5 Essex Chambers

It’s not just police work, however — though there’s no escaping that it is at the crux of this set. You can find tenants defending teachers in regulatory proceedings, representing NHS Trusts in defending claims for discrimination, and even acting as lead counsel to the Mayor of London in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. What ties the work of members of 5 Essex Chambers together is that it often attracts media attention. As one member puts it, 5 Essex Chambers’ work is “of high public interest — involving novel and cutting edge issues affecting large sections of the public and issues of great controversy”. “I cannot believe how lucky I am to do the work we do in chambers.” One junior tells us, with another stating how they “can’t imagine a more interesting range of work”.

“Complex, varied, challenging and consistently manages to hit a sweet spot which combines novel legal argument on matters of high principle with the gritty reality of human life.” We can’t think of a more accurate description of what members of the set are getting up to. Post Office Inquiry? 5 Essex are there. Grenfell Inquiry? Check. Infected Blood Inquiry? Yes again. Thirlwall Inquiry, The Covid-19 Inquiry, The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry (Novichok), Plymouth Shootings Inquest, Yassar Yaqub Inquest, Guildford Pub Bombings, Fishmongers’ Hall Inquests, Undercover Policing Inquiry… The Reading Terror Attacks Inquests, Malkinson Inquiry, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jalal Uddin Inquiry, Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, Police Overtime Claims Litigation… Brook House Inquiry, Omagh Bombing Inquiry? All yeses. The set’s work even goes as far as representing the claimant in the case of former Welsh Rugby and British & Irish Lions Captain, Gareth Thomas, who was accused of recklessly transmitting HIV to a previous partner. For those familiar with their tort syllabus the cases of Michael v Chief Constable of South Wales Police, and Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police might also ring a bell. That’s right, both 5 Essex again.

Where do pupils and baby juniors fit into all this exciting work? Well, we are told they get the chance to get stuck into interesting cases from the get-go. They are not sitting around doing document review — instead, their “‘bread and butter’ is serious cases involving stalkers, paedophiles and drug dealers”. A former pupil told us that in their pupillage year they “collected two High Court challenges in two days — that indicates the high level work undertaken”. Meanwhile a baby junior tells us that in their first year of tenancy they worked on four major public inquiries: the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Post Office Inquiry, the infected blood inquiry, and a police shooting inquiry. They also appeared solo in the High Court and frequently appeared in the Crown Court. There’s certainly plenty to keep you on your toes!

If that all sounds like a lot to dive right into, worry not. “There is a healthy mix of formal and informal training at every level”, we’re told, with juniors raving about the “exceptional” training and quality of pupil supervisors. “Advice and guidance provided by my pupil supervisors during pupillage has been invaluable” one rookie tells us, with another commenting on the lecture series run within chambers to introduce pupils to 5 Essex’s main practice areas.

“Lots of sets say they are friendly, but at 5 Essex it is actually true.” That’s the verdict of one very jolly junior when asked about the set’s collegiality. Other answers included “they are the best”, “my colleagues are — quite simply — the best”, and “I can’t imagine doing this job without the level of support provided in chambers.” There is an open door policy throughout chambers, as well as a WhatsApp group among pupils and juniors (in which both legal questions and memes are exchanged), ensuring “there is always someone who can provide advice and support”. The group chat is also apparently “an endless source of amusement”. Plaudits extend to the head of chambers, silks, and senior clerk, all of whom are on hand and “very approachable”. “You’ve not seen real open doors and collegiality until you’ve seen 5 Essex” another junior tells us. What more could you want?

The supportiveness of colleagues extends to all areas. We hear there is great support for parental and adoption leave, as well as a “wonderful” clerking team that barristers can’t seem to praise enough. Inevitably, work/life balance can be a challenge — this will be true of any good set. One tenant confides that striking the balance is “an endless struggle” but also states that the clerks are there to support and will “often flag that I need a holiday before I realise it myself”. One tenant notes: “The large amount of women in chambers means that childcare and family arrangements are spoken about and accounted for much more than in other chambers”, with the maternity policy praised for being “brilliant”. Senior clerk Mark Waller gets several special shoutouts for being “superb” in terms of helping tenants strike the right balance, with his team described as “excellent” and “amazing” . Senior members of chambers are also said to be supportive in this regard, one junior confiding that there is “no pressure” to work excessive hours. Another tells us they generally take a holiday every couple of months to recharge, with a third noting that the clerking team are “excellent about encouraging breaks and never push to take on more than I can/should.” Not necessarily what you might have expected from a set at the top of its field!

In terms of the social side of chambers, we hear it is common for members to grab lunch together, with “a very active junior end” also meeting regularly for drinks. Bigger events are organised and members at 5 Essex Chambers “love any excuse for a party”, with one rookie even boasting of a social event every fortnight! Also on the roster are monday night yoga, birthday parties, a juniors curry night, and welcome drinks for pupils. Some juniors even go on holiday together! Whilst inevitably social lives are different in a post-covid world, the consensus is that life at the set is “excellent”.

Clearly fond of a good thesaurus, the set’s juniors variously describe their new premises as “swanky”, “Incredible”, “fancy”, “Gorgeous”, “Stunning”, (deep breath), “classically beautiful”, “unbelievably swish”, “fantastic”, “really impressive”, and “state of the art”. Having spent almost 70 years at Middle Temple, 5 Essex can now be found in Gray’s Inn with all of the facilities that a top modern chambers could want. There are “beautiful conference rooms, a state-of-the-art clerks room”, a “top notch reception and waiting area”, and, to top it all off, air conditioning. We even hear that there are “fancy coffee machines” in every conference room. The layout of the members area has also received a great deal of praise, with juniors enjoying the “even more friendly and collegiate” feel.

With the new facilities comes a boost to the IT and tech support. Receiving special praise are the office manager and senior clerk, along with the dedicated IT team and “support at the end of the phone whenever we need it”. Offering another indication of just how friendly the 5 Essex bunch are, one junior tells us that whilst the IT team are on hand, “the go-to for most of us” is just “sticking your head into someone else’s room and asking”. Although there is a suggestion that full support “it is not quite finished yet”, members are unanimous that the set is “moving well in the right direction”. Also causing a buzz are the specialist cybersecurity consultants brought in, and the IT committee, “which is very active”, leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of technological perfection.

For those sold on 5 Essex Chambers, applications should be made through the Pupillage Gateway. The set takes on up to three pupils a year and offers an award of £65,000. Marking the application, the Pupillage Committee will consider academic record, legal and non-legal experience, mini-pupillages, clarity and quality of presentation, and any other special or interesting features. The 30 highest-scoring applicants will be invited to a first-round interview where they will be asked to analyse and discuss a number of legal and ethical issues. The top 10 applicants will then be invited to a second-round interview, where they will be assessed according to legal knowledge, presentation, communication and interpersonal skills, and motivation.

Those prospective pupils who are successful will typically have three pupil supervisors over the course of the year. They will spend their first six months predominantly shadowing and completing paperwork for their supervisor. In the second six, they will take on paperwork for other members of chambers and also begin to build their own practice. This will comprise of both advisory work and increasingly being instructed to appear in court — usually two to three times a week. The training throughout pupillage is said to be “excellent”. The in-house advocacy programme delivered by Master Alastair Hodge is particularly praised. There is also funding available for external courses, and with more senior members of chambers passing on their knowledge “the training never stops”.

5 Essex Chambers is keen to emphasise that it particularly encourages applications from black and minority ethnic candidates, and from those with non-traditional backgrounds. The set works in partnership with Middle Temple and Inner Temple to offer mini-pupillages and also participates in 10,000 Black Interns and the Bar Placement Scheme. This year, 5 Essex Chambers will also be running a series of online open evenings designed to give aspiring barristers an insight into the pupillage process and life at a top-tier chambers.

When I applied for pupillage my focus was on civil sets with a public law angle and I tried to apply across a range (comparing your CV with the five most recent tenants is a useful way to get a sense of whether you are aiming your applications realistically). Getting pupillage is a hugely competitive process which, in my view, always requires a bit of luck. However, you can stack the odds in your favour with a well organised application which demonstrates your skills and experience but is also properly tailored to the individual chambers. I have since been told that you should think of a written application like a skeleton argument for the outcome you want — a pupillage. I think this is exactly right. If you can show through both the content and the form that you are a persuasive advocate then you are demonstrating your skills two-fold.

The pupillage experience

Pupillage at 5 Essex Chambers consists of three seats of four months, each with a different supervisor. At the start you will work very closely with your supervisor, shadowing them to court and completing first drafts of written work such as advices and pleadings. In this way you get stuck in right from the get-go. As you progress you will do more work for other members of chambers which is a good way to meet people and see different styles. Pupillage at 5 Essex Chambers doesn’t involve any formal assessments but whenever you do a piece of work you will receive written and oral feedback from the person you did it for and, if the work goes on to a client, often from them as well. I found this helpful and I remember it being very satisfying to see work I had done going out to clients. If you are invited to apply for tenancy there is a fairly short application to complete which you submit along with two pieces of written work. This is then considered by all members of chambers. Pupillage is always going to be a challenge but I appreciated how transparent the process was. It was always very clear at every stage what I had to do to succeed.

From the start you will also shadow other members of chambers in court — essentially if anyone has anything interesting they will invite you along. In my first six I saw a number of cases in the Court of Appeal and went to the Supreme Court to see one of our silks, Alan Payne KC, acting for the Home Secretary in a challenge to the United Kingdom’s immigration rules. The clerks will also ensure that you shadow more junior members on the kind of cases that you will be doing yourself in your second six. By the time I went on my feet I had seen a real mix of work and felt quite comfortable about getting started.

Compared to a lot of civil sets, there are a lot of opportunities for court exposure, and from the very start of your second six you can expect to be in court in your own right three to four days a week. You will also be doing your own advisory work and drafting pleadings. Police law is a real specialism for us so pupils will be in the Magistrates’ Court regularly making civil applications and in the Crown Court for appeals. I did a lot of Stalking Protection Orders, Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, and forfeiture applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Sometimes your opponent will be representing themselves, sometimes it will be a silk. Both require different approaches and so you build your skills fast! Due to the inherent variety of police law I also appeared in the Family Court for Forced Marriage Protection Orders and in Coroners’ Courts for inquests. The sheer variety allows you to gain experience very quickly and I can honestly say that I was never bored!

One of the reasons I chose 5 Essex Chambers was the quality of the work, which includes a lot of high-profile headline-grabbing cases which raise really fascinating public law issues. Pupils are also involved in these from the start and, as a pupil, I worked on the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse with a fellow junior and silk from chambers. It was difficult subject matter but you also felt you were contributing towards ensuring that the terrible things which took place were recognised and prevented from happening again.

In terms of training, we have a series of in-house seminars delivered by more senior members ranging over the different kinds of work we do (judicial review, civil applications in the magistrates’ court, police law in the family court) to topics like managing your practice and client care. These are often well attended by other members so they are a great opportunity to meet people and learn from their experiences. In addition, we are lucky enough to have fantastic in-house advocacy training delivered by Master Alastair Hodge of Inner Temple. Getting this training and feedback in such a small group is an unparalleled opportunity to hone your skills.

The transition from pupil to tenant

Because we have such an active second six where you are effectively managing your own practice, the transition from pupil to tenant is quite smooth. You start to take on more complex cases and you no longer have a supervisor but all the informal mentoring continues and I still felt I had a lot of support and guidance available if I needed it. We also have a truly fantastic clerking team who are very active in helping you develop your practice and get experience in the areas of work which interest you.

As 5 Essex Chambers is involved in a lot of big cases including large-scale inquests and inquiries, there is a lot of scope for being led by more senior members of chambers which gives us juniors a chance to punch above our weight in terms of doing high-profile work. Recently, members have appeared in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Jermaine Baker Inquiry, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Anthony Grainger Inquiry, the Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry, the Undercover Policing Inquiry, the Al Sweady Inquiry, the Baha Mousa Inquiry, the Leveson Inquiry and the Hillsborough Inquests. I am currently being led in the Brook House Inquiry which concerns allegations of mistreatment in an immigration removal centre (as was featured in the BBC’s undercover Panorama documentary) and I am also instructed as junior counsel in the inquests into the Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist attack. One thing I love about chambers’ ethos is that people are always keen to bring others in and work isn’t jealously guarded. There is a real sense that when one wins, we all win.

What is your practice like now?

Because of the kind of work that we do, which mixes applications and trials with large scale inquests and inquiries, my typical week varies a lot from month to month. Usually, I will be in court three to four days a week with the rest of the time spent on advisory work or pleadings. However, if I am preparing for a more substantial matter that might mean less time in court so it really varies. I really enjoy the fact that no two weeks are ever the same.

Like a lot of barristers, I tend to work fairly long hours and often do some work at the weekends. It is a demanding job but the payoff is that you get to do interesting, challenging work. In general though, 5 Essex Chambers encourages a fairly healthy work/life balance. We are always busy but the clerks keep an eye on your workload and check in regularly to ensure everyone is working at the pace they want to.

In terms of professional development, we have informal in-house talks from members of chambers and training is available for more junior members in specialist areas. For example, one member recently gave a webinar on Court of Protection work for those interested in incorporating that into their practice. Later on in the year, the employment team will be running training for those looking to develop their practice in that area.

What is the culture of chambers?

5 Essex Chambers is a genuinely friendly, informal, and egalitarian place. We are all on first name terms and I wouldn’t hesitate to (and regularly do) stick my head into anyone’s room to ask a question or have a chat. The physical layout of chambers mixes senior and junior members together so this interaction goes all the way up. I can honestly say that I am as happy picking up the phone to a baby junior as I am asking any of our silks for tips on a tricky point. We also have a superb clerking team and marvellous support staff, along with two wonderful cleaners who are as much part of the family as any of the barristers and who cannot be beaten for cheering you up after a hard day in court.

I went on my feet on 1 March 2020 just before the first lockdown so I wasn’t in chambers for most of my second six. Despite that, I still had a lot of contact with members and still felt included and well supported. I would speak regularly with my supervisors and was in daily contact with the other juniors, particularly through the baby junior’s WhatsApp group which is a great place to pose questions and discuss difficult cases. Even though we were locked down when I got tenancy, chambers sent a bottle of champagne to my house and we all had drinks on Zoom. Chambers tea on a Friday also persisted online throughout the lockdowns and we had a very lively Christmas party from our respective homes. It can be a challenging job at times and a lot of the work we do involves difficult and sometimes upsetting material. Given this, it’s great that chambers recognises the value of a collegiate atmosphere.

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

Because our work is quite niche in some ways we definitely look for applicants to demonstrate knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the particular kind of work that we do. There is an emphasis on police law and central government work and good applicants show that they appreciate the needs of these clients and the kinds of statutory duties they are under. Equally though, there is a real range. Members work in employment law (both claimant and defendant), personal injury, inquests and inquiries, and we are developing a specialism in data protection and information law.

Along with knowing what we do, the best advice I could offer to someone looking to apply to us (or to anyone else for that matter) is to read the annual reports we publish after each pupillage application round. These break down in detail the questions and tasks set for applicants at each stage of the process and explain what we were looking for and what made for better or worse responses. The idea behind it is to make the process more accessible so that everyone knows what they can expect regardless of their experience or background.