Danielle Manson

2023 Pegasus Scholar Report

In the weeks and months leading up to my stint in the States, I remember very clearly the sense of excitement, but also the anxiety I felt about what 6 weeks away from home would feel like. I’d been looking forward to the placement for almost a year following a competitive application process and interview. However, as my taxi pulled away from my little flat in London and headed towards Heathrow, the sheer scale of what I was about to do finally hit, probably for the very first time.

I knew the plan. I had the itinerary. 6 weeks...3 states...countless courts and more once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities than any one person deserves. However, nothing could have prepared me for the scale and magnitude of all that I was about to experience as a Pegasus Scholar.

We arrived in Washington DC to the warmest of welcomes from Ellen, an appellate tax attorney and member of the Pegasus Executive Committee, whose house looks like something out of Home Alone. She and her husband Tim spoiled us with roast chicken and home-made cookies on our first night and encouraged us to take a dip in their hot tub, that overlooked the pretty woods and stream at the end of their garden.

The following day was spent acclimatising to our new surroundings. A tour of the pretty town of Fairfax, VA where we would be staying whilst in DC (think Stars Hollow for any Gilmore Girls fans out there) - made all the more beautiful because it was “Fall”, and a trip to a local Autumn Fare, where I tried my first corndog, snow cone and drank way too much All-American lemonade. The next day we were treated to a driving tour of Washington DC itself, by Richard – another member of the Executive Committee. How he was able to fit in so many points of interest into a single day I’ll never know, but we managed to visit the Lincoln, Jefferson and MLK memorials (to name but a few), climbed the Exorcist steps where Father Karras met his untimely demise and caught our first glimpse of the White House. Time was also put aside for a trip to the National Museum of the American Indian (which was fascinating) and for us to sample the fresh seafood and shrimp chowder on sale down by the wharf. It was the perfect start to what turned out to be the perfect 6-week placement!

An evening reception at Binnalls Law firm (where we met the rest of the Committee members) took place that night, and the day after, was our formal induction at the American Inns of Court office. Those first few days in DC, really were a whirlwind, but what immediately became apparent was the generosity of both time and spirit with which our American hosts had entered into the Pegasus Programme and their evident determination to give us the best experience possible.

Our first taste of American advocacy came shortly thereafter, with a trip to Montgomery County Court, where my fellow Pegasus Scholar and I were able to sit in on family and criminal proceedings. Here we observed the use of white noise (to distort conversations between the attorneys and the judge, when discussing aspects of the case whilst still in the presence of the jury) and the American juvenile justice system, which significantly, makes findings of involvement (as opposed to findings of guilt) when dealing with defendants who are under 18. As someone who represents children and young people in the criminal justice system here in the UK, I was incredibly impressed by how carefully our American counterparts have chosen to use their words when it comes to dealing with children in a court of law.

As with most things in life, our initial time in DC passed all too quickly, and before I knew it, we were packing up our cases and making our way to the airport to fly West, to Northern California. The sun was shining as we arrived in Sacramento, and so too was our host Art Scotland, a retired Court of Appeal judge who we would later discover knew pretty much every single member of the Sacramento legal community.

Our first day on the West Coast was spent enjoying real American cheeseburgers from In-N-Out burger and exploring Sacramento’s Old Town, which has its very own and incredibly impressive Tower Bridge (it’s YELLOW!). Sadly, it was also apparent that whilst Sacramento is breathtakingly beautiful, it too is struggling with significant homelessness and drug addiction as a result of the increasing availability of fentanyl. Art then took us to meet our hosts, Carole, Parker and Molly, who very quickly became like family (as did their gorgeous dogs, Jax, Maggie, Benji and Juno for a time).

There isn’t space within this report to detail all of the amazing experiences Art arranged for us whilst in California, but some of the highlights include:

  • Meeting Judge Morrison England, a former American Football player, who now sits in the Federal Courts to discuss the lack of diversity on the Bench on both sides of the pond
  • Visiting California’s State Capitol building and learning about the initiatives process as a means of law making
  • Driving to Monterey and Carmel for the weekend and going whale watching
  • Experiencing “Home Court” (which is actually located inside the city’s jail) and watching Judge Brody make his way through a docket of 65 cases in one morning
  • Having lunch with Judge Brown (who would later be elected as the new Assistant Presiding Judge of Sacramento Superior Court) and discussing the Mental Health Court he presides over, which interestingly provides a statutory framework for and judicial oversight of the diversion process
  • Meeting some of the most inspiring female judges I have ever met, including Judge Awoniyi (who came to the States from England to undertake a Pegasus Placement and loved it so much that she never left), Judge Mydruk (the first transgender judge to be appointed in California) and Judge Damrell, (who prior to being appointed to the Bench acted in sex discrimination cases and served on the California Pay Equity Task Force in a bid to address pay inequalities)
  • Visiting the McGeorge School of Law, having lunch with the Dean and observing Professor Cary Bricker teach a trial advocacy class
  • Being awarded a Hammy Award by the Anthony Kennedy Inn of Court for Best Barrister
  • Meeting the Chief Justice of California, Patricia Guerro, in San Francisco and then exploring the city’s sights
  • Spending my birthday in Yosemite and enjoying a relaxing weekend at Parker’s lake house in Lake Tahoe

When I look back on my time in California, I can hardly believe how much we were able to fit in, and how much I learned. I’d come to America knowing that of course there were differences between our two legal systems (the advocacy style being the most obvious), as well as cultural differences (access to abortion and the right to bear arms being the most contentious). However, there were some differences that I really wasn’t expecting, both legally and culturally. For example, because the US Constitution protects an individual’s “Right to Confrontation”, there were effectively no special measures available to witnesses giving evidence in court, even for children. Also, because GDPR doesn’t apply in the States, everyone’s personal data is available online. Whilst on the one hand, this means that the previous convictions of the new partner of a friend you are concerned about are easy to obtain (unlike in the UK where you would have to make an application pursuant to “Clares Law”), the flip side is that the home addresses of judges are not protected, resulting in them being placed at significant risk when presiding over particularly contentious cases.

After having such a brilliant time on the West Coast, returning back to Washington DC on the Red Eye would have felt like a real wrench, but for the various “pinch-me” opportunities that had been arranged for us on our return, starting with a tour of the US Supreme Court, a private audience with Justice Jackson in her chambers and getting all dressed up to attend the American Inns of Court Celebration of Excellence gala dinner. The remainder of the week in DC was spent with our fellow Pegasus Scholars from New York, visiting the Capitol Building, observing oral argument in the US Supreme Court regarding whether there exists a right for state officials to exclude and/or block individuals from accessing their social media pages and celebrating Halloween with a trip to Markoff’s haunted forest, where we enjoyed smores over the bonfire. We also observed so much Black excellence at Howard University (a personal highlight for me), attended the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University to observe a moot and observed guilty pleas being entered in the Federal Court in relation to the January 6th riots.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave DC yet again, and head to Salt Lake City in Utah for our penultimate week with our fantastic hosts Larissa and Scarlet, where we tried horseback riding (Western style), watched sports in a bar owned by Phil Dumphy from Modern Family and learned about the Mormon faith and culture, upon which the entire city is founded.

Whilst in Utah, I was also interested to learn that in 2020 (prior to the overturning of Roe v Wade) the state passed a trigger law in anticipation of a change in constitutional jurisprudence regarding the provision of abortions, which (if enacted) would amount to a state-wide ban. However, despite Roe’s overturning in the 2022 case of Dobbs v Jackson, a preliminary injunction blocking the trigger law was recently upheld by the state’s Court of Appeal, in what has been regarded as a particularly bold (and liberal) move, in a predominantly Republican state.

We also met with the US Attorney to discuss prosecutions in the Federal Court and the relationship the State has with the 270 Federally recognised Native Americans tribes. As a criminal barrister with no experience of the family courts, I was also fascinated to learn that the Indian Child Welfare Act precludes a non-Indian family from adopting an Indian child.

Towards the end of the week we were treated to a trip to the ski resort of Park City (home to the Sundance Film Festival) by Billie Eilish’s uncle, who is a successful property attorney in Utah. There we enjoyed snowball fights and saw the famous Egyptian theatre, as well as some original Banksy artwork. The week concluded with us observing proceedings in both the District and Federal courts (including a grand jury returning their decision that a proposed prosecution could proceed) and having lunch with all 5 of the State Supreme Court Justices. Although short, our time in Salt Lake City was utterly fascinating and I left having learned a great deal about one of the lesser known “fly over states”, to which I would happily return.

Our week in Utah culminated with a weekend trip to Vegas with an attorney who used to be a professional poker player. As the old saying goes “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, so I’m afraid you’ll have to just wonder how we spent our time there...I’m sure you can imagine!

We returned to DC just in time for a trip to the Pentagon, a tour of the incredibly impressive Department of Justice Building, a private viewing of the original Declaration of Independence, US Constitution and Bill of Rights (thanks Derek) and a fascinating meeting with the team at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative, before being treated to an early Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings by Ellen. It’s safe to say, we had a lot to be thankful for.

I feel that I’ve hardly scratched the surface of all that I learned and all that I experienced during those 6 weeks, but I hope that by reading this, you too can appreciate what an amazing opportunity being awarded a Pegasus Scholarship is. It’s exhausting, hard work and is categorically not a “free holiday”. But, if you are lucky enough to be selected for the programme, you will return to the UK changed to your very core.  I am so grateful that I was awarded this scholarship and all that I’ve learned and all that I’ve experienced will certainly sit with me for the rest of my career.

Danielle Manson is a criminal defence barrister at Matrix Chambers in London, a Lord Denning Scholar, and a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. In court, she represents defendants in all areas of criminal law and associated work and has particular expertise representing children and young people. She has appeared as a led junior and as a single advocate in cases of murder, attempted murder, rape, serious violence, fraud, the sale and supply of drugs and firearms offences as well as appearing in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

She previously worked for the Women and Girls Network as a Sexual Violence Lawyer, where she provided advice and support to women who have been sexually assaulted.

In addition to crime, Manson has experience of Public Inquiries, having worked on both the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the Covid Inquiry, as well as representing bereaved families at inquests into the death of an individual at the hands of the state.

Prior to commencing pupillage, Manson worked at law reform charity JUSTICE as their criminal justice policy intern (further to receiving a scholarship from the Kalisher Trust) where her research contributed to JUSTICE’s intervention in the UK Supreme Court case of R (on the application of Hallam) and R (on the application of Nealon) v Secretary of State for Justice [2019] UKSC 2, in relation to the statutory provisions that govern eligibility for compensation for miscarriages of justice. Whilst studying law at the University of Sheffield, Danielle was also Project Manager for the Innocence Project, working on a range of criminal appeals and applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Manson is a Bar Council Social Mobility Advocate and a Trustee of the Kalisher Trust, which strives to diversify the Criminal Bar by assisting applicants from non-traditional backgrounds who have exceptional promise but modest means.