Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
About
Overview
Lawrence Pickett studied Law at Trinity College Cambridge. He was Called to the Bar by the Middle Temple, having completed the Bar Final Examination at the Inns of Court School of Law (now the City Law School). He was a pupil in chancery chambers in Lincoln's Inn, dealing mainly with conveyancing, trusts and capital tax planning. He joined the staff of the Inns of Court School of Law as a Permanent Lecturer in 1979 and has taught Bar students at the School throughout his career.
He played an active part in the development of the ground-breaking skills-based Bar Vocational Course prior to its introduction in 1989, and taught on the original BVC and on its revised iterations - the Bar Professional Training Course from 2010 and the Bar Vocational Studies Programme from 2020.
He has occupied many administrative roles over the years. His main interest has always been in all aspects of the assessment process, in connection with which he held 2 major appointments: (i) from 1989 until 1996, Principal Lecturer with special administrative responsibility for the "old-style" Bar Examination, which continued to be set and marked by the Law School as an alternative route to qualifying as a barrister for those who did not intend to practise in England and Wales (who were excluded from the Bar Vocational Course in those years); (ii) from 2000 until 2021, he was Director of Assessments, initially involving oversight of assessment on all the School's professional courses but latterly an advisory role as courses have become more mature and autonomous. He was Chairman of the Bar Vocational Course Assessment Board from 2001 to 2011.
Upon retirement from full-time employment in September 2021, he received the title Emeritus Fellow in the Law School. He has since returned to teach as a Visiting Lecturer and he greatly enjoys working with the current generation of Bar Vocational Studies students on the Civil side of their Course.