Choosing Your Practice Areas II: Crime and Family

The Pupillage Podcast

In these two episodes, we talk to barristers and other guests practising in lots of different areas to hear about what it’s really like. What do they love about their practice area? Who are their clients? What sort of skills do you need to flourish? What are the things you really need to think about when choosing your practice? They told us about important lifestyle differences between different practices and how the legal directories can help you look behind aspirational websites. Perhaps most important of all, they told us why, when selecting your practice area, you should keep an open mind. In Practice Areas II, we hear about family, crime and inquests practices. Guests in order of appearance Bernard Richmond QC: criminal silk and Head of Chambers at Lamb Building, Master of Middle Temple, Assistant Coroner, Recorder http://www.lambbuilding.co.uk/members/profile.php?id=3 and on Twitter as @phatsilk_qc Rupert Kent: criminal barrister at 2 Harcourt Buildings https://www.2hb.co.uk/rupert- kent/ Jessica Lee: family barrister at 1GC https://1gc.com/barristers/profile/jessica-lee and on Twitter as @jessicaleelaw Useful Links Essential reading for anyone considering a career in crime: The Secret Barrister (who can be found on twitter @BarristerSecret) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Barrister-Stories-Law- Broken/dp/1509841105/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546431219&sr=8- 1&keywords=the+secret+barrister And for anyone interested in crime and family: In Your Defence by Sarah Langford (on twitter as @wigsandwords and on Instagram as @sarah_m_langford: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Defence-Stories-Life- Law/dp/085752528X/ref=pd_sbs_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=085752528X&pd _rd_r=d954d530-0e87-11e9-8210- ed08ba772cb1&pd_rd_w=CLkt3&pd_rd_wg=v3gbb&pf_rd_p=18edf98b-139a-41ee- bb40- d725dd59d1d3&pf_rd_r=MJKG9FSD9HYXPKES5TAR&psc=1&refRID=MJKG9FSD 9HYXPKES5TAR The Legal 500: https://www.legal500.com/assets/pages/united-kingdom/uk.html Chambers & Partners: https://chambers.com/research/chambers-uk-and-uk-bar Chambers Student Guide: https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/ and some useful advice on areas of law (the solicitors’ areas equally apply) https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/practice-areas LawCareers.Net Handbook 2019: The Training Contract and Pupillage Guide https://handbook.lawcareers.net/ Target Jobs Law: https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/law-barristers Glossary Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel: the panel of barristers who are instructed to advise and represent central government departments. Direct Access: where members of the public can instruct a barrister themselves (directly) without having to go through a solicitor. Legal Directories: reference books that rank and recommend chambers and individual barristers. Chambers UK Bar (often called Chambers & Partners) and Legal 500 are the main legal directories. Mentions: typically a very short case management hearing in the criminal courts. Year of Call: the year in which a barrister was called to the Bar (i.e. the year in which they qualified). It is used to understand how much experience a particular barrister has.