cut and thrust of the corporate word), I actually think that it gave me a newfound sense of enthusiasm for a career in law.
Cameron Samuel Keys: I turned to the other 2nd year lawyers, after the discussion had finished, and said “what a novel way Aruna came up with to push us into academics.” This was, as Aruna has often accused me of, an oversimplification.
Dr Aruna Nair opened the event with an update on life at Hertford. Moving into our 150th year since the refounding of the college and 50 years since the admission of women Hertford now has 400 undergraduates, with a strong (20???) of those being lawyers.
The discussion was chaired by Jenni Emery who referred to herself as a “recovering lawyer,” which in fairness is very much how we were feeling by 9th week Trinity. The topic of discussion was the cheerily titled “How to be a human in the legal profession.”
Panellists began with an acknowledgement that this was a really difficult question to get right. In an area where you are ostensibly a tool for the use of your client, maintaining your humanity is an understandably complex balancing act. It was genuinely very comforting to hear not only from people who had made it to the top of their profession while still retaining their humanity but were also working to make it easier for others to do the same.
Perhaps most interesting was the difference in how this question manifests itself in solicitors and barristers. It appeared that the solicitors found the question of staying human one mainly centred on a work life balance, the need to make and maintain time outside the office and the need for partners to not treat trainees like their playthings. While the workload was still a factor for the barristers, it seems far more that they face a similar problem to, I imagine, professional boxers. They are sent out to fight against their friends and colleagues, they believe that it is the best way to achieve justice, but even still separating the personal from the professional remains a constant pressure. Joanne Wicks KC gave some great advice here – maintain professional standards, make sure you are known for maintaining professional standards and looking a colleague in the eye who caused your terrible day in court becomes just that little bit easier.
At every level the panellists clearly embodied the messages they came to reflect on. Gestures as small as getting your team to come to work in trainers instead of work shoes or going into chambers to be around for pupils to bump into and ask questions suggest that the profession many of us hope to end up working in is taking steps to make striking the balance being a human and a lawyer more achievable.
Following the event I had an enlightening conversation with an ex-Hertford law student, who gave great advice about doing the MSc in criminology and criminal law. We also discussed the benefits of taking some time away from law to see the world. For her this was working for UNICEF in Afghanistan just as the Taliban took over. Hopefully what I end up doing will be slightly lower stakes. Whatever that may be, I fear Aruna has achieved her true goal, no matter how much she denies it, getting us to stay in academia forever.
Overall, the entire evening was an incredible opportunity to delve into practical observations of what the legal profession entails and furthering our outlook on developing legal practises in themselves. Also, it was just great to be able to see many of those who were in our positions years ago, and see the fruition of what an Oxford law degree looks like and the different avenues one can possibly end up in.
If you would like to learn more about the new expanded Hertford law network, or would like to discuss getting involved in a future event as a host, speaker, or attendee, please email development.office@hertford.ox.ac.uk
