Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School - College of Social ...

Law School Culture: A Visit to Rutland
largest group being the several hundred applicants who come to
see the school on open days. 17 Almost all of the visitors have a
direct connection with the study of law; those who have been
admitted to membership as full-time or part-time teachers,
researchers, undergraduates, postgraduates and even secretaries
refer to the rest of humankind as "non-lawyers". Yet, one wonders,
does this conceit express a distinctive identity? I shall argue that
on the whole it does not.
Secretaries
The secretaries provide the first evidence of this theme. As in
other academic departments they provide both order and continuity.
They keep regular office hours during both term-time and vacation;
they welcome visitors and field telephone calls; they know
the students and recognise the alumni/ae; they pin up postcards
from wandering scholars; several of them have been there longer
than most of the faculty and the two senior secretaries, who are in
fact administrators, have kept things going steadily over the years
as deans and other officers have come and gone. They run the
place, keep out of departmental politics, and more than anyone
else contribute to a friendly atmosphere.
Students
There is a good deal of information about LLB students at Rutland,
much less about the other 50 per cent. In 1991-92 the figures
for the entering LLB class of 120 were as follows: 52 per cent,
women; 20 per cent from independent schools (UK); 15 per cent,
"mature" (i.e. over 21); 12 per cent, from home ethnic minorities;
20 per cent, from overseas. 18 This was broadly in line with local
and national trends. 19
Such bare statistics hide a much more complex reality. For
example, an American visitor would immediately be struck by the
extreme youth of the student body; the age of "maturity" in England
is well below the average age of most entering classes in
American law schools. The presence of a large number of overseas
students from diverse ethnic backgrounds (most of the full-time
postgraduates fall into that category) makes the atmosphere quite
cosmopolitan. As was noted above, it also tends to mask the special
problems of home ethnic minority students, many of whom can
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