Caleb Kirton

2025 Pegasus Scholar Report

Completing the Pegasus Scholarship in New York and Washington, DC, against a backdrop of glittering national monuments and a towering metropolis, was a singular experience.

The American legal system is complex and world-renowned. Through the Scholarship, I observed first-hand the full spectrum of this system—encompassing local state courts to the marble-walled Supreme Court of the United States. Particular highlights, in addition to the Supreme Court, include daytrips to the Delaware Court of Chancery (the closest thing to an English court that likely exists stateside) and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (where my co-scholar and I were fortunate enough to visit the Constitution Centre, Museum of the American Revolution and, of course, the Rocky Steps).

As an advocate in my day job, I was especially impressed by the following innovations in American court craft that, in my view, would be welcome transpositions to England and Wales:

• First, the use of moot courting to rehearse and refine legal arguments before presenting them on gameday. The benefits of this technique were obvious in appellate arguments that I observed, where counsel regularly made clear, simple and well-structured presentations supported by coherent and well-thought-out case theories—which had been developed and perfected through the trial and error of moot courting.
• Secondly and relatedly, the limiting of oral argument to roughly 15 minutes per side (as a supplement to more fully developed briefs). This approach was, as I witnessed, generally conducive to argument focussed on the key legal issues, and incentivised counsel to frontload their best points—producing informative and sharp exchanges between Bar and Bench that illuminated the true fault lines in each case.
• Thirdly, the development of appellate practice as a distinct area with specialised skills. As a law clerk in England, I had previously noted that appellate and trial advocacy involves different skillsets and that only the finest advocates can master both. Recognising that dichotomy and normalising the concept of different counsel teams for trial and appeals is, in my view, a great advance because it allows specialist skills to be honed and refined by individuals and across generations—ultimately raising the level of advocacy in both fields over time.

Overall, therefore, the Pegasus Scholarship was enriching and unforgettable—leaving me with cherished memories and lessons that I hope to implement in my own practice. 
I am grateful to Cindy Dennis, of the American Inns of Court, and MoloLamken LLP (among many others) for creating such an enjoyable and unique programme.

Caleb Kirton is barrister at Quadrant Chambers in London. He specialises in commercial arbitration and litigation.