I’m a huge fan of podcasts. If you’re an OU student, chances are you already multitask like a champ, which is my main reason for loving podcasts so much. If I’m in the shower, I’ve got a podcast going, if I’m washing up or doing my makeup, I’m listening to a podcast. My favourites are legal podcasts. I feel like I’m positively contributing to my degree, growing my legal knowledge and it takes zero time out of my day to do.
The problem is there are loads of them on so many different platforms, it can be time-consuming just picking one to listen to. So, to save you all the hassle of searching and sifting through them (a LOT of legal podcasts are based on American law), I’ve compiled a list to help you pick some that might be helpful to give you a new way to boost your studies for the New Year.
All of these can be found on Spotify. Spotify is free to join but you do have to pay a premium to listen to Spotify offline. You can get a student account for £4.99 a month which I recommend but this is not essential.
Law Pod UK
This is my favourite podcast. Run by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row it covers developments across all aspects of civil and public law. There are episodes on everything including Brexit, Lockdowns, what a ‘mother’ is in law and so much more. There are currently 132 episodes on Spotify so this one should keep you busy for a good while.
UK Law Weekly
This is a weekly podcast on recent legal decisions run by Marcus Cleaver. This usually covers recent Supreme Court decisions and always includes a thoughtful and interesting case analysis at the end. The podcast episodes are fairly short which is great for fitting them in during a quick shower. Marcus Cleaver also runs a YouTube channel, I’ve not personally checked this out but if YouTube is where you feel most at home it’s worth knowing.
Law in Action
Featuring reports and discussion on matters relating to law, clips of this podcast are often featured as part of the OU materials, so I’d personally recommend listening to the episodes in full. I find the episodes interesting and always a good listen.
The Commercial Awareness Podcast
This is a commercial awareness news round-up for prospective and current UK-based corporate lawyers. I have to be honest and say I don’t have a lot of interest in commercial law generally, but I enjoy this podcast. The latest episode covered the court case involving Subway where the court was asked to decide whether Subway bread was indeed bread and the Mariott data breach. Just to note, the presenter is American but the law covered is indeed UK law. There is also an Instagram page where episodes can be discussed and future topics for podcasts can be voted on.
Talking Law with Sally Penni
If interviews are more your thing, barrister Sally Penni interviews leading figures in UK law as they discuss the highs and lows of their career plus the challenges and realities of the legal profession. This podcast is perhaps not as educational as others. However, it is entertaining. My favourite episode is the one with Judge Rinder!
Chloe Made Me Study
This one is not a legal podcast, this podcast contains studying advice for non-traditional students, particularly mature, distance and workplace learners. I should warn you that being a study skills expert is Chloe’s job and business, which means the first five minutes or so are dedicated to her talking about the services and products she offers. If you think these might help you by all means listen, but honestly, I usually skip the first five minutes. Not all will be helpful to you, but I wish episode 27 ‘How to Ditch Descriptive Writing and Conquer Critical Writing’ was released before I wrote my latest TMA. It would have helped no end and if I ever have another ‘critically evaluate’ TMA I will do it differently as a result of this episode.
The Pupillage Podcast
I found the episodes informative on aspects of applying to the Bar, practice areas, interviews, and even mooting. It should be mentioned there hasn’t been an episode added to Spotify since October 2019, but if you’re hoping to go to the Bar I’d still recommend the podcast. As it isn’t a ‘current affairs’ podcast the information in the episodes doesn’t go out of date, after all, interview tips in 2019 are likely to still be valid interview tips in 2021.
The Legal Room UK
Made in conjunction with Herrington Carmichael Solicitors, this podcast advises on a variety of topics including lasting power of attorney, debt recovery, disputing wills, breach of contract and so much more. I found this a good podcast as they attempt to explain topics for the layperson which makes the episodes short and easy to understand.
Lawcast
This podcast examines legal topics across the full range of business sectors including insurance, cyber risks, health regulation, and NHS policy, real estate, commercial law, and employment law. Episodes are added regularly and are fairly short and as the podcast covers so many areas it stays interesting.
Other Legal Podcasts
I’ll also include here a shortlist of other legal podcasts I’ve found which I’ve not included in the main list, but you may enjoy. They are;
Chambers Student Podcast
The Legal Cheek Podcast
The Hardwicke Legal Podcast
More From Law
The Lawdown
Linkubator
I hope you found this list useful. You are more than welcome to comment on this article, so if there’s a podcast you think myself and other students should be aware of that doesn’t feature on this list, feel free to mention it in the comments.
Written By Chloe Lydell.
OULS News Reporter
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