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INSIDE ARCHIVE


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UW-Green Bay, CL 815
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E-mail: matzken@uwgb.edu

Rev. May 13, 2008

 

Things are brilliant, mum, for this London barrister

Kim Wacek
Barrister
London, England
Hometown: Green Bay
UW-Green Bay Major: Public and Environmental Administration
Law School: Hamlne University '87

Kim Wacek had her own practice as a Green Bay attorney for 17 years when she returned to her profession’s roots — English common law — and moved to London.
      “I just said, ‘I’m going to do it,” she recalls, and she did, right through the lengthy pupillage (apprenticeship) and seven-day equivalent to the bar exam.
      This year, celebrating her fifth anniversary of being called to the British bar, she dons the traditional horsehair wig, the formal collar and $3,000 robe that mark her as an elite and respected barrister (trial lawyer) practicing in the United Kingdom.
      The attire is part and parcel of a tradition that also doesn’t allow for yellow pads and manila folders but instead commands lawyers to “bundle” their legal papers with pink ribbons.
      “(It all) commands a respect for the profession,” Wacek says. “There is great respect for the history and integrity of the system here, and with it, trust in the outcomes.”
      There’s respect and sometimes even admiration, too, for a woman from the States who has achieved her position. “I can honestly say I have never once been looked down upon as an American, or as some sort of outsider,” she says. “Actually, I had one divorce case where my client was taunting her spouse beforehand, ‘Ha, ha, I have an American.’” 
      By now, of course, Wacek quite naturally peppers her speech with “bloody hells” and “mums,” and she’s “chuffed” when she’s honored and “brilliant” when she’s feeling good.
      Those are entry-level Britishisms, of course, compared to the arcane (to American ears), centuries-old formality of the legal language. Asked for her official title, Wacek says she’s a door tenant at 4 King's Bench Walk, Temple, London. as well as at Clerksroom, Somerset, England.
      The easiest slang phrase to describe her work as a courtroom advocate, however, is the verb “crack on.”
      Wacek has handled family law, housing, business work and the occasional international case, but criminal cases are a favorite. Days are long, dockets are heavy and in the British system, by the time a case reaches a barrister, there is no turning back.
      “We (the barristers) will look at one another and say, ‘Crack on.’ Let’s go.
      Memorable case: “There was a bit of signed Princess Diana memorabilia donated to a charitable auction, sold for 40,000 Pounds Sterling ($80,000), and turned out to be a forgery. A member of Parliament was involved. That case was a lot of fun.”
      Favorite UW-Green Bay professor: “Jerry Yarbrough. Very personable. Very supportive. Also, Art Atkisson, a gruff old guy (who like Prof. Yarbrough passed away much too soon), but wonderfully helpful to students. Norbert Gaworek was also someone who stood out.”
      Invitation: “I welcome other grads to make contact with me if they visit the U.K.”


Click here to download a PDF file of the entire May 2008 issue of Inside magazine.