Clerks
Budding barristers: take heed! Clerks are the people who can make or break your career, furnish you with work or leave you twiddling your thumbs. You need them on your side. They wield formidable power and are an important source of knowledge and support. The barrister-clerk relationship is as old as the profession itself and is an integral part of the whole process. Broadly speaking, the job of a clerk is to run the day-to- day business of chambers and organise barristers’ caseloads. At the junior end of the job, a clerk will prepare papers, carry documents to and from court and perform other administrative tasks. As a clerk becomes more senior, he or she will manage diaries, liaise between solicitors, clients and barristers, and bring business into the chambers. Declan Redmond is CEO/director of clerking at Keating Chambers, joining them in 2014. Previously, he was senior clerk and chief executive at Wilberforce Chambers. He has held many senior positions in the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks (IBC), including chairman from 2005 to 2008, and currently serves as one of the body’s vice presidents. With these credentials, it makes sense to listen to what he has to say. Declan was encouraged to become a clerk by the husband of his college student liaison officer, who was himself a clerk. Declan joined Wilberforce in 1982 and stayed there for 31 years, becoming first junior in 1992, then deputy senior clerk in 1996, senior clerk and chief executive in 1998. Now at Keating, he has risen to the position of CEO and director of clerking. Declan outlines what his role entails: “These days, I do much more strategic work, which means that I develop and implement business plans that have been agreed with members of chambers. Operations-
wise, I have overall responsibility for all the clerks and administration staff (including the finance and administration manager, marketing manager, receptionist and housekeepers). Importantly, I also manage client relationships, which involves a lot of marketing. There is no typical day, which I really like. There are so many different things that can happen – if an important injunction comes in, it can change the way you work during that day. One phone call can change everything. But it’s that variety which keeps you going.” The IBC was set up to protect clerks within the profession and to facilitate the exchange of views. Declan says: “It allows us all to get together and find out what’s happening in the different sections of the Bar (eg, criminal and chancery). In addition, the Bar Council needs to know what the clerks are thinking, so representatives are often invited to join Bar Council committees.” The IBC is also concerned with the education and professional development of its members – it has been involved in developing both the BTEC Advanced Award in Chambers Administration for junior clerks and the two- year ILM Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for more senior clerks. In terms of clerking, Declan has one very clear message for wannabe barristers: “As clerks, we build the practice of a new tenant up from nothing, calling on our own contacts and those of chambers that have built up over the years. Managing client relations is key to the job – the way that a clerk answers the phone, offering a quality service to solicitors and professional clients alike, is vital. If it all works in tandem and you’ve got a good clerks team with a good reputation, that will bring work in. We go out to solicitors’ offices (even as far as the Cayman Islands, sometimes!) – particularly so when we have a new tenant starting. That person has no contacts, so we go out and talk about
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