My partner and I decided, some four years ago, to move to Morocco. That move was completed this year and my home is now in Marrakech. I anticipated early retirement from the Bar but the reality is that I have been able to continue to practice very much as I had done previously before selling our house in the England. Such a possibility would have been no more that a distant dream without the benefit of technology and a supportive clerking system from my chambers, St Johns Buildings, in Manchester.
St Johns Buildings had grown to be the largest set on the Northern Circuit with the inevitable consequence that many of us work from home. It soon became very clear that it was irrelevant whether I was in Chorley, 20 miles outside Manchester, or Marrakech save for the fact that I couldn’t be sent to court at short notice.
So how did I do it? Technology is the key. Essential hardware includes the best desktop and laptop that you can afford. My personal preference is Sony. The workhorse is my laptop with a 320Gb hard drive and 4 Gb memory. An integral camera has become essential for Skype use. I use a Canon desktop scanner which scans at speed and a simple flat bed for books and other documents. I also have two identical laser printers, one in Marrakech and the other at my flat in Manchester. A Blackberry completes the kit. I have found a fax machine unnecessary. I scan and email whilst chambers converts faxes to email and sends them to me at the press of a button! (See the article by Neil Addison on fax to email systems in the January/February 2009 newsletter.)
Two pieces of software link me to the UK. Firstly Skype. I can’t speak highly enough of this. Skype was founded in 2003 when a small piece of software was developed which permitted easy communication around the world in 28 languages. Communication between Skype users is free via the webcam and the revenue is generated through calls to landlines and mobiles, call messaging and forwarding. So how does it work? I downloaded the software on both my computers. My laptop carries an account in my name and the desktop in that of my partner so that we can talk to each other (and I can talk to my dogs!) when I am away. I keep £10 in both accounts which allows me to make phone calls from my computer at a fraction of the cost of a landline. All my instructing solicitors and judges’ clerks know of the arrangement. If a solicitor has Skype installed, we can talk face to face and hold conferences at no cost. Otherwise, the solicitor will email me and I phone them back through Skype. Telephone conferences can be held in the same way. It is an amazing experience to be sitting on a terrace in North Africa (and thereby a little unsettling) whilst chatting to a solicitor in Manchester.
The second piece of software that keeps me in touch is provided by a company called British TV Abroad. It is important to keep up to date with the news and to be familiar with current affairs. BTA provides live television from the UK through a “slingbox” via the internet (see Slingbox for more on this). All that is required is a local broadband connection and a media shifting connection. Of course, none of this would be possible without a fast connection and I am fortunate that Morocco has the most advanced broadband service in Africa. I use an ADSL business service with speeds up to 4 Mbps provided by Maroc telecom. I listen to Radio 4 throughout the day on my amazing internet radio which picks up 14,000 radio stations from around the world via wi-fi.
I rarely carry paper any more. Lawtel and Justis are essential and the free websites such as BAILII and the EAT websites are invaluable. Strasbourg decisions are freely available via the European Court of Human Rights website. I only need to return to the UK to attend court. Gone are the days when I travelled to chambers to find a copy of the law report that I urgently needed missing from the library!
The relationship with clerks is pivotal; we talk most days and they support me in a very positive way. If I am returning to the UK for a week or two, they will make sure that I have court bookings and am kept busy. All papers are scanned and sent to me. Large bundles can be scanned at a commercial provider and held on a disc. The Bar Standards Board are content for Counsel to live abroad provided that I am available for court when required and complete my CPD requirements. I do know of other colleagues who live abroad but they tend to return to the UK to work for a three month period or so. With the advantages of budget airlines and daily flights into London and Manchester, the three and a half hour flight permits me to commute.
Perhaps a bonus for solicitors is that, human nature being what it is, I am so concerned to be seen to offer a good service that I perhaps over compensate, my Blackberry is never off and I am freely accessible at all times. My Moroccan friends are bewildered by the need to be constantly “on demand” and my habit of cancelling social arrangements at short notice because some papers need attention. It was just the same when I lived in the UK, the slightly bizarre difference being that I sometimes have to rush home to my computer from the local Souk rather than from Sainsburys!
Susan Machin is a barrister practicing from St Johns Buildings Manchester. She practises in the field of mental health and employment.
Email susanmachin@menara.ma.
