Celeb lawyer claims aspiring solicitors and barristers are better off watching his show than attending boring law lectures
Barrister and daytime TV judge Robert Rinder has slammed “serious” law students, claiming those who want to succeed in law need “life experience”.
Rinder, who has shot to fame through his hit ITV show Judge Rinder, reckons that law students have become increasingly serious since the days when he was studying at Manchester University in the 1990s.
In an interview given to online student paper The Tab, Rinder — who is a tenant at London’s 2 Hare Court — cited the increase in competition to secure employment for this rise in seriousness. He said:
These days, more than when I was at the bar, the legal profession is so utterly competitive, to even get a place at chambers or go to the bar. There might be 500 applicants for one place. I’m not surprised that given that sort of background that law students are increasingly serious.
Rinder — who has recently released a book, entitled “Rinder Rules, Make the law work for you!” — continues, warning students that being overly focused on their studies can actually harm their chances of securing a pupillage or a training contract.
The flamboyant and often outspoken lone member of the daytime TV judiciary trumpets the benefits of law students getting out there and experiencing real life, reflecting:
The students I often find most effective are those with the most life experience — by that I don’t mean internships but I mean exposure to their own communities. Something like working in a pub can be enormously important to how you can speak to people from different backgrounds.
Rinder’s typical TV case is a combination of Jeremy Kyle-esque scandal with a hint civil law. He claims law students should ditch their lectures in favour of watching these disputes on his show, explaining:
Your lectures just aren’t worth going to, stay in and watch it, you’ll learn just as much.
Just ignore the gavel…
The barrister adds that Judge Rinder does count as law, with the tort and contract law principles on exhibition especially relevant for first years:
Tweets are often forwarded to me from students doing a ‘does Judge Rinder count as law’ edition,” he continues. “I get a lot of those — and the answer is yes. The principles we apply are legit legal principles, especially for first year law students who are doing contract or tort law, the principles I apply are absolutely real and important principles that they’ll be thinking about for their studies.