Personal injury
sometimes daunting because you are fresh to the job and often find yourself working onmulti- million-pound cases. “In themiddle seat you continue working on your supervisor’s cases, as well as branching out to work for other people in chambers, all of whomhave their own unique practices. And in your second six months of pupillage you are released into the wild, to attend court hearings such as small claimand fast track trials.” Charley notes: “The breadth of expertise at 12KBW is one of its selling points: we have practice groups dedicated to industrial disease, international and travel law, clinical negligence and employment. You are able to pursue your own particular interests.” Now a tenant at 12KBW, Charley finds the biggest difference between her work as a pupil and her current practice is that she is increasingly seeing her own cases through from start to finish: “As you becomemore senior, people start to involve you from the beginning of a case and ask you for advice.” Having originally planned to be a family lawyer, Charley built up a practice in personal injury (PI) law almost accidently: “I never really saw PI law as my calling. I got lucky though because it really suits me – there is a huge variety in the work we do and I particularly enjoy themedical side”. She acts for both claimants and defendants: “The claimant side comes with a lot of responsibility because you’re working for an individual. Whereas on the defendant side you’re often working for a company or an insurer and so have slightly less autonomy.” While she enjoys both claimant and defendant work, Charley predicts that as she becomes more senior, she will choose to focus more on one than the other, but her interest in clinical negligence will endure: “I love speaking to experts about themedicine involved in a case, particularly in clinical negligence cases. I find it
Personal injury (PI) law falls under the lawof tort. It involves civil claims brought to obtain compensation for injuries so as to put the injured person back in the position that theywould have been in had they not been injured. The subject matter varies considerably, and can range from controversial, high-profile disaster cases through to road traffic accidents and health and safety cases. A related, specialised practice area of PI law is clinical negligence, which involves injuries suffered during medical procedures. Explaining the supportive culture that she has experienced at 12 King’s BenchWalk (12KBW), Charley Turton said: “When you’re a pupil and a very junior tenant you’re looking to get advice from themore senior people. As you climb the ladder you then give that advice back to the more junior people. So, it’s a bit like the ‘circle of life’ – there’s a real give and take of advice and reassurance.” Coming to her pupillage at 12KBWstraight after an English degree at the University of Oxford, the Graduate Diploma in Law and Bar school in Birmingham, Charley says she was “extremely nervous in the run up because I had no idea what to expect but I loved it.” Shemoved to London the day before her pupillage began and – while she would not recommend such a last- minutemove – was made to feel at ease and settled in quickly to life at 12KBW: “Everyone in chambers was so kind and understanding because they have all been through the same experience. Pupillage is a really intense year that goes by in a flash but the people at 12KBW take you under their wing.” Breadth of expertise Recalling her pupillage experience, Charley says: “The pupillage year is split into three four- month ‘seats’ in which you are supervised by three different senior barristers. In your first seat youmainly work on the cases that your supervisor is working on, which is exciting and
For more chambers that work in this practice area, please use the ‘Pupillage index’.
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