BHRC and HRLA to co-host Half-Day Seminar for Early Career Practitioners, Law Students & Members of BHRC and HRLA
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Skills training for early career practitioners is a core part of the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC)’s learning and training advocacy track, bridging the widening gap between academic knowledge and real-world practice and offering perspective and experience exchange on various aspects of practice, including client interaction and interviewing, advanced advocacy techniques, and vital communication and leadership skills. BHRC is committed to supporting our members and partner networks with opportunities to develop these essential skills for human rights practice and to build the confidence and capacity to handle complex, challenging human rights cases using a holistic, human-centred, trauma-informed approach.
The Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) is open to all connected with the law and the legal profession who have an interest in human rights law in the United Kingdom. The Association currently has over 2,000 members including solicitors, barristers, advocates, judges, government lawyers, legal academics, legal executives, in-house lawyers, pupils, trainees and law students. HRLA exists to increase knowledge and understanding of human rights and to aid their effective implementation within the UK legal framework and system of government.
BHRC and HRLA are proud to be partnering on this event as a follow up to the ‘Human Rights Careers, Skills & Values’ seminar jointly hosted in November 2023. Through a half-day programme of intensive but insightful and interactive sessions, ‘Skills for Human Rights Practice’ aims to support the development of confidence, community and competency among junior members of the Bar and the legal profession overall, with content specifically designed to help early career practitioners, pupils, trainees and law students skill up in key areas that support advanced, human-centred advocacy approaches to human rights practice. Speakers will be drawn from the Executive Committees and member networks of BHRC and HRLA, as well as valued contacts from the legal profession, from NGOs and higher education.
The half-day seminar will be open to UK and members of BHRC and HRLA, international law students (including undergraduates and postgraduate / postdoctoral researchers), trainee solicitors, pupil barristers and early- to mid-career solicitors and barristers who are already working in or interested in moving into human rights practice, or more deeply embedding a rights-based approach within their legal and professional practice in general. Please bookmark this page for updates on speakers, agenda and registration, or to register, please do so here.
Session Programme [Subject to Change]
Event Hosts: The Bar Human Rights Committee & Human Rights Lawyers Association (Zoom)
Speakers: Members of the BHRC & HRLA Executive Committees plus Special Guests
Convenor: Dr Louise Loder (BHRC Project Team | HRLA Executive Committee)
Date: Wednesday 27 November 2024
Time: 12:00 – 16:00 (with break)
12:00-12:30 (Opening) Session I – Skilling up for holistic, human-centred practice
Skilling up for holistic, human-centred practice involves acquiring a blend of technical, interpersonal and reflective skills to address diverse client needs with integrity and confidence. Legal practitioners must develop empathy, active listening and cultural competence to understand clients’ unique contexts. We also know that training in collaborative problem-solving and interdisciplinary teamwork enhances the ability to design and implement integrative solutions, whereas reflective practices are crucial for adapting to evolving client and professional dynamics. Focusing on holistic, trauma-informed approaches, how can practitioners create more meaningful, sustainable impact in their working lives and develop the necessary skills for effective, compassionate practice?
12:30-13:15 Session II – Cultivating Advanced Advocacy Skills
Advocacy is a crucial skill for barristers and solicitor advocates, as to represent clients effectively, you will need to build trust, demonstrate sound judgement, and be able to communicate with different people clearly and persuasively. This session delves into the core qualities that define successful advocacy, offering aspiring and junior practitioners practical guidance on developing effective advocacy strategies. Participants will learn how to cultivate the skills necessary to develop these vital skills in legal practice.
13:15-14:00 Session III – Trauma-Informed Approaches to Human Rights Advocacy
Trauma-informed approaches to human rights advocacy recognise the multidimensional impact of trauma and help practitioners integrate this understanding into practice by avoiding re-traumatisation, building trust, and improving client communication and cooperation. Trauma-informed human rights practice enhances the client’s ability to engage with legal processes, ultimately leading to better outcomes for victims of human rights abuses seeking justice and remedy. Adopting a trauma-informed perspective also demonstrates professionalism and ethical responsibility, equipping practitioners with the skills to handle sensitive situations with compassion and competence whilst avoiding vicarious or secondary trauma, thereby strengthening the overall effectiveness of their advocacy.
14:00-14:15 Break
14:15-15:00 Session IV – Compassionate and Constructive Client Interviewing
Client interviewing skills enable practitioners to gather comprehensive and accurate information about the client’s experiences, which is critical to building a strong case and ensuring the most effective representation for your client. Effective interviewing helps uncover crucial details that might otherwise be overlooked, ensuring a thorough understanding of the human rights violations involved and importantly, helping to establish trust, respect and rapport between the client and the practitioner, especially when clients in human rights cases have experienced trauma, are under extraordinary pressures and may be hesitant to share their lived experiences.
15:00-15:45 Session V – Emerging Human Rights Challenges and Implications for Future Legal Practice
In this session, leading experts will explore evolving and emerging human rights challenges and how these might impact and shape the work and approaches of legal professionals in the future, including: freedom of expression, protest rights and arbitrary detention; artificial intelligence and digital privacy; sustainability, climate change and extreme poverty; and persistent gender discrimination and violence against women and LGBTQ+ communities. Speakers will examine how traditional human rights frameworks are being tested and the necessity for innovative legal approaches, and will share their experiences and practical strategies that early career lawyers can use to adapt and respond effectively to a changing legal landscape.
15:45-16:00 Closing Remarks & Summary of the Day’s Discussions
During this part of the programme, Michael Ivers KC (BHRC Chair) and Joe Middleton (HRLA Chair) will recap the afternoon’s discussions and share their analysis, insights and key takeaways.
