Law: Not All Courtroom Drama

Don't believe popular fiction's glamorous portrayal of the law profession such as that depicted in The Firm according to Rachel Beckford, a deputy chief staff attorney for the South Carolina Supreme Court. She says the majority of new lawyers spend most of their time researching and writing and many don't go to trial at all. Beckford wouldn't have it any other way.

Graduating from the University of South Carolina Law School in 1986, Beckford wanted to continue the challenging, yet enjoyable, research and writing that she had experienced over her last three years. Working for the South Carolina Supreme Court, she has the opportunity to exercise these skills. Her primary responsibility is to review criminal and civil appeals and to recommend a disposition of these appeals.

Because South Carolina has the death penalty, the stakes are very high in Beckford's line of work. If the criminal defendent had a flawed trial for reasons that range from procedural difficulties to a judge's error, then she will recommend a new trial to the court. Beckford recalled a case of a defendent sentenced to the electric chair but, upon recommendation of a retrial, was given life in prison.

Unlike most specialized private practice law work, Beckford says her job is very interesting because "you get to know a lot about a lot of different areas." One day she may review a case on martgage foreclosure and the next day she might be working on an assault and battery case. Working for the government is also more layed back than a private practice in that you don't need to find "billable hours." But, as with any state job, in a bad economy you don't get raises she said. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of working for the South Carolina Supreme Court is that "you get to help people without being on one side or another."

Beckford, a history major at Bates, recommends any undergraduate concentration from "biology to art" but that "experience writing is extremely important for law school, especially some amount of analysis."

by Barnaby Wickham '94