Our Work Experience students are back from a break over the Summer. Henry was our first and here is what he got up to in his week at Matrix:
“My week at Matrix was great. I saw some really interesting cases and met some of the best advocates around! The whole Chambers was welcoming and I enjoyed it so much.
On Monday and Tuesday we saw an extradition case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court involving an ex-football club owner and another individual wanted back in Lithuania over alleged financial crimes. Matrix’s Aaron Watkins was junior counsel for one of the defendants and it was a very complex and difficult case which involved numerous witnesses and many of them requiring an interpreter to give evidence.
On Wednesday and Thursday we were at the Supreme Court to see the much-reported case of a homosexual couple who were refused a double room at a private hotel. Aidan O’Neill QC represented the Christian hoteliers and Karon Monaghan QC intervened for Liberty. They were both excellent; eloquently spoken and their respective arguments were extremely interesting to hear. Later that day I got the opportunity to work through an enthralling hypothetical legal question about gross negligence manslaughter (a very hard to prove version of the criminal charge of manslaughter); I found the task really useful and enthralling as I learnt a lot about important parts of building a case (including causation and building a chronology). At the end of the day I came up with a draft opinion as if I was a CPS Prosecutor working on the case.
Friday was probably the most varied day. I read through a skeleton argument for a very delicate and highly important Asylum and Immigration case and then saw Raj Desai brilliantly argue the case laid out in the document. He was utterly amazing; he dealt with the witnesses carefully and compassionately and put forward the intricate legal points in a crystal clear way. Later in the afternoon I did some very interesting accounts filing!
Without a doubt, my week at Matrix was eye-opening, invigorating and has made me even more sure that I want to work as a barrister later on in life. I’d like to thank everyone at Chambers for making the week so thoroughly enjoyable!”
