Keble Course

The 2013 South Eastern Circuit Bar Mess Foundation Advanced International Advocacy Course at Keble College, Oxford will take place from
Monday 26 August 2013 (please note that this is a bank holiday), until
Saturday 31 August 2013. Participants must attend each day of the course.

The aim of this course is to encourage and develop the highest standards of advocacy amongst practitioners in London and the Southeast. The course is the most demanding and intensive of any advocacy course in the UK, and was described by a former presiding judge of the Circuit as the "Best Advanced Course in the UK".

To qualify for the course, you must join the Circuit and be a practising member of the Bar, over three years’ Call at the time of application.  The course is massively subsidised by the Circuit and the cost to each participating Circuit member is £1,100.00 / £1,700.00 + VAT (Crime / Civil respectively). The Circuit subsidy represents at least the participant cost all over again: i.e. the Circuit is making a large investment in its Practitioners.  

Previous courses have been accredited by the Bar Standards Board for 45 hours (includes 33 CPD hours, 9 Advocacy hours and 3 Ethics hours).  

The course takes place at Keble College, Oxford. The faculty consists of senior juniors, silks and judges, all of whom have undergone teacher training including specific training for this course. The ratio of participant to teacher is approximately 2.5:1.

Every participant undertakes each piece of work. Each piece of work is filmed. Advocacy takes place in small break-up groups of around 13. There is immediate critique in the class room followed by private one-on-one video critique. The purpose of the sessions during the week is to improve advocacy skills in all areas, including interlocutory work, associated with a trial. On the last day of the course a full trial takes place (also filmed) for criminal practitioners before a judge and jury, and for civil practitioners before a High Court Judge or Deputy. The jury's deliberations are filmed: each participant receives the film. Jurors also complete a confidential questionnaire on each advocate's performance.

Midway through the week a day and a half is devoted to working with experts in a trial setting. The experts will either be specialist consultant endocrinologists and neurologists (a medical negligence/manslaughter case) or accountants from one of the large accountancy firms.

Whilst the work on this course is demanding and difficult, firm friendships are made in the context of a supportive collegiate environment. Participants will be living and working with some of the great advocates of this generation, whose intentions are to help each participant realise his or her true potential.

This course is internationally recognised as arguably the best and most intensive advocacy course in the world. In recent years we have been fortunate enough to have participants from the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and faculty and participants from the Scottish Bar, the Florida Bar, the South African Bar, and the Bars of Australia, India and Pakistan. We, and they, all gain immeasurably from this dimension.

If you wish to attend the 2013 course, please download and complete the application form and return it to Natasha Foy at The South Eastern Circuit, 289-293 High Holborn, London WC1V 7HZ, DX: 240 LDE, or send a scanned copy of the signed originals to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

The Inns of Court offer funding for up to five of their members practising as Barristers in publicly funded work, towards the cost of attending the Keble Advanced Advocacy Course.

To apply for a scholarship from your Inn, please complete both the application form above and the Inns' scholarship application form and submit them together to Natasha.

Your application must be supported by a reference from your Head of Chambers or Head of the publicly funded work at your chambers/organisation. References must be sent directly by the referee and independent of your application. Further details and a pro-forma are included with the Inns' scholarship application form above.

The deadline for the submission of application forms and references has been extended from 21 May to 30 May 2013. Please note that references will not be chased on behalf of applicants.

For further information regarding the scholarships available, please contact your Inn.

For further information regarding the course, please contact Natasha Foy by email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .