the junior end of chambers. We’re basically saying, ‘Look, this wonderful new person has started,’ and asking the solicitor to trust us to recommend the right person for the job. Of course, you hope that after a short while, the new tenant will build his or her own practice. It’s always a bit annoying if you’ve made an introduction and then you don’t hear from that client again – that’s when you have to start asking questions!” And it’s not just introductions to clients – the clerks also act as a bridge between new tenants and QCs: “Although senior members of chambers may know you as a pupil, they don’t really know how good you are when you start. We provide that link. If a QC wants a junior brought in, they will trust the clerk’s judgement to suggest the right person.” Clerks also negotiate client fees, with senior clerks dealing with the more complicated trials, “although we will bring junior clerks in early to help negotiate, as there’s nothing like experience”. Declan kindly explains the oft-mentioned ‘cab rank rule’: “When you go to get a cab from a taxi rank, provided that certain conditions are met (ie, you are going to pay and the destination is agreed on), that cab has to take you. In the world of barristers, if a solicitor phones up and asks for a particular barrister, and that person is available and certain conditions are met (eg, the pay is adequate and the specialism matches), then the barrister should take the case.” One feature of the job that Declan particularly enjoys is guiding someone’s career from the very beginning: “You are dealing with over 60 barristers who are all specialists, all highly intelligent, all highly trained, and your job is to help them go from being an unknown to being the top QC in the country (hopefully!). That is the goal as a clerk – you start with a promising pupil, take them as a new tenant, grow them into a QC and, ultimately, maybe
get them to the bench. You have nearly as much invested in their career progression as the barrister. Clerks are very much part of the organisation; there’s no sense of ‘us and them’ any more (or there shouldn’t be!). It’s gone from being something of a gentlemen’s club to a fully fledged professional business now.” Declan has some final advice for pupils and new tenants: “Seek the advice of the clerks. We are always happy to help. For example, we hold a lunch for the mini-pupils and keep in touch with pupils before and during pupillage. Once a person is a tenant, we have regular six-monthly reviews to discuss how things are going. Fantastic academics are not everything; if you don’t know how to talk to clients or can’t deal with staff, you’re not going to succeed. A senior clerk will have seen 30 or 40 people come through chambers and will have a wealth of knowledge to share. Don’t forget – they are the people who will be running your business for the next 20 to 30 years.”
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