The Legal Cheek View
Keating Chambers is a heavyweight commercial set, and practice areas don’t come much more heavyweight than construction. At the top of their game in this field, Keating’s tenants act in complex domestic and international cases. Their expertise expands into the related areas of energy, natural resources, technology, public procurement, and professional negligence. Whether it be skyscrapers or power plants, Keating’s 74 barristers, including an impressive 34 KCs, are the people to call.
Whilst construction may seem like a relatively confined area of law, the reality is that work is incredibly varied. One pupil at the set tells us that they have exposure to “very diverse work, from international arbitrations concerning large power plants across the globe to domestic house renovations to shipbuilding contracts”. Other tenants also note the international nature of the work. This is unsurprising given Keating’s impressive reputation in this field. As one junior puts it, the “world’s biggest arbitrations” come through the set’s door.
Whether it be appearing in front of the Technology and Construction Court, heading to the Supreme Court, or jetting off to locations as exotic as Singapore and Australia, tenants of Keating Chambers work at all levels and represent clients ranging from individuals to multinational companies. From the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to catastrophic flooding in Greenwich Millennium Village, if it involves construction, you’re likely to find someone from Keating Chambers involved.
Over the past year, tenants have been working on a number of exciting cases. David Thomas KC appeared in the Privy Council to resist a final appeal concerning seven unpaid interim payment certificates on a major housing development in Trinidad and Tobago and Sarah Hannaford KC acted for The Met Office in a procurement challenge concerning the prestigious contract for a weather and climate change supercomputer. Meanwhile, James Frampton acted successfully for a claimant in the adjudication of enforcement proceedings concerning the geographical extent of England for the purposes of the HGCRA.
Like any specialist business area, there’s a lot of jargon to learn. One experienced tenant boasts “a working knowledge of all the major forms of construction/engineering contracts and partnering agreements including JCT, FIDIC, ICE, ACE, IMechE and RIBA”, which presumably means something to clients. Thankfully, pupillage hopefuls can take comfort in the fact that “no specialist or technical knowledge of construction or engineering is required” at the outset, but potential candidates who struggle with contract and tort needn’t bother darkening the Keating door.
For those who need a helping hand getting to grips with the jargon — or anything else — the bunch at Keating are said to be very supportive. One junior told LC, “Keating is highly collegiate. We very much have an open door policy from silks to juniors. Often I will go to a silks room to ask a question.”
We hear that wellbeing and mentoring of pupils and juniors is a priority for the set, with the aim of creating a “cohesive atmosphere and inclusive culture”. It is clearly working: one member tells us that their colleagues have a “huge wealth of knowledge and advice is always available and freely given”. Another tenant similarly describes the fellow barristers and staff at Keating as being “incredibly supportive”.
The set also ensures that members can socialise together if they wish. There are regular chambers’ lunches and rooftop drinks as well as a netball team and even a Keating Chambers rock band who compete in law rocks — apparently it’s a thing! Downtime is especially important in a set with such high-value, complex work. Wading through the reams of paperwork typically generated by construction disputes, stress can have an impact. However, we are told that “there is definitely a focus on mental health awareness and managing stress” within the set. During pupillage your hours are said to be a strict 9am-6pm, there’s a “culture of not working weekends” and we’re assured that the “time periods to complete work in are achievable and realistic.”
The physical chambers on Essex Street are more modern than most of the olde worlde buildings inside the Temple itself. Whilst the set “lacks Georgian exterior”, it has been recently refurbished – rather fitting for a construction set! We hear that members get their own room and every office has climate control, which makes a change from many of the old buildings in Temple where you roast in the summer and freeze in the winter. If thermoregulation hasn’t quite sold you, there’s also a “cool outside bar area” which hosts chambers’ drinks in the summer and “on-site” and “24/7 remote support worldwide” from chambers’ “incredible” IT team.
Those sold on this construction giant should make a pupillage application through Pupillage Gateway. Around 70 of the top scoring candidates will then be asked to complete a written assessment, which will take the form of a written opinion on a basic principle of contract or tort law. Based on the application and written assessment, around 55 candidates will be invited to a first-round interview in front of three members of chambers which will consist of an advocacy exercise and structured questions based on your application form. The top scoring 12 candidates will be invited to a second-round interview, where they will face another advocacy exercise and a discussion in the format of a conference with instructing solicitors on the same topic as the written assessment. Those reaching the second-round interview are also invited for a coffee and chat with tenants.
The two lucky candidates who get pupillage will receive an award of £85,000. Pupils get four different supervisors over the course of the year, with one insider reporting that all four of his “were genuinely focused on providing a proper training in the work chambers does and pushing me to keep improving”. Another former pupil tells us that pupillage at Keating was “second to none”, adding, “our supervisors are only concerned with ensuring you learn, progress and develop.” Naturally, it is a steep learning curve, with one junior telling us that you are “expected to step up quickly” but there is plenty of support in place. In the second six, Keating gets pupils in court as often as possible. Once over the line, a baby junior says workload involves a “balance between large international work as part of a team with a KC and smaller domestic unled cases”.
Keating Chambers takes its commitment to improving access to the bar seriously. It participates in a number of schemes including Bridging, (Dis)Ability to the Bar, 10,000 Black Interns and COMBAR’s mentoring scheme for under-represented groups. It also runs a summer school in collaboration with Lamb Building for university students interested in commercial, civil, or criminal law. Keating has recently launched a new social mobility scholarship of £15,000 in partnership with Gray’s Inn to support under-represented groups at the bar.