Introduction
St Philips Chambers employment team provides a full employment final hearing demonstration.
The members of the employment team will conduct the respective roles for the full hearing: judge, counsel for claimant and counsel for respondent. The employment team at St Phillips is lucky enough to have a number of part-time employment judges who can provide the level of realism to the demonstration.
Content of mock tribunal
The witnesses come from the audience and are pre-prepared with their witness statements. The respective witnesses will spend some time with their advocate in order to familiarise themselves with the prospective procedures.
Two barristers from the employment team acting as counsel for the respective parties will undertake cross-examination and closing submissions.
St Phillips Employment team provide all the materials which include: an agreed bundle of documents containing the normal ET1, ET3 and relevant exhibits; and witness statements. The subject matter of the mock tribunal is not legally complex but the factual scenarios provide a number of avenues for cross-examination, argument and subsequent submissions for and against the respective parties.
Purpose and objective of the training exercise
The principal aim of the exercise is to provide solicitors and legal advisers the opportunity to view how respective cases can unfold and change complexion with the answers provided during a live hearing. The emphasis is to have an inter-discursive approach whereby at the conclusion of each relevant section of the case the barristers can come out of role and discuss with the audience the thought process behind particular lines of questioning and gauge what impression particular aspects of the evidence have made on the audience if they were the tribunal is a fact.
Practical considerations
The entire exercise when conducted in reasonable time takes approximately 2 1/2 hours but can be shortened depending on the time requirements of the audience.
Normally a reasonable size room is required to accommodate a judge and the two parties as if it were a tribunal.
The pack of materials can be emailed and printed at location.
