NQ blog - April 2016: What's a typical day for a court practitioner?

For the past few years, I have been involved in a mentoring scheme through the University of Glasgow’s ‘Legal 40’ network and it has been particularly rewarding in being able to mentor aspiring solicitors.

One of the most common questions I am asked by students contemplating a life in criminal or civil law is: ‘What is a typical day like as a court practitioner?’ The answer – extremely busy!

Across any sector, not just in law, people are under pressure to perform. In my own area of practice, aside from any business and financial considerations, my clients’ rights are my priority and protecting their rights comes first. We are a client-focused industry and at Campbell & McCartney we deal with a high volume of work which means preparation and organisation are key.

On a typical day, I get started in the office at around 8.15am, checking emails and getting files ready for court. The diary is crucial; it goes without saying that you should know what you are doing day-to-day, notwithstanding that the court diary requires a degree of flexibility and can be subject to change. Court cases can be listed for 9.30am if, for example, it is a deferred sentence and 10am if there are trials and intermediate diets. Civil proofs and procedural matters can be listed for 10am also.

Glasgow Sheriff Court is an extremely busy and vibrant setting for conducting cases. It is probably trite to anyone who appears there to say that no two days are ever the same at GSC! All of the agents and court staff are particularly friendly and helpful, which can really ease the pressure during the midst of a typically busy and demanding day.

In court, my responsibilities range widely from appearing in the civil courts to the children’s referral court to the criminal courts. On any one day I could be covering cases across five or six different courtrooms, with several cases in each court. Sometimes the most difficult element of the job is the logistics of balancing so many cases and not, in fact, the complexity of the law itself.

In the afternoon there might be a few custodies to deal with, especially after a busy weekend as duty solicitor attending various police offices across Glasgow! Again, the afternoon courts might range from intermediate diets to child welfare hearings to children’s referrals to custodies or, in my case, all of the above. Hopefully, all things being equal, my court commitments normally wind down around 4pm. After this, it’s back to the office for client meetings and paperwork.

I’m fortunate that at Campbell & McCartney we have a strong teamwork ethic, which means that my colleagues and I are always on hand to assist each other with our workload. This fact, combined with the help of other agents and court staff, means that the fast-paced days as a court practitioner are in fact particularly enjoyable and rewarding; which is the upshot of my answer when asked by students: ‘What is a typical day like as a court practitioner?'