My Mini Pupillage at St Philips Chambers
Earlier this week, I undertook a three-day mini pupillage at St Philips Chambers where I was situated at their Birmingham based office.
I can sincerely say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time at St Philips, it was a real eye-opener and an incentive to work harder towards pursuing a career within the legal sector.
Every member that I met, from walking into reception to passing by through the library, was extremely accommodating towards me, ever so that by the third day I had a sense of belonging. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who is uncertain with what direction they want to take in their legal career.
Day One
Upon arrival, slightly nervous, yet extremely exhilarated, I find myself greeted in reception where I am passed over to Patrick Keith. Patrick is a barrister that specialises in mainly employment and personal injury cases.
Patrick briefed me in the morning about a RTA (road traffic accident) and personal injury case that he had a hearing for at midday. He had already prepared documents for my arrival and was keen to answer all of my questions. After I had finished analysing and reading through all the documents I had been provided with, I had the opportunity to discuss briefly what were the main issues and problems in the case.
I found it intriguing watching Patrick present his case and cross-examine the claimant (we were representing the defendant), each question he asked was tailored towards the succeeding one. The way he articulated his questions to the claimant was so precise yet simple. Patrick would ask a question, then five minutes later, repeat it afresh but in a different composition to seek the truth behind the claimants narrative.
Later in the day I was handed over to Colin Barran, who specialises in the field of clinical negligence and medical law. In addition, he has dealt largely with personal injury, employment and commercial law. My time with Colin was short, but informative, I had the opportunity to look over cases he was currently dealing with, and, even had the chance to sit in on a telephone hearing involving a matter about a credit hire vehicle dispute after a negligent RTA.
Day Two
After an interesting and informative first day, my second day saw myself meet Anthony Johnston.
Anthony, like Patrick and Colin, is a barrister who specialises in employment law. I met with Anthony at the employment tribunal in the centre of Birmingham where we went for coffee. I had the chance to have a conversation about life at the bar and other trivial aspects, such as expenses and living life constantly travelling. Afterwards, he then informed me about the cases he was currently handling.
Anthony was what you would ought to see in a barrister, calm, collective, friendly and easy to communicate with. This is not a suggest that any of the other barristers I have met are difficult, rather far from, but to give you a background of some of the characters at St Philips. I was able to receive a thorough insight into the life of an employment barrister over coffee, he explained that he believed it to be an upcoming and thriving area due to the recent Supreme Courts decision on tribunal fees.
After our conversation, we headed into court where Anthony was defending a school for an unfair dismissal hearing. Interestingly to see, the claimant was a litigant in person. A litigant in person is an individual, company or organisation that has rights of audience (this is, the right to address the court) and is not represented in a court of England and Wales by a solicitor or barrister.
The hearing lasted a total of three hours and it set forth a clear list of the problems with litigants in persons. At each and every pause of the judge's speech the claimant would either, raise their hand to speak, or, just abruptly interrupt him partway through a sentence. This continued throughout the entirety of the hearing, even when the judge was concluding the hearing.
Lastly, I could not help but notice the amount of times the claimant had requested the judge to give them advice. Promptly, and respectfully, the judge was quick to point out that he cannot give advice, as he is an independent adjudicator.
The last handful of hours of the day I sat in the Crown Court, watching a sexual assault case in attain to an assault case.
Day Three
My third and final day I was placed with Giles Harrison Hall, who specialises in commercial litigation, clinical negligence and personal injury.
We unfortunately found ourselves without a hearing for Giles’ case. It was a ‘floating’ case, which meant that it had no fixed time for when it would to be heard.
The case was adjourned to a later date, this was due to a lack of time left in the day. Giles’ client (the claimant) had arrived in the county court at nine in the morning, immediately after working a twelve-hour night shift, and ended up waiting until three-thirty in the afternoon. Giles and the opposing barrister had decided at that point it would be unjust to put the claimant through the ordeal of cross-examination after being awake almost twenty-four hours.
Though my day was not as fulfilled as the others at St Philips, it was useful. I watched Giles negotiate constantly with the opposition. He was subtle yet persuasive, he did not budge from his offer and stayed consistent. Though no decision was made, progress for future discussion was.
On reflection, I have learnt a great deal about the life as a barrister and the prospect it holds. I have not been deterred, but intrigued to pursue a career in this chosen field with the potential to practise in areas I had never considered. I would like to take these last few words to thank St Philips and everyone who I met, it has been a pleasure.