Major Penny Davies- Ipswich High School 1984 - 1991

Barrister and Army Lawyer

Initially I read law in London from 1991 to 1994 and then qualified as a barrister at the Inns of Court School of Law in October 1995. Many of my colleagues had read other subjects as a first degree before moving into the law. Unless you specifically wish to study law from an academic point of view, I would always advise a potential barrister or solicitor to take a subject at university that they really enjoy and have a personal interest in, before then moving into the legal field.

I practised as a barrister from chambers in Temple, London from 1955 to early 2000. I was a tenant at a small common law set, doing a mixture of work. The beauty of being a self-employed practitioner (as are all members of the independent Bar) is that you can shape your own area of experience and focus upon work that you wish to concentrate on. Throughout my pupillage and on into tenancy I tended to concentrate on criminal defence work and immigration, although there are literally dozens of specialist areas to consider. The major disadvantage of being self-employed is that, in the absence of an employer’s salary, one cannot rely upon a monthly income, and on occasions the delay in getting paid for a case can be very considerable. I advised clients orally in conference, in writing, and appeared in many different courts, including magistrates’ courts, crown courts, county courts, the Court of Appeal and various appeal tribunals.

In late 1999 I began to consider moving on from what I was doing. For a number of years I had been aware that the Army and RAF commissioned qualified barristers and solicitors as legal officers to work in the military environment, both at home and overseas. The Army does not distinguish between the two professions and employs its officers across the board. I felt that I wanted to serve in the Forces, if only for a short spell during my career. I had no family background in the Forces but I developed a strong leaning towards working as an officer in such a challenging and exciting environment. I decided to take a leap into the unknown and applied to the Army Legal Services (Adjutant General’s Corps). I was commissioned as a Captain in February 2000. Together with other professionally qualified officers such as doctors, nurses, vets and padres, I attended a special short course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst to be taught the rudiments of military skills, tactics, field craft and weapon handling. After passing out from Sandhurst I deployed to Bosnia for three months to spend time with an armoured infantry battalion on peace support operations. For those with no previous military experience, this is a good way of learning about how the Army operates.

From August 2000 until August 2002 I worked as an Army Prosecutor in courts-martial cases. Much travel was involved, as there are courts-martial centres throughout the UK, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Germany. In August 2002 I was posted up to Edinburgh to work as an advisory lawyer at a Divisional HQ. This new job is extremely varied and interesting but, because of the way the Army works, generally you can expect to move from job to job every two years. The lifestyle, mess living, adventurous training (I’ve been rock climbing and diving on the Dalmatian coast and horse-riding in Germany) and opportunities for promotion up a very defined career ladder make this a job I can recommend. I have recently extended my original four-year commission to six years and I am now looking to apply for a more permanent commission to take me up to sixteen years. I know that I can return to the Bart if I wish, but at present I am thoroughly enjoying my life in the Army.

I am happy to be contacted via the Minerva Network Development Office. I may be able to organise work experience but it may be of a limited nature due to the kind of job that I do. I can discuss the idea, if and when the situation arises.