42BR Barristers

Perhaps the jewels in the 42BR crown are their employment and family teams. One tenant tells us “42BR has great relationships with leading employment law firms — there is plenty of solid work coming through the door”. Tenants work across the full spectrum of employment law and are highly respected in this field. This work can range from claims of unfair dismissal to discrimination to whistleblowing protection.

In the family law team, members again work across the spectrum of family law, but have particular expertise in children law. One junior tells us: “I often deal with complex children matters following the breakdown of a relationship”. Four of the set’s seven KCs belong to the family team, adding to its strength.

The personal injury and clinical negligence teams also houses a silk, Lisa Henderson KC – she has worked on numerous multi-million-pound settlements over the years. Work ranges from road traffic accidents to industrial disease. The inquests & inquiries team has worked on a number of significant inquiries including members being instructed as counsel to The Sandilands Croydon Tram Disaster Inquest and on the inquest into the death of a police sergeant shot by a person in custody.

The recently added animal welfare team sees family silk Damian Woodward-Carlton KC wear two hats. The team was founded post-Brexit and in light of the new Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022), and continues to build a strong reputation.

All in all, the work on offer at 42BR is varied and exciting, with one tenant describing their work as “adrenaline-fuelled”. Another goes further, stating that “every case is different and every client is different. If you are interested in people, their backgrounds, their relationships and how they function in society, it is certainly stimulating. It allows you to perform a wonderful variety of different tasks/roles/skills, including advocacy, negotiation, writing, analysis, research, case management and strategy. Life at the family bar is always stimulating and never dull or monotonous.”

Tenants who mix and match practices seem to be especially pleased with their work, with one telling us: “I am a member of two practice areas and they both offer a complimenting and varied practice”. Whether a specialist or generalist, however, the work is said to be “varied, relevant, and challenging”, with one jolly junior simply stating, “I just love it”. Difficult praise to beat!

As ever at the Bar, striking a good work-life balance can be a struggle. One junior at the set tells us: “as ever, work feels like feast or famine, but the reality is a pretty steady stream of work. Mid-trial, there is little work-life balance but if your diary goes quiet then taking a day off to compensate for those late nights and weekends is fine — indeed, encouraged”.

The clerks are said to be very supportive, with one tenant describing them as “probably the best there are”. Another junior tells us: “the clerks are fantastic at making sure we get as good a balance as we need”, and that “there is never any pressure to do more work than you’re happy to do. Our chambers are very conscious of the importance of a healthy work-life balance and they have been providing massage sessions for a long time as part of the focus on the wellbeing of its members. I feel that I am working in a very supportive environment.”

Ultimately, work-life balance seems to be a matter of personal choice and need. One female tenant confides: “I’m a working mum and I have had the most amazing support when I have childcare to sort, working reduced hours or days. It’s so flexible. There is no judgement. It is just how it is supposed to be”. Others set’s in-house mentoring programme and the heads of each team and heads of chambers, all of whom are described as being “very supportive about work-life balance”. In short, “you are free to make your own way without judgement or pressure.” What more could you ask for?

As well as the clerks, the tenants at 42BR are said to be a supportive bunch. We hear that there are WhatsApp groups for each practice team where tenants help each other out and arrange socials. One tenant tells us: “we have a lively practice WhatsApp group where you can get anything from the inside track on what a judge is like to a detailed answer to a technical question. If you need a more in-depth answer you can always find a colleague available to chat on the phone or in chambers”. Another tenant, who has moved to 42BR from another set, confides: “as a large common law set there is a huge pool of possible support. In the family group we offer in-house training, mentoring, social events, and a hands-on approach to helping each other — it’s not always like 42BR”. Across the board fellow barristers describe each other as “fantastic”, “highly supportive”, and “responsive”.

When it comes to socialising together there is plenty on offer for the budding socialite. Monthly drinks, team socials and other regular gatherings, both in and out of London are all options. There are also a range of marketing events with internal training sessions on the roster for those wishing to blend their personal and professional lives. One rookie even notes that some less formal events come with dinner provided, most recently a “wonderful paella”. Of course, it’s not for everyone. One tenant jokes “there are some people who never engage and others who’d turn up to the opening of an envelope. You choose how you want your chambers’ life to go and there is no impact on your development either way”.

In terms of 42BR’s location, they are situated just around the corner from Lincoln’s and Gray’s Inns and, after a very recent move, are crushing cases from a swanky modern premises. The new chambers is “specially designed” with “every member of chambers involved in deciding what we wanted in our new premises, what sort of workspaces, technology and design.” This barrister-led refurbishment, we’re told, has resulted in an environment that can only be described as “lush”, although others have added “highly functional”, “extremely well-equipped”, and “the perfect mixture of modern interior work spaces with historic exterior” to the list. Some juniors even go as far as to suggest they “very much enjoy” coming into chambers. Alongside the luxury coffee machines, law students will be particularly excited to hear that the stationary room is, “almost tantalisingly”, open for barristers to dip into.

Whilst the building is great, the award for most popular staff member at 42BR has to go to Ronnie Gurr, IT manager. He is described by barristers as “excellent”, “dedicated”, and “a superstar who patiently deals with every query.” The overall IT support receives similar praise, with juniors very happy with the “timely” and “prompt” support on offer “24/7”. There is also regular training on offer to ensure safety and compliance in a world with increasing cyber security risks.

Those looking to apply for pupillage at 42BR should make their application through the Pupillage Gateway. Chambers typically takes on two pupils per year and offers an award of £40,000, in addition to guaranteed earnings in the second six of at least £15,000. Pupils can expect to see a broad range of practice areas during pupillage, and can express their preference for particular practice areas. This will be taken into account where possible. In their second six, pupils will appear in court in their own right – we hear that being on your feet around three times a week is the average – which provides fantastic advocacy experience. Training doesn’t stop at pupillage either, with a range of in-house and external seminars also on offer into tenancy.

42BR are proud to support the 10,000 Black Interns Initiative, participate in the London Legal Walk and support Advocate, as well as CHICKS children’s charity, which provides free breaks for disadvantaged children all over the UK. The set also encourages its barristers to participate in pro bono work.

The pupillage experience

When I applied for pupillage, I was looking for chambers that did mixed civil or common law. I knew that I wanted to start off doing a few different areas of law, ideally including employment law (that I knew I already enjoyed, having studied Labour Law at university). Whilst I did not have experience in every area of civil law, I had shadowed a family solicitor/barrister, a civil judge (who did mostly property/commercial work) and volunteered for organisations dealing with employment, social security and criminal law, which demonstrated that I was open to trying a bit of everything.

I wanted a pupillage experience that would allow me to be in court as much as possible, and 42BR offered roughly 3-4 days in court per week in court as a second six pupil. In reality, this was often 4-5 days a week by the end of my pupillage, which I was very pleased with.

The first six was divided into 3 months of civil shadowing (I chose to shadow an employment practitioner) and then 3 months of family shadowing. Towards the end of the second 3 months, I began to also shadow the junior barristers in various areas of law as their work was more akin to what I’d experience once on my feet.

42BR assesses pupils informally and offers a non-competitive pupillage, so I was not competing with my co-pupil for a place as a tenant. This was a big draw for me when applying to 42BR, and in practice I found this reduced the pressure of the pupillage year considerably. It was nice to have the benefit of someone with whom I could share notes, swap court stories and ask silly questions that I was initially too nervous to ask my supervisors (although I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded!).

The transition from pupil to tenant

In all honesty, it didn’t feel different beyond having to pay chambers contributions, having access to internal chambers correspondence/group chats and having a formal say in chambers decisions. As a pupil, I had been treated by staff and colleagues as a prospective tenant – 42BR ensure they have enough capacity to take on pupils trained each year should they meet the required standard, the ethos being that there isn’t any point training up barristers you don’t think would make suitable tenants!

It has been nice to have more control over my work, including when I take time off – I now feel more empowered to make efforts to pursue particular practice areas and reduce

my work in others according to my preferences. I have practice review meetings with senior members of the clerking team every 3-4 months to formally check in and evaluate my practice.

What is your practice like now?

I’m typically in court 3 to 5 days a week. I try to take at least one day every week for written work, although in reality I fit most drafting/preparatory work around my hearings if they are shorter. About a year and a half into being on my feet, I’m still doing work across almost all of chambers practice areas, although I’m beginning to step away from areas of work that I’m less keen on to focus on those I prefer. I have practice review meetings with senior members of the clerking team every few months to discuss my work, what I want and where they see my practice going.

My work/life balance is an ongoing project. Being a pupil is hard as everything is new and takes you much longer – I spent around a day and half preparing for my first small claim RTA hearing, but now I can’t imagine such a case taking anywhere near this long to prep! However, I’ve generally felt that I have enough time each week to see friends, do things outside of work that I enjoy and spend time with my partner. Things that make a big difference to how stressed I feel day to day include having supportive family/friends, going to bed/getting up at a consistent time as much as possible and taking at least one day at the weekend to not think about work at all.

I have a mentor within chambers and have found this very helpful in identifying areas of my practice in which I want to set goals/improve. We meet roughly once every two months but see each other around chambers much more frequently and so have the chance to catch up in a more social way too.

What is the culture of chambers?

42BR has a very friendly workplace culture. As a pupil, if I needed advice relating to a particular area of law or ethics, I’d often ask the clerks to put me in touch with a member of chambers who would be willing to help and always encountered colleagues willing to give up (sometimes significant) periods of time to assist. Now I’m more familiar with members of chambers, I feel comfortable enough to reach out to them directly. We’ve also got WhatsApp groups for different practice areas which are very helpful if you need to ask a last-minute question or want to get a consensus on something.

In person, there’s usually at least a handful of barristers working in our hot-desking area who will be willing to lend an ear if you need a second opinion on something. We have monthly chambers drinks and organise the odd social event on top of this, particularly to

celebrate matters such as gaining tenancy. However, I’ve found most socialising with colleagues takes place during the workday, whether it’s venting to a colleague about a difficult case or chatting about your weekend.

I’ve never felt that 42BR was particularly hierarchical – you hear horror stories of some chambers making their pupils serve the tea, but I found that I was listened to when providing feedback on the pupillage process and was repeatedly told as a junior tenant that my vote counted just as much as that of more experienced barristers when considering chambers issues. Our heads of chambers, in particular Tina Cooke KC, have been vocal about tackling any issues within chambers such as bullying head-on, and it’s given me confidence to speak up should I experience anything similar by virtue of being more junior, although I can’t say this has happened to date.

Top tips for those wanting to become a barrister/secure a pupillage at your chambers

I think being able to demonstrate an openness towards most areas of chambers practice is important. It’s okay to have a strong preference for a particular area of law, but as a pupil, you’ll be expected to give other areas of practice a go at first.

I also think it’s key to remember that all chambers are recruiting for a future colleague, so will look for someone that they feel they can rely on and get on with. For pupillage interview/application advice generally, I found the website pupillageandhowtogetit.com invaluable. I was also told by my university careers service that broadly, the three key matters prospective barristers ought to focus on are moots, marks and minis — i.e., practical advocacy experience, good grades/academic prowess, and work experience that demonstrates you are interested in a career as a barrister rather than a solicitor.

I hadn’t done a mini-pupillage at 42BR prior to starting pupillage, so this definitely isn’t a requirement. However, I found it very useful to talk to members of the 42BR pupillage team at the Bar Council/Legal Cheek pupillage fairs prior to applying for pupillage.