Tony Delahunty - LLM
Tony studied the LLM
I've met a great bunch of guys from so many different nations that even when I was travelling the world it would not have been possible to meet
”Tony studied the LLM.
Bringing cases to life
Tony Delahunty's career began in 1960 as a navy cadet with an interest in maritime law and has since spanned marine insurance, practice management of a branch of solicitors, broadcasting and sports commentary. Having completed Oxford College's professional diploma in employment law and an MA in local and regional history at the University of Nottingham in 2007, Tony went on to study the LLM at Derby.
He now works as a media and employment law consultant for a local firm of solicitors, manages the commercial radio station Mansfield 103.2, and lectures in media law at the University of Derby (among other things).
For years I'd been screaming 'you can't do that!' across newsrooms, but I lacked the full legal knowledge with which to back up my instincts. As a working journalist, I thought it was about time I got to grips with media law.
A mature student's perspective
The course involved three lectures per week plus tutorials, taught from 9.00am to 5.00pm each day. I was encouraged to tailor the course content to my own career aspirations, so I opted to cover a range of topics from legal research through to art and sculpture law, information law and music law. Law is seen as boring but studying legal issues surrounding bands such as Spandau Ballet certainly brings cases to life.
The amount of self-study required was substantial (often eating up evenings and weekends), but as a mature student I probably found the heavy workload more demanding than some of my younger peers. For instance, swapping shorthand for Excel spreadsheets was a struggle.
The subjective nature of the material leant itself to some healthy (and often heated) debates and the varied mix of tutors were keen to tackle my many questions, both one-on-one and via e-mail. The lecturers were all great and the whole atmosphere at Derby terrific.
Socialising outside of work was tricky due to my work commitments, but I enjoyed getting to know my course mates, who spanned a good mix of backgrounds, ages and nationalities. Seeing things from different perspectives was fascinating and I never felt 'old' or out of place - in fact, mixing with younger people was enormously invigorating.
From LLM student to lecturer
The course has left me well equipped to advise on media law, and my provider approached me to join the university as an associate lecturer shortly afterwards. Teaching in the classroom where I was a student two terms previously is a surreal yet fantastic experience.
With thanks to TARGETjobs Law and targetjobs.co.uk/law for allowing us to feature this case study. © Laura Cook, GTI Media Ltd 2010
