The Sisyphean Task or Editing Well-Respected Standard Works of Wide Scope

Last week I went to an interesting talk by Hector MacQueen, organised by W. Green, on the Sisyphean task of editing the new edition of Gloag & Henderson’s Introduction to the Law of Scotland. 

This is one of the long-standing standard texts of Scots law covering a whole multitude of different subjects, well-thumbed by practitioners, and a respected text oft-cited in legal argument.

Change and Tradition

The 13^th edition later this year will mark a departure on earlier editions being available both in hardcopy and electronically as an add-on to Westlaw.

Gloag & Henderson was originally intended as a book for students back in 1927 when it was first published with two authors teaching law at different universities. 2012 will see the 13^th edition published and it now has fifteen separate authors involved in the work with responsibility for different aspects e.g. specific subject chapter. The book covers private and commercial law topics, the original coverage of criminal law in addition having been discontinued some editions back. Nevertheless, it remains a very large task that must be continually repeated to prepare each new edition and up-date all subjects and their treatment as well as to cater for new concerns such as easy-to-use electronic versions.

The Editorial Need

Because of the number of authors there is need for editing to deal with inconsistencies, omissions, replication etc across the work that would not be obvious to individual authors and to pull the work together as a cohesive whole.

Editorial Decision-Making

There is usually around 5 years between editions being published. This means that it will bring the reader up-to-date with what they need to know for any specific subject covered to a certain point in time. The reader then only has to check the intervening period for any substantial changes. The work will usually attempt to state the law as it currently is at publication. However sometimes for major in-coming legislation which will take effect very quickly after publication it may choose to treat it as though the legislation is already in force and state this (e.g. as it did with the 2006 Companies Act in the previous edition). The work will also point out places where the law is in flux with developments expected to clarify and talk about what they may be, and point out when there are opposing lines of development on certain issues and what kinds of resolution may come to be.

There was discussion of Gloag & Henderson and as ‘sacred text’ and the best method of up-dating and choices that needed made re. Parts of the text can be rewritten completely between editions if necessary. In that light MacQueen has authored and reworked  contract section due to important changes in Land Registration (Scotland)  Act 2012 re electronic documents and issues surrounding these that make changes to the Requirements of Writing Act (Scotland) 1995 and due to developments re the Hoffman approach to contract interpretation).  Generally the text will reflect developments and debates that are current. The current policy on up-dating is to include new cases from appellate level only, to note where cases mentioned could be subject to appeal, to mention where there is law reform proposals for the near future, to assume that new cases will cover all substantive previous ones within their discussion and therefore all cases don’t need listed, and to check legislation referred to to ensure it is still current.

Coherent Structure

It was noted Gloag & Henderson were not originally much bothered themselves about the structure of the work. However there is an attempt to ensure coherence in which main types of subjects are introduced and dealt with e.g. Legal System, then Obligations, then Property.

Purpose of the Work

The goal is a work that is up-to-date to on publication and will remain helpful for a reasonable period thereafter until the next edition is required.

Thoughts

It’s always interesting going to book launches or talks on texts and getting a different perspective on them. The final text that arrives is the version with all the decisions taken and the ends tidied up.  A discussion of the process though is illuminating on what might have been, why x approach is taken over y, what changes have been made, how and why the whole thing was undertaken in the first place and how many moons ago! A Preface is more likely to discuss what did happen, not what didn’t or might have. A talk that ranges across the history of a work and different approaches to it over time and why is more interesting however. Editorial decisions shape works in ways that may not be stated anywhere in the text, so it’s always good to have an insight into what is to be expected and why.

Placement Students and the Holy Grail

This morning I’m thinking about Placement Students for some reason. All the varieties and types and diversity (and occasionally vagaries!), of it.

Level

I tend to deal with three types of placement student in the main – those on secondary school placements, law students as part of organised e.g. summer student programmes, librarianship students that I take annually from a local university. 

Add to that there can also be more ad hoc one-off arrangements that come about more through personal networks than institutions e.g. taking a student as a favour to a colleague elsewhere.

So folk come from quite different routes for very different purposes.

Experience

Some folk will have no or little knowledge of a law firm environment or what it does. Others will have a lot (perhaps they worked somewhere similar before in another role, perhaps it’s related to their degree course). Reasons folk end up in a law firm on work experience can differ vastly. Often the link is the an interest or knowledge of the subject-matter, but just as often, especially at lower level, the link is there is someone within the firm they know and could ask, or it might be a quasi-automatic part of a tie-up programme with a specific institution.

Duration

Students may come into a firm for anything from as little as a day, to a concentrated period of 4 – 6 weeks. It could be a week. It could be a semi-regular occurrence over a longer period of time. Again, it differs a lot.  Law students are most likely to be around during academic holidays, a secondary school placement will tend to be a week.

Course / Programme Requirements

There may or may not be a whole list of requirements for the types of experience the student is expected to get over their placement and how this will be regulated or, perhaps, assessed. Generally speaking there is often a wish that they gain a varied experience across different parts of the firm, and there will need to be someone in overall charge of them, and they will need to be supervised. As usual, it kind of depends what they’re going to be doing and for how long how much will need put in place. 

There may be a feedback element on performance at the end, and there may be certain things they’re required to do during placement if it’s a fairly long one e.g. a project to be completed which will be assessed as part of their course requirements.

Placement Provider Requirements

From the viewpoint of the placement provider there will be various issues re induction and supervision and putting together a programme for the student (if they’re moving between departments for instance). There will be various compliance, or perhaps confidentiality, aspects too depending what they’re going to be doing. But in a way the main thing is that the placement provider both wants to help because they see it as in the sector’s overall interest (and may see it as an opportunity to try out potential new employees as well), but they also need to ensure that all normal work still gets done. The longer a student is in situ in one place the more useful they become as their knowledge of subjects and processes increases, they become useful help.  Whereas right at the start the amount of time explaining things and settling folk in can inhibit workrate and result in a sensation of feeling somewhat hoarse. But a good placement student over a fair chunk of time means with the added assistance you got things done that you want done but otherwise know you simply don’t have the capacity to achieve. This is the Holy Grail!

Library Requirements

Generally speaking it’s always nice to have someone who is interested.  Knowledge can be learned, just takes a while, but interest is what makes someone want to be there and what makes you want to encourage them.  If you have someone who is obviously bored out of their wits then it can be a long placement for everyone concerned. If students have previous knowledge then that’s great, there will be less talking yourself hoarse on basic contexts the first couple of days for instance, but it’s not at all essential.

Tasks

As usual, depends how long you have someone for, what their level of knowledge is in what subject.  If it’s three hours then basically all you can do is try and find something that will catch their attention and interest them (take them with you somewhere interesting externally they wouldn’t get to normally court or library wise if you can spare the time or need to go anyway, or give them something to read that will amuse or interest them if you can’t), there is no point in much else. If it’s a long period there is often a wish to get them doing quite discrete specific things that they can do by themselves from start to finish in the time.  Usually there are things that would be useful but are never important or urgent enough that they’re going to get staff time to do it. To those will get added helping catching up on any existing backlogs and doing day-to-day stuff.

Gaining a wider appreciation

Around activities can be explained all the what, why, how that underlies the activities themselves. It’s also nice to get students out and about occasionally seeing how other places do and approach things and talking through wider issues regarding the sector and what the current issues are.

Job Hunting

With library placement students who are in situ for a while one of the benefits of placements is, of course, the ability to get sectoral work experience (if they don’t already have any, many will, but of different types). They’re also a source of reference/s, can be access to a wide network of new contacts within a specific sector, and to details of jobs that come up.  So another measure of a successful placement in a way is whether within a few months the student has a full-time job, whether within law or the wider sector. That’s always something to smile about!

Wider Profession

I have ex Placement Students in all kinds of different jobs and places these days. Within the profession it encompasses law, commercial, academic, health, public libraries... 

Some I bump into occasionally in shops or the street or will hear about through others. Others I’ve stayed in contact with ever since or mentored for Chartership subsequently.

What Goes Right and What Goes Wrong

As I say, at best you achieve things you know you simply couldn’t get done otherwise. Someone who is interested and enthusiastic who’s probably going to remain in the profession. Which is wonderful.

At worst you have someone who simply doesn’t want to be there because they’ve figured out it’s really not for them, they haven’t got the interest for it, will never do anything similar again. Which is still a really valuable thing to learn, but if it’s Week One there could be a long way to go.

What Helps

Initial Meeting. I try and get my librarianship placement students to come in and see me before their placement officially starts. So they get a look at me, and me them, we can discuss sorts of things they’ll be doing, figure out what needs worked round schedule-wise (e.g. other work commitments, childcare commitments, exam dates, holiday dates), so they see the office and are not going to be walking in totally cold to a new environment at 9am on a Monday morning.

Split time between offices and supervisors. Because we have two offices fairly close to each other I also try and split Placement Students time-wise between offices in recent years. Means we’re not on top of each other all the time, they also get part of the week in the other office with my Assistant Librarian. 

Slightly flexible schedule. This just caters for the facts of life. Some days could just be too full for Placement Student into mix to be boon rather than yet more things to juggle. Some days require you to be somewhere else all day so not around in the office. Things can just ‘come up’ that need dealt with. So initial schedules are set re what office when and then get communally finessed a bit in practice around what is convenient and practical.