From multiple virtual meet-ups to the set’s most formidable silk lending a hand
Our colleagues can make or break our workplace experience — particularly in a profession renowned for being highly competitive and often quite demanding.
You might think that the lack of face-to-face interaction due to the pandemic would impact the ability of chamber-mates to reach out to one another, but you’d be mistaken. In fact, for some junior barristers, “lockdown has only served to intensify that support and collaboration across chambers”.
We put the question ‘How supportive are your colleagues?’ to over 600 bar rookies at 50 leading sets, as part of this year’s Legal Cheek survey. Respondents then rated their chambers for colleague support on a scale from one to ten — with ten being ‘Very supportive’ and one being ‘Not at all supportive’.
We’ve tallied up the totals and below is the shortlist, listed alphabetically, of the chambers that scored an A* for colleague supportiveness:
12 King’s Bench Walk
2 Temple Gardens
5 Essex Court
Hailsham Chambers
Hardwicke
Henderson Chambers
No5 Chambers
South Square
Wilberforce Chambers
As part of the survey, we gave the rookies themselves an opportunity to recall the moments when their peers really stepped up to the mark. Here are a select few anonymous comments from some of the chambers listed above.
“No matter what seniority without exception, people will make time for you to discuss any knotty issues or practical problems.”
“Genuinely could not ask for more supportive or helpful colleagues — whether it’s a phone call to talk through some tricky legal or procedural point, or just batting about questions on one of the many chambers’ WhatsApp groups.”
“My colleagues are part of my family and this view has only been reaffirmed since lockdown. We have multiple virtual meet-ups per week and my Microsoft Teams account buzzes throughout the day with messages and call requests for catch-ups. I cannot wait to get back into chambers to catch up with my friends in person.”
“From the most junior to the top silk, everyone in chambers is very supportive. We have an open door policy meaning each one of us is happy to chat through a problem with a colleague, personal or professional!”
“Could not be a friendlier or more supportive bunch. Everyone’s door is always open.”
Aspiring pupils at the above sets should know the Pupillage Gateway, the centralised system to submit your application for pupillage, closes on Monday 8 February.
The winning law firm in this category will be announced at The Legal Cheek Awards 2021, sponsored by BARBRI, on Thursday 25 March 2021.