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Pathway to become a judge? (1 Viewer)

WannaBeLaw

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Hey guys, I really like the idea of becoming a judge, but obviously it's a long road to becoming one.

Could anyone give a link or a guide on how long it takes and what looks favourable to people who want to become judges? Would it be a 10-15 year track?

Say a person finishes law school. Then, they enter practice and work as a solicitor. Would they need to work as a barrister? How does a person go about applying or are they chosen?

I know these guys do really well, however, it looks like partners make much more cash.

Appreciate any help.
 

17028354

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Hey guys, I really like the idea of becoming a judge, but obviously it's a long road to becoming one.

Could anyone give a link or a guide on how long it takes and what looks favourable to people who want to become judges? Would it be a 10-15 year track?

Say a person finishes law school. Then, they enter practice and work as a solicitor. Would they need to work as a barrister? How does a person go about applying or are they chosen?

I know these guys do really well, however, it looks like partners make much more cash.

Appreciate any help.
zzz.

ok i'll be nice because im a nice guy.

judges are only cherry picked from the creme da la creme of the upper crust of barristers.
they are usually QCs or SCs, though not necessarily.
many top barristers though, will obviously turn down the offer, as they can earn multiples of what a judge would earn.

to be honest if you think you will get there in 10-15 years i don't think you will make it.

try about.. 30-40 years from being admitted
 
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Gmac_0

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Pretty long road, no doubt. You'd probably have been a barrister for many years beforehand, like the previous poster mentioned, perhaps a QC/SC. I have no statistics, but I'd say most judges would be 50+, so yeah, a lot more than just 10-15. Indeed, the QC/SC will generally earn a lot more, however their hours are also better, fair bit less stressful.
 

Frigid

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WannaBeLaw said:
Hey guys, I really like the idea of becoming a judge, but obviously it's a long road to becoming one.

Could anyone give a link or a guide on how long it takes and what looks favourable to people who want to become judges? Would it be a 10-15 year track?
grasshopper, aren't you full of questions? one should learn to walk before one runs.

in response to your question, consider the biographical details contained in swearing in and farewell speeches by judges of the federal courthttp://www.fedcourt.gov.au/aboutct/speeches.html and the NSW supreme courthttp://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/Supreme_Court/ll_sc.nsf/pages/SCO_speeches.
 

flamearrows

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grasshopper, aren't you full of questions? one should learn to walk before one runs.

in response to your question, consider the biographical details contained in swearing in and farewell speeches by judges of the federal courthttp://www.fedcourt.gov.au/aboutct/speeches.html and the NSW supreme courthttp://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/Supreme_Court/ll_sc.nsf/pages/SCO_speeches.
Some of those are really quite interesting. I'll pick a fairly undistinguished judge, though.

From her swearing-in (heavily abridged):

Attorney-General of NSW said:
Bachelor of Arts (UNSW)... Bachelor of Laws (UNSW)... Mallesons Stephen Jacques... Public Prosecutor... Barrister... Queen's Council... Volunteer work, pro bono practice... 5 marathons
Get the picture, OP? Now quit posting on BOS and go study.
 

17028354

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hahaha

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/supreme_court/ll_sc.nsf/vwFiles/harrison220509.pdf/$file/harrison220509.pdf

(Justin Harrison) I
temporarily formed the view that the practice of law as a profession
was not for me. I therefore joined the law faculty at the university
of New South Wales where I taught for some five years. It was
during that time that I discovered that I really did want to be a
lawyer in active practice. I came to the bar in 1977 and worked as
a barrister for the next 30 years. I am therefore not accustomed to
speaking in public – for free!

It is not advisable to tell lawyers jokes on occasions like this. I
remember our own Chief Justice speaking about this once. He
referred to the practice, when addressing a mixed audience of
lawyers and non-lawyers, to tell the usual kind of lawyer joke about
lawyers who are nasty, greedy and unethical. He said he had
stopped that practice because the lawyers in the audience didn’t
think the jokes were funny and the non-lawyers didn’t realise that
they were jokes
 

Frigid

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flamearrows said:
Some of those are really quite interesting. I'll pick a fairly undistinguished judge, though.
let us also consider a distinguished judgehttp://www.fedcourt.gov.au/aboutct/judges_papers/speeches_keanecj1.html (although not of the High Court):
- Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws (University Medal) (University of Queensland, 1976)
- Bachelor of Civil Law (First Class Honours) (Oxford University, 1977)
- Admitted to the Queensland Bar (1977)
- Appointed as Queen's Counsel (1988)
- Appointed as Solicitor-General for Queensland (1992)
- Appointed as Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland (2005)
- Appointed as Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (2010)
haha, i don't even have step one. :p
 

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