brilliant lecture on law

We were delighted yesterday evening to welcome back barrister and former student Savannah Woolgar-Harris for the latest in our series of supercurricular lectures on her specialism in family law.

Savannah completed A levels with us in 2015, and testified that during her time here, she greatly enjoyed participating in our debating society (still hugely popular and going strong as we speak), and that this was one of the factors that influenced her decision to apply to study Law at university. Savannah was called to the bar in 2021, and she provided us with a fascinating insight into the working life of a barrister and due legal processes, including the types of hearing, the finding of fact, and the standard of proof.

Savannah also went into great detail about the mechanics of family law practice and its 3 key areas: financial remedy, public law and private law; and she shared examples of interesting cases and the many daily challenges and rewards of the profession.

Our audience was inspired to ask a wide variety of questions and were keen to learn more about balancing case loads, time management, the working structure between clerks, solicitors and barristers, and pathways into the profession; and last but not least, how often Savannah wore the wig, which she had kindly brought along for us all to observe!

It was fantastic to see the lecture so well-attended by our students from across the year groups, their parents and carers, and our staff. 

It was clear to see how high the level of audience engagement was, and many were keen not only to ask questions, but to speak with Savannah at the end, who kindly offered to share advice on the process of applying for and pursuing a career in the field.

With huge thanks to Savannah for returning to UGS to inspire our students, to all who attended, and to Mrs McNally for organising the ongoing lecture programme. Looking forward to the next one already!