Private Guest Night

With a sparkling reception and black tie dinner, Private Guest Night is one of the Inn’s grander events.

Benchers are encouraged to bring esteemed colleagues from other fields.

Pre-dinner lecture:

A Façade of Futility | Dr Cressida Auckland

Since the courts first relied on the concept of “futility” in Bland, it has been widely invoked in the case law as a justification for the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.

In this talk, Dr Auckland will argue that the way that futility has been conceptualised by the courts, defined by reference to whether the treatment is “ineffective” or the patient will receive any “benefit” from it, is deeply problematic. Deciding whether or not a person derives a benefit from life-sustaining treatment, particularly in circumstances where they are seriously disabled or brain damaged, inevitably involves value judgements about their perceived quality of life.

By conflating these with questions about the efficacy of treatments under the broad umbrella of “futility”, these value judgements are being obscured, hidden behind statistics on therapeutic success. This is not only a problem with the current law: in fact, defining futility in a way which is both value-neutral and broadly applicable is, I argue, impossible. Accordingly, Dr Auckland will conclude that we should abandon reliance on the notion of futility.

Dr Cressida Auckland is an Assistant Professor in Medical Law at the London School of Economics, and an Academic Fellow of Middle Temple. Her research focuses on medical law, in particular on issues relating to mental capacity and end of life decision-making for both adults and children. Further details here.

Students and transferring lawyers need to attend the lecture before dinner in order to be awarded a Qualifying Session. Other Members and Guests are of course most welcome to attend too.

Please note there are certain rules and customs that members and guests are expected to observe when attending formal dinners at the Inn.