Seminar Series via Zoom

This session discusses the various routes into a career in the law, starting with A-Level choices, and ending with consideration of the various end-points, whether that be as a lifelong advocate or a judge in the Supreme Court. The UK system is unusual in that it has various legal roles, including barristers, solicitors and legal executives, all of which will be discussed. The alternative system in the US, with attorneys, will also be considered for those wishing to qualify in two legal systems.

This seminar considers how to prepare a case from the view of both a solicitor and a barrister. The solicitor's role is to collect sufficient information to build a case, but often they will represent the case in court. Barrister's work is centred on advocacy, and so preparing a case for court is a heavy focus during this seminar. Preparation is key, and we discuss how to identify the key issues, how to conduct effective legal research and how to plan advocacy using the idea of the "theme".

Effective communication is one of the top skills of a lawyer. Different styles are needed in a range of contexts, ranging from negotiating for an out of court settlement with the opposing lawyers, or taking instructions from a vulnerable client. This session looks at a range of techniques to improve those communication skills.

The quintessential feature of work as a lawyer is often seen to be court advocacy. This session tells you how to effectively communicate with a judge, how to present a convincing argument to win your client's case and looks at the smaller details which are essential, as the last thing you would want to do is refer to a judge with the wrong title!

Much of a lawyers work involves the drafting of documents. This session discusses the move away from complex legal terminology to more client friendly language, and will do so in reference to a wide range of legal documents that a lawyer would meet in day to day practice.

Very few cases get to the UK Supreme Court, and when they do they are often of fundamental importance. This session discusses some key cases throughout history and the role of the judiciary, including questions of forced termination and the ending of life support for children.

After briefly looking at the development of human rights law, from ancient legal systems through to the aftermath of World War II, this session focusses on the role that human rights law plays in the modern world, and how human rights protection can be enforced whilst preserving a nation's sovereignty. 

Should animals have legal personhood? Does an animal have the right to life? Does the environment have rights of its own? These deeply ethical issues and more are looked at in this session which is a relatively new area of law, but is of growing importance more recently, and is therefore a subject worthy of study.

International agreements exist, or are being drafted, that cover the peaceful uses of outer space, the protection of the space environment and any life, and even a protocol of first contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence. Space law is an exciting and very niche field of growing international importance.

This session looks at the US legal system which in many ways stands in contrast to the English legal system. It includes an overview of the constitution and federal legal system, as well as some specific examples taken from New York and Californian Law, making comparisons of their criminal law.

Pay for nine seminars and attend all ten.

Starting with the concept of wave particle duality, and the de Broglie wavelength, the Schrödinger equation is derived with a brief overview on solving the time independent Schrödinger equation and how to find normalisation constants. Some basic knowledge of differential equations is useful but not essential. Derivation of this equation gives one an immense feeling of achievement. 

One of the greatest discoveries in Physics was Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which he famously came up with whilst sitting on a train. This session discusses the same thought experiment to explain the concept of Special Relativity, enabling the speed of light to remain constant and acknowledging the shocking revelation that time passes at different rates for different people. It also discusses and solves some famous paradoxes including Einstein's Twin Paradox.

This session looks at the cosmological principle, that the universe is isotropic and homogeneous, and discusses why we know the laws of physics are the same everywhere. It will reconcile the statement that the universe has an age and is expanding, with the fact that the universe has always existed and is infinite in size. Latest thinking on the shape of the universe is covered with a brief history of the evolution of the universe is given, with a discussion of its likely fate.

Whilst special relativity profoundly changed Physics, the theory of General Relativity has far reaching consequences. This session discusses some of the mathematical principles behind the theory that gravity is a consequence of curved spacetime, with a discussion of the equivalence principle. No prior knowledge of geodesics is required.

This session looks at structures such as quasars and pulsars, and some other recent discoveries, but focusses on black holes and the research of physicists such as Stephen Hawking. 

Are you with Einstein or the Copenhagen physicists? Quantum entanglement has been used to demonstrate that the consequence of the Schrödinger equation is that a particle is a probability wave until it is observed. Einstein famously asked "Does this mean that the moon is not there if I am not looking at it?" To which the Copenhagen physicists have replied "That is exactly what it means". This session discusses Quantum Indeterminacy, proving them right. 

Whilst this session's title is the Dagger Function, this session looks at a range of mathematical concepts in quantum physics, including Bra and Ket notation. These ideas allow the solution of various equations, and allow us to demonstrate that there are discrete possibilities for energy, momentum and position. When electrons transition between energy levels, they do not move from one to the other. The mathematical principles discussed in this session give you tools to start to understand why.

This session looks at the advances in computing made possible by quantum physics. For a long time, whilst the solutions to Schrodinger equation gave the possibility of something apparently being in two places at once, and the possibility that objects are not there until observed, causing chaos is physics, it was the usefulness of the theory in applications such as computing that drove developments in quantum theory. A code can be created using quantum physics that is arguably unbreakable. 

The standard model of particle physics is explained in this session. We consider some more exotic particles, including the Higgs Boson, the chameleon particle which is proposed as an explanation of dark matter, and the tachyon, a particle which is said to travel faster than the speed of light. We will explore quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics and supersymmetry. 

Are particles in fact small string like structures? String Theory with its concepts of strings and branes, is a contender for status as a Grand Unified Theory as it deals with some of the mathematical problems which arise when trying to reconcile the General Theory of Relativity with quantum field theory. This session covers the basics of string theory making an elegant but complex theory accessible to those who have an interest in Theoretical Physics. 

Pay for nine seminars and attend all ten.