Jonathan sumption qconline

By Geraldine Clark

Rarely in my experience is a talk so gripping and helpful that you wish it was longer. A packed Inner Temple Hall was treated to such a talk by Jonathan Sumption QC on 29 September 2009 as part of the SEC’s Masters of Advocacy series of lectures.

Sumption’s subject was Appellate Advocacy and throughout the talk he delighted the 300-strong audience with quips such as: “Appellate judges are bigger than you and they hunt in packs”.

Jonathan sumption qconline

These mild digs at judges reminded everyone that this speaker was not a judge but a practising barrister like them.

Sumption shared some instructive insights into the judicial mind based on his experience. He said that judges had become less reverent of authority than in the past and that they cited fewer cases in their judgments these days.

There was now a tendency to set out broad principles of law exemplified by the authorities across a range of subjects rather than a