My last post was intended to highlight the fact that even once pupillage has been obtained, that by no means signifies the end of the competitive process. The year long slog that is pupillage towards an uncertain end will culminate in disappointment for a few more hopefuls before the game is finally up. But for those who do against all the odds succeed, what then? The glorious life of a barrister? What is that exactly?
I read somewhere (on a blog, but can't recall where or by whom) a comment from someone whose preference for the Bar was concerned, at least in part, with the flexibility that self employment offers. I can certainly recall having the 'personal autonomy' argument being put before me when deciding which way to jump (not that there was ever any doubt in my mind). There are plenty of other reasons for choosing the Bar too, of course. The thrill of court room battle, of the opportunity to display one's intellectual prowess with sophisticated legal arguments which kill your opponent's arguments stone dead, and, naturally, the fun of dressing up to boot. If, having determined that the Bar is one's destiny, one gets as far as the BVC, a whole year can be spent being educated and even entertained by practising barristers, some of whom enjoy nothing more than to trot out amusing anecdote after amusing anecdote for the edification of their captive and suitably impressed audience.
One can't help being left with the impression that there is something just a little bit glamorous about life at the Bar. Even when being told that life as a barrister can sometimes involve receiving papers at the last minute (better than not at all!) or being in court in some far flung part of the country the following morning which involves 5 hours travel and three train changes, for some reason the actual reality of it all just doesn't really sink in!
So what can a newly qualified junior tenant look forward to? It is difficult to try and paint an accurate picture because different chambers and different areas of practice will naturally influence what the future holds. However, the first myth which ought to be dispelled is the idea that one is truly (or even vaguely) autonomous. Any notion that one can pick and choose when and where they work because they technically work for themselves is, as far as I can see, entirely fallacious. Chambers do not want tenants who are not busy - all of the time. Clerks make a living by allocating work to members of chambers for which those members get paid, the clerks taking a cut along the way. The last thing they want is to be told that it is impossible for you to attend a hearing in Carlisle at 10.00 am tomorrow because you have a hair appointment, or it's little Tommy's school play, or that you're doubled over in pain and think you might have acute appendicitis. In the event of any of the above you will simply have to postpone in order to make yourself available to get on the 5 am train to Carlisle. If you can put off your appendix bursting until you are on your way home, you will have done your job admirably. Solicitors (AKA your clients - the people to whom you owe a debt of gratitude for your continuing practice) too tend not to be impressed when told that you are unavailable unless there really is a very good reason, like you're already booked to attend court on another of their cases. The reality is that life at the Bar does not provide you with the flexibility to work when you like and not when you don't. The more likely scenario is that you will work when you like AND when you don't. Family holidays, evenings with friends, family get togethers; they all take second place to your practice, in my experience at least. There: myth debunked.
What kind of work will you get? Will you be arguing the finer points of the law in front of an esteemed high court judge? Probably not. The answer to this question really is very dependent upon the type of work your chambers attracts, but if you are in a mixed common law set you can probably expect simple matters like infant settlements, bail hearings, road traffic offences, and so on. Complex law? Hardly. These hearings can take as little as 5 minutes which can be mildly frustrating if you had, in your eagerness, spent two hours of your previous evening reading the papers which were given to you at 5.30pm that afternoon, two hours on the road the following morning getting to the court and then paid £10 (out of your own pocket, don't forget) to park your car! In chancery and commercial sets pupils and very junior tenants will often cut their teeth on possessions and bankruptcy petitions. This work is no more glamorous and equally mundane. Whatever their area of practice all chambers will have work of this nature and complexity (or lack of it) for distribution amongst their most junior tenants.
After you have been in practice for a year or two (or maybe sooner if you're really lucky) you may begin to get some small trials and from there the work will become progressively more interesting. However, even once you have been in practice for a few years, some of your time will still be consumed with low level and frequently uninteresting work. If you get lucky you may find yourself instructed as a junior, most likely where one of your more senior members of chambers is already involved. This provides an opportunity to (a) be involved in some more interesting and perhaps more technically difficult work; and (b) to demonstrate that your capabilities extend beyond doing the run of the mill work which is the staple diet of the junior tenant, hopefully leading to more of the same in the future. The downside is that you will inevitably end up doing the least exciting jobs, you will not be the one to stand up in court and argue the case which you may very well have constructed from scratch, and any control you may think you had over your own time will disintegrate even more rapidly.
Ahhh, the joys of life at the junior Bar. Bet you can't wait...
I read somewhere (on a blog, but can't recall where or by whom) a comment from someone whose preference for the Bar was concerned, at least in part, with the flexibility that self employment offers. I can certainly recall having the 'personal autonomy' argument being put before me when deciding which way to jump (not that there was ever any doubt in my mind). There are plenty of other reasons for choosing the Bar too, of course. The thrill of court room battle, of the opportunity to display one's intellectual prowess with sophisticated legal arguments which kill your opponent's arguments stone dead, and, naturally, the fun of dressing up to boot. If, having determined that the Bar is one's destiny, one gets as far as the BVC, a whole year can be spent being educated and even entertained by practising barristers, some of whom enjoy nothing more than to trot out amusing anecdote after amusing anecdote for the edification of their captive and suitably impressed audience.
One can't help being left with the impression that there is something just a little bit glamorous about life at the Bar. Even when being told that life as a barrister can sometimes involve receiving papers at the last minute (better than not at all!) or being in court in some far flung part of the country the following morning which involves 5 hours travel and three train changes, for some reason the actual reality of it all just doesn't really sink in!
So what can a newly qualified junior tenant look forward to? It is difficult to try and paint an accurate picture because different chambers and different areas of practice will naturally influence what the future holds. However, the first myth which ought to be dispelled is the idea that one is truly (or even vaguely) autonomous. Any notion that one can pick and choose when and where they work because they technically work for themselves is, as far as I can see, entirely fallacious. Chambers do not want tenants who are not busy - all of the time. Clerks make a living by allocating work to members of chambers for which those members get paid, the clerks taking a cut along the way. The last thing they want is to be told that it is impossible for you to attend a hearing in Carlisle at 10.00 am tomorrow because you have a hair appointment, or it's little Tommy's school play, or that you're doubled over in pain and think you might have acute appendicitis. In the event of any of the above you will simply have to postpone in order to make yourself available to get on the 5 am train to Carlisle. If you can put off your appendix bursting until you are on your way home, you will have done your job admirably. Solicitors (AKA your clients - the people to whom you owe a debt of gratitude for your continuing practice) too tend not to be impressed when told that you are unavailable unless there really is a very good reason, like you're already booked to attend court on another of their cases. The reality is that life at the Bar does not provide you with the flexibility to work when you like and not when you don't. The more likely scenario is that you will work when you like AND when you don't. Family holidays, evenings with friends, family get togethers; they all take second place to your practice, in my experience at least. There: myth debunked.
What kind of work will you get? Will you be arguing the finer points of the law in front of an esteemed high court judge? Probably not. The answer to this question really is very dependent upon the type of work your chambers attracts, but if you are in a mixed common law set you can probably expect simple matters like infant settlements, bail hearings, road traffic offences, and so on. Complex law? Hardly. These hearings can take as little as 5 minutes which can be mildly frustrating if you had, in your eagerness, spent two hours of your previous evening reading the papers which were given to you at 5.30pm that afternoon, two hours on the road the following morning getting to the court and then paid £10 (out of your own pocket, don't forget) to park your car! In chancery and commercial sets pupils and very junior tenants will often cut their teeth on possessions and bankruptcy petitions. This work is no more glamorous and equally mundane. Whatever their area of practice all chambers will have work of this nature and complexity (or lack of it) for distribution amongst their most junior tenants.
After you have been in practice for a year or two (or maybe sooner if you're really lucky) you may begin to get some small trials and from there the work will become progressively more interesting. However, even once you have been in practice for a few years, some of your time will still be consumed with low level and frequently uninteresting work. If you get lucky you may find yourself instructed as a junior, most likely where one of your more senior members of chambers is already involved. This provides an opportunity to (a) be involved in some more interesting and perhaps more technically difficult work; and (b) to demonstrate that your capabilities extend beyond doing the run of the mill work which is the staple diet of the junior tenant, hopefully leading to more of the same in the future. The downside is that you will inevitably end up doing the least exciting jobs, you will not be the one to stand up in court and argue the case which you may very well have constructed from scratch, and any control you may think you had over your own time will disintegrate even more rapidly.
Ahhh, the joys of life at the junior Bar. Bet you can't wait...
3 comments:
A cynical portrayal; not entirely wrong but it overstates the downsides. You are right that the acquisition of a pupillage looks like the summit to most BVC students. Only when achieved is it seen to be a lower peak. Ditto tenancy.
But clerks are generally not the ogres you portray and, yes, at the newly qualified end one does not get to appear every day in the House of Lords. But even appearing before a retarded provincial solicitor dressed up as a county court judge for the day can be rewarding on occasions.
And pulling chicks at parties is great fun if there is no hearing the next morning.
I'll try and lay off the gin before I write my next post - they do say it can give rise to maudlin and depressive tendencies - or maybe I'm just a cynic. To set the record a little bit straight, however, some of the clerks stuff (and even some of the other) was meant to be a little bit tongue in cheek - I'm sure they might have a bit of sympathy for a bursting appendix! Can't say that pulling chicks is my thing, but I'll take your word for it... AD :-)
A friend of mine is suffering this fate at the moment- clerk putting the pressure on and allocating work elsewhere as friend can't work 24-7 right now.
Life is a series of peaks. As soon as you get to the top of one you realise you were actually born yesterday and don't know where you'll ge the energy to climb from the metaphorical bottom all over again.
That said, its a bit of luck and a bit of chemistry with your clerk/other members of chambers as to how flexible your working life is.
Its a bit like the hollywood portrayal of love. The story is all about the falling and nothing about the morning after (or the decade after) the fall!!
Sigh.
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