Name: Katie Lee Chambers: Gatehouse Location: London University: University of Bristol Degree: Law
going to stop you. The flexibility is good because I have two children, sowhile I still obviously have tomake certain commitments in terms of timing, the paperwork is very flexible and I can fit it around doing things withmy children.” Is there a part of the job she doesn’t enjoy? “The occasional opposing counsel whose submissions are very close to the line or unnecessarily obstructive, whichwastes the court’s time and your client’smoney. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it is disheartening because I try to play everything with a straight bat and be a good officer of the court. It often results in the judge being cross with both of you, but unfortunately you can’t tell a judge that your learned friendwas being a pain in the bum!”
often a deadline for completion in construction works, so any disputewhich causes a delay can cause inconvenience and loss to various parties in the chain. The crux of many cases is working out how long the delay is, what losses this has led to, what caused it andwho is to blame. This is often complicated by six or seven different things goingwrong in a project that overlap – calculating delays and losses can be a bit of a minefield in such cases.” On your feet Advocacy is of course a key part of the job and representing clients in court drawsmany barristers to the profession. Katie’s highlight so far is “the first time I won a three-day trial against a barrister seven yearsmore senior thanme. The casewas on the cusp and could have gone either way, but I felt that my advocacy was at its best during that closing argument and I could see that the judgewas being persuaded by what I was saying, which is not something you feel very often, particularly if you’re inclined to be self-critical, which I think a lot of academic people tend to be because it is a trait that pushes you to be better. At the Bar it is easy to lack confidence because once you get through pupillage, people stop giving you constructive criticism, as well as praise. As a barrister, you generally only hear people on the other side telling you that your arguments are not very good. Judges rarely give praise – although some do – so you tend to live in a bit of a vacuum without an objective sense of whether you are any good at the job,” she laughs. “It is very lonely being up on your feet, when you know the solicitor who has instructed you as their preferred counsel and the client they have worked so hard for have put their faith in you to deliver.” If you are resilient, the rewards come: “There is a direct return on the hardwork you put in. If youwork a 15-hour day, your earnings will be different to someonewho chooses towork an eight-hour day, which in law firms is a possibility. Equally, if youwant towork part time, no one is
Flexibility is key Katie says the biggest challenge facing
barristers is “the increasing specialisation of solicitors’ firms. Rather than always going to barristers, firms are nowmore inclined to keep matters – for example, mediation – in house because they canmakemoremoney doing it themselves. Traditional work such as pleadings remains the preserve of counsel for themost part, but it is not uncommon to do the pleadings and then not hear from the solicitors again until trial. Barristersmust workmore flexibly with solicitors and demonstrate that they are part of the team, rather than someonewho can only be instructed for formal set pieces. The Bar is not like it used to be, when barristers were parachuted in at the last minute – there ismuch more teamwork. It is not just about sitting in chambers, waiting for instructions to come in. Part of the job is about going out andmeeting people and building relationships with them, for example, solicitors on big cases towhomyou could be seconded for a long time. You need them to trust you andwant to use you as their preferred counsel.”
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