Becoming a Barrister - Our Guests

Despite a snowy day, a packed auditorium of eager law students, including A level Law students and all those from all three years of the LLB, came to hear Kathryn Hayes, employed by Drydens in Bradford and Desiree Artesi, based in Chambers in London, pictured here with Lecturer, Darran Chapple.

What Barristers Don't Do

(... all the things courtroom dramas show them doing!)

Swan around in wigs and gowns being pompous and arrogant.
Bang our fists on the table and shout "Objection!"
(Often) Ask killer questions which crush an otherwise hardened criminal into weeping admission of his/her wrongs.

What Barristers Do

Work extremely hard
Whatever our client requires (within reason). Remember you will not always be fighting for the downtrodden, you are sometimes paid to represent big companies.
Work within the Code of Conduct at all times.

Kathryn explained: "It is nothing like the Kavanagh QC programme. It is extremely hard work, mostly in the office with late evenings and early mornings, even weekends. On some days you are in a panic and wonder why you do it, but there are other days when it is the best job in the world. You must have resilience and enjoy the job, otherwise forget it."

Desiree expanded: "It is a hard way of earning a living. But if you want to make a difference or have a bugbear that you want to help address it can be a vocation. You might want a way of working independently. but it is not about making truckloads of money."

Advantages and Disadvantages

Weigh up the Pros and Cons

Positives
A great job.
A sense of worth
Tradition - the wearing of wigs and gowns and the environment gives you a comfortable feeing of belonging to something substantial and with a long history.
Kudos/Reputation - people are impressed by barristers and treat them with respect.
Money. Most barristers make a comfortable living but not the astronomical figures featured in the press. However in the first few years of self employment returns may be very low.
Opportunity to help and make changes. Pro bono work is great experience and good for the soul.

Negatives
Recruitment is very competitive all the way through to tennancy. There is a minimum degree classification of 2:2 to gain entry to the BVC course, pupillages are then difficult to come by and in the first few years of tennancy work is difficult to find.
Costs. Becoming a barrister requires a substantial investment - fees for the BVC (plus fees for CPE if degree is not a qualifying law degree), low earnings when doing pupillage, call fees/admission, court dress et cetera.

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