Public
The public law Bar spans the full range of administrative, public and constitutional law. Specific areas within the field include civil liberties and human rights, commercial judicial review, community and healthcare law, disciplinary proceedings and the internal administration of public bodies, education law, housing law, planning law, prison law, and social services and social security law. Public law work has a European influence, with a steady stream of cases being referred to the European Court of Justice for preliminary rulings and other cases raising the issue of the application of the European Convention on Human Rights. Drawn to the Bar by an early interest in advocacy – “I went into law with a view to becoming a barrister; I never had any intention of becoming a solicitor” – Jennifer MacLeod took some time out after university to see the world, living in the United States and South Africa and working for the UN and various NGOs, before returning to pupillage at Brick Court – a leading chambers in the field of public and constitutional law. She describes her time as a pupil: “It was very challenging, partly because of the difference between learning law at university and practising it; they are a gulf apart. Learning to be an advocate took a huge amount of teaching from my pupil supervisors and I found it quite exhausting! But it was also enjoyable and as you start to see yourself improve, there is a thrilling feeling of being able to do something that you couldn’t do six months earlier. You also start to grasp things much more quickly and that continues – the learning doesn’t stop on your first day of tenancy, by any means.” Now a barrister of six years call, Jennifer has a public law practice that is incredibly varied – reflecting the nature of a practice area that “encompasses anything to do
with the exercise of state power against individuals, be they corporations or people, and whether a state should be constrained in the exercise of that power, with a variety of human rights and international issues involved.” She explains some of the things that attracted her to this field: “If you’re at university and interested in the principles of how a state governs, then you will find public law a fascinating area to work in – I certainly do! You are at the edge of politics, law and policy, and part of shaping where things go.” If you’re interested in the principles of how a state governs, then you will find public law a fascinating area – you’re working at the edge of politics, law and policy Going public Jennifer offers examples of the huge variety of both client and subject matter that is a feature of her caseload: “At one point, I was working for a multinational tobacco manufacturer challenging the government’s decision to bring in plain packaging; for domestic violence victims in Georgia who were claiming that the state had failed to protect them; for UK welfare beneficiaries who wanted to prove that the government policy of excluding them from certain benefits was unlawful; and for Southern Rail when they were trying to stop the trade unions from striking. I’m currently working for the government on a case against pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer in relation to what’s known as ‘excessive pricing’ of epilepsy drugs. It can be so completely different from one day to the next, you never get bored. And you’re also often working on things that you can chat about to anyone – they’re important issues in the public domain.” She adds that you
For more chambers that work in this practice area, please use the “Pupillage index” starting on p519.
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