Henderson Chambers’ Isha Shakir talks cases, work-life balance and ‘fish and chip Fridays’
“I was the first in my family to go to university, went to a state school in the North East, and I had no lawyer contacts,” Isha Shakir recounts. “Really, I just fell upon the bar”.
Taking a break from working on the Post Office Inquiry, Shakir, who practises across a range of Henderson Chambers’ commercial-oriented fields, began by discussing the challenges at the beginning of her journey to the bar.
“I volunteered with Citizens Advice in sixth form, and found myself constantly having to research the law, and from there saw how the law is affecting people’s lives,” she tells Legal Cheek Careers. The only ethnic minority or Muslim at her state school in the North East, Shakir decided to pursue her interest and planned to apply to study law at university. Isha faced significant barriers during her education pertaining to racism and Islamophobia.
“When I spoke to my careers advisor about studying law at university, she said I wasn’t smart enough to go to university at all. I found it even more heartbreaking when I found out that my peers were given the exact opposite advice and were encouraged to pursue university,” she recalls.
Despite this advice, she took strength in her family and faith to motivate herself prove her careers adviser and teachers wrong. She worked hard and after receiving strong A Level results Shakir took up a place at the University of York. She excelled her own expectations by graduating the top of her year and achieving the highest academic score three years in a row.
During her first year at university, her interest in the bar grew. “Initially, I didn’t know the difference between a barrister and a barista,” Shakir jokes. She was later convinced to try mooting after playing the role of a witness in an advocacy training exercise during her first year. After finding out what mooting was, she took up that advice and threw herself into doing as many mooting competitions as possible.
“I remember doing a moot and how electric it felt all the way through from the preparation to arguing the issues,” says Shakir, who successfully completed pupillage with Henderson Chambers in September 2023. And it was here, in the mock appellate courts, that she was introduced to commercial law.
“With Henderson, it was a bit of a love story,” she continues. “The first chambers that I ever stepped foot in to was Henderson when I attended an event after the pupillage fair in my first year. I still have the Henderson Chambers pen I received back in 2017.” But it was completing a mini pupillage at the set in her second year of university that really locked in Shakir’s decision. “I was able to experience a range of county court advocacy and was able to see large group action cases. Including the Post Office trial. It feels very full circle to be working on the Post Office Inquiry now as a tenant at Henderson Chambers”.
“I also really like the type of work in chambers and the chance to get involved with advocacy from an early stage and throughout the junior end, whilst also experiencing the large groundbreaking cases,” she explains.
Having fulfilled her dream of securing a pupillage with Henderson while completing her master’s degree at the University of Oxford, Shakir shared a highlight from her pupillage. “My first solo court appearance during my second six was strangely against a very senior silk,” she says. “It was truly a trial by fire!”
Moving into her junior practice she now spends as much time as she can in court, usually around three days a week, and tackles a range of consumer credit, civil fraud, insolvency, and other commercial specialisms. To balance this out she is also working on the Post Office Inquiry, and has another big case in the works.
Perhaps surprising for many, all of this doesn’t come at the expense of a good work-life balance. “Your working hours and pattern are really flexible and up to you,” she says. “Within chambers the clerks are great at putting your needs first and allowing you to be very much in charge of your own diary.”
Working hard during the day and keeping her diary balanced allows her to enjoy life outside of work, Shakir explains, with boxing and horse riding both on the agenda. “The whole point of being self-employed is that you can be flexible in your working hours as long as you get the work done.”
Moving to advice for prospective pupils looking to follow in her footsteps, Shakir offers three pearls of wisdom.
First, “be brave and apply”. “If you don’t apply it’s an automatic no, and if you do apply there is a chance you will get it. There are plenty of reasons that I could have delayed and put off applying but I forced myself to just do it”.
“Even if you don’t get it, you’ll gain the experience and be able to improve for the next year and application cycle,” she says. “It’s a constant learning process and just giving it a go will benefit you in the long run.”
The second piece of advice is to cover off the basics. “Make sure you have some good mini-pupillages and mooting or advocacy experience,” she says. Referring back to how pivotal her own mini-pupillage experience was, Shakir adds that herself and those at Henderson are always looking to make their experience the best possible.
“We want good students, we want good people, and we want them to like us,” she continues. “My own experience during my mini pupillage at Henderson was amazing and now that I have my own mini-pupils, I try to replicate that as much as possible.” Shakir’s timetable for new recruits includes “as much time in court as possible. If there is anything happening, I’ll try to get them there,” as well as some written work for the students to delve into.
Also available is an advocacy exercise, presided over by Shakir, who provides advice and feedback. “This can be really useful for competing in advocacy competitions, preparing for pupillage interviews, and is just really good fun,” she says. Adding more reasons to apply for a mini-pupillage at Henderson, Shakir notes that students are also taken to lunch with members and invited to chambers breakfast on Tuesdays, drinks on Thursdays, and fish and chips on Fridays.
Moving to her third piece of advice, Shakir turns to developing your CV and “learning to articulate yourself in a concise and punchy way.” “You need to be able to write positively about yourself in an interesting way,” she says. “Don’t wait for gateway to open for applications in January, you can begin preparing your questions well before then which takes the pressure off when it comes to crunch time.”
While there is no set number of chambers to apply to, Shakir advises, “if you want to apply and can see yourself working there, give it a go.” However, she emphasises, “make sure every set you apply to is one that you truly want to be at and believe you will enjoy. People can tell when reading your applications whether or not you genuinely want to work there.”
While Shakir had one set that stood out head and shoulders above the rest, there might be several places where you can see yourself working. Her advice: “apply to those where you can see yourself going, as long as you have the time to personalise each application and put in the right level of effort.”
Rounding off the interview, Shakir shares some final words of wisdom: “Back yourself, be brave, and be kind.” Feeling motivated? Us too.
