3 Life as a barrister

Although a majority of barristers are self-employed (work for themselves), they will often work in a building, or set of offices, with a group of other barristers. This is called a set of chambers. Each set will have one or more clerks who organises which barrister gets what work and helps collect money from clients for the work that is done.

Some of these chambers are still in the Inns of Court (see the Barrister Briefing in Section 1), but there are now chambers in cities and towns across England and Wales. An employed barrister may work in an office environment or have the option to work from home. Here is an example of a barrister employed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Click on the link and then scroll down to the story about Christopher Trotter – District Crown Prosecutor [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

No5 Barristers Chambers, Cardiff

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Image of the front windows and door of No5 Barristers Chambers, Cardiff. Include red brick door columns and wooden window panels.

No5 Barristers Chambers, Cardiff

Would I enjoy working as a barrister?

To give you some idea of what life as a barrister might look like, here are some (fictitious) diary entries from three working barristers.

As you read the diaries below use the green and red highlighter pens to mark up what you think you would enjoy or would not enjoy about working as a barrister.

You can undo any highlighting you would like to change using the 'Back' button. At the end of each diary there is a Save and a Reset button.

The words in brackets are included as definitions of key legal words and phrases.

Laila has been working as a barrister for seven years.

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George is in the first six months of his one-year pupillage (on-the-job training).

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Raj is a barrister who is employed as an in-house lawyer by a large manufacturing company.

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Discussion

You may have highlighted a range of things you would like and not like. Barristers often like speaking in court and arguing their client’s case, but they can also sometimes find it quite nerve-wracking. Having specialist training and watching other barristers at work can help make it less daunting. Barristers often also like negotiating to reach an agreement, although this can take a lot of time and patience.

Thinking about what life as a barrister would be like can help you decide if it is the right career for you. It can also help you identify the skills you will need in order to succeed. Often these are skills you can begin developing now, for example, by joining your school’s debating team, or working as part of a group on a challenge.

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Barrister briefing!One question that barristers who work in criminal law often get asked is ‘how can you defend someone you know is guilty of a crime?’ In fact, if a client tells a barrister they are guilty, the barrister has to advise them to plead guilty. If they refuse, the barrister has to stop representing them and the client has to be represented by a different barrister.