Working for the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel: Joel Wolchover
Updated 7 July 2023
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I joined the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) in 2017.
Many members of OPC have previously worked elsewhere but my route to becoming a drafter was perhaps more unusual than most.
I first graduated in 1994 and worked for 10 years as a journalist, both as a staff reporter at a number of local and regional newspapers and freelance for most of the national titles.
In 2001 I began studying for a law degree at Birkbeck College, University of London. Learning part-time was intense, with lectures three evenings a week and essay-writing at weekends, but it made me realise that a legal career was possible.
I took the Bar Vocational Course, also part-time, while working as a research assistant at the Law Commission. That’s where I first worked with Parliamentary Counsel, some of whom are based there to prepare draft Bills to accompany the Commission’s law reform proposals.
After a brief period at the Bar, I rejoined the Law Commission as a team lawyer and then worked in a number of Government Departments, where I instructed Parliamentary Counsel on several Bills. I also gained experience drafting secondary legislation, made under powers given to Ministers by primary legislation.
When the opportunity arose to join OPC, I knew that I had to apply and was delighted to be successful in the application and interview process.
I’ve always enjoyed the collaborative process of working with policy teams in Government, much more so than the adversarial nature of litigation. That remains one of the main attractions of my current role.
We take our instructions from Government lawyers and policy officials but also work closely with the Cabinet Office teams which organise the Government’s legislative programme, the Government “whips” offices and the Parliamentary clerks who manage Bill proceedings.
I’m currently working on Bills for the Home Office and Ministry of Justice but have previously worked on Finance Bills and financial markets legislation, non-domestic rating reform and some post-Brexit secondary legislation about air traffic control (knowing that my drafting had a role in keeping planes in the air felt like quite a responsibility).
As someone who is interested in both law and politics, I feel hugely privileged to have such an interesting job at the heart of the legislative process.
Joining OPC has been a fantastic move for me and many of the skills I learned in my first career are still relevant. In particular, the ability to ask the right questions, edit my own work and meet deadlines!
My story hopefully demonstrates that there’s no such thing as a conventional drafter and no standard route to becoming one.