In these two episodes, we talk to barristers and other guests practising in lots of
different areas to hear about what it’s really like. What do they love about their
practice area? Who are their clients? What sort of skills do you need to flourish?
What are the things you really need to think about when choosing your practice?
They told us about important lifestyle differences between different practices and
how the legal directories can help you look behind aspirational websites. Perhaps
most important of all, they told us why, when selecting your practice area, you should
keep an open mind.
In Practice Areas II, we hear about family, crime and inquests practices.
Guests in order of appearance
Bernard Richmond QC: criminal silk and Head of Chambers at Lamb Building,
Master of Middle Temple, Assistant Coroner, Recorder
http://www.lambbuilding.co.uk/members/profile.php?id=3 and on Twitter as
@phatsilk_qc
Rupert Kent: criminal barrister at 2 Harcourt Buildings https://www.2hb.co.uk/rupert-
kent/
Jessica Lee: family barrister at 1GC https://1gc.com/barristers/profile/jessica-lee and
on Twitter as @jessicaleelaw
Useful Links
Essential reading for anyone considering a career in crime: The Secret Barrister
(who can be found on twitter @BarristerSecret)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Barrister-Stories-Law-
Broken/dp/1509841105/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546431219&sr=8-
1&keywords=the+secret+barrister
And for anyone interested in crime and family: In Your Defence by Sarah Langford
(on twitter as @wigsandwords and on Instagram as @sarah_m_langford:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Defence-Stories-Life-
Law/dp/085752528X/ref=pd_sbs_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=085752528X&pd
_rd_r=d954d530-0e87-11e9-8210-
ed08ba772cb1&pd_rd_w=CLkt3&pd_rd_wg=v3gbb&pf_rd_p=18edf98b-139a-41ee-
bb40-
d725dd59d1d3&pf_rd_r=MJKG9FSD9HYXPKES5TAR&psc=1&refRID=MJKG9FSD
9HYXPKES5TAR
The Legal 500: https://www.legal500.com/assets/pages/united-kingdom/uk.html
Chambers & Partners: https://chambers.com/research/chambers-uk-and-uk-bar
Chambers Student Guide: https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/ and some useful
advice on areas of law (the solicitors’ areas equally apply)
https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/practice-areas
LawCareers.Net Handbook 2019: The Training Contract and Pupillage Guide
https://handbook.lawcareers.net/
Target Jobs Law: https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/law-barristers
Glossary
Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel: the panel of barristers who are instructed to
advise and represent central government departments.
Direct Access: where members of the public can instruct a barrister themselves
(directly) without having to go through a solicitor.
Legal Directories: reference books that rank and recommend chambers and
individual barristers. Chambers UK Bar (often called Chambers & Partners) and
Legal 500 are the main legal directories.
Mentions: typically a very short case management hearing in the criminal courts.
Year of Call: the year in which a barrister was called to the Bar (i.e. the year in
which they qualified). It is used to understand how much experience a particular
barrister has.
