Fiona Parkin is a barrister at Atkin Chambers, the first UK set to specialise in domestic and international construction law. Fiona did her LLB at the University of Exeter and her LLM at the University of Cambridge, followed by a spell lecturing at City University on the law conversion course. A "pretty grim" stint working in the City as a foreign exchange dealer saw Fiona return to the legal fold as a paralegal at Freshfields. It was during this time, working on a technical case, that Fiona decided she wanted to pursue a technical area of the law at the Bar, and so applied to Atkin Chambers for pupillage. She was called to the Bar in 1993.

Of her pupillage experience, Fiona recalls: "Atkin Chambers is very friendly, so that helped enormously. It was hard work and stressful, because you are being assessed for an entire year. However, pupils here are encouraged to come along to social events, and taken out for drinks and dinner by the junior members of chambers, all of which serves to make things much easier!" Fiona outlines the type of work she did as a pupil: "You are shadowing your pupil supervisor. You do what he or she is doing, so you're working on interesting stuff right from the beginning and learning to apply academic law to real disputes. That is a big challenge and it takes a while to learn that the factual circumstances surrounding a dispute are often just as significant as its legal framework. Our chambers ensures that pupils see a wide range of work. This can mean that there are periods when you accompany members if they are appearing in the Court of Appeal or House of Lords. We are also keen that pupils continue to develop their own style of advocacy, so all participate in our advocacy training programme."

Fiona enjoys a wide range of work, all of which has a technical element, and talks about some of the recent disputes she has acted on: "I have acted for major oil companies in relation to disputes arising out of the construction of oil rigs in the North Sea and in the Gulf of Mexico. I also acted for the House of Commons when a dispute arose in relation to the window package for installation in Portcullis House. I was also retained by the government of Gibraltar to advise it in connection with blocks of flats it had built to house over 1,000 Gibraltarians that leaked in the rain." She notes: "When you start out in our chambers, you are likely to experience a mixture of work. Some of it will be of comparatively small value - for example advising on domestic house refurbishments that have gone wrong. However, it is also likely that you will be brought in as a junior member of a team working on a much larger project (often with an international angle that will involve overseas travel). It's great to start with a mixture because you learn how big cases involving complex factual and technical disputes are run, but you also learn from working on your own on smaller disputes. Whatever you’re doing, everyone in chambers is always happy to help out with advice if you need it."
Revelling in the glamour of it all, Fiona is currently working on lots of disputes about sewerage works! The cases involve understanding why it is that sewerage works are not treating waste water to the required standard. Fiona is acting for the process engineering firms that installed, and in some cases designed, the technology responsible for treating the waste water: "It really is interesting! I have to try to understand water treatment and the biochemistry that underlies it. You're dealing with professional clients who know their stuff and expect you to know it too. You can't hide behind the fact that you're a lawyer and leave the technical detail to the experts – you’re being paid to understand precisely why it is that something does not work. Certainly if the case goes all the way to trial, you need to have a clear understanding of the technology to ensure that you can conduct an effective cross-examination of the other side's expert witness. This means hard work, but the results are worth it. There is a real sense of achievement in understanding complex technical and scientific processes and being able to explain them to a judge."

Fiona enthuses about the enjoyment of continued learning, and not just about the law: "You are working as part of a team with others who are often regarded as world leaders in their chosen specialist field. This is exciting and stimulating. Working on the bigger cases also means that you are likely to be involved in some of the major infrastructure, power, water and civil engineering projects undertaken in this country and around the world. I enjoy the challenge of understanding how such projects are conceived, designed and implemented, and why it is that they have gone wrong. Even though I've been doing it for over 10 years, every new case is a fresh challenge because each case brings something new to learn about."

Fiona has a list of things that she enjoys about the job: "I work in a friendly and stimulating environment, with a great bunch of people. There is also nothing quite like the feeling of arguing and winning a case! I love working for myself too, as you have flexibility that you wouldn't have as a solicitor. I have three children, so if I don't want to work during August, I don't have to. I also think that the Bar is a great institution. Conversely, you learn to exist without much sleep, which is good training for when you have small children! And there are times when you have worked extremely hard on a case and believe that your client is right, but the judge doesn't agree. That can feel a bit miserable."

There are a number of skills needed to succeed in this field, says Fiona: "You need to have legal ability and enjoy acting as an advocate. You also need to be able to get on top of complex technical detail, sometimes in a comparatively short space of time. You certainly need to have stamina if you are working on a large case that is coming up to trial! Finally, you have to be able to interact well with all people from all walks of life."
As for advice, Fiona says: "Obviously, you stand the most chance of being offered a pupillage if you have done well at your chosen academic subjects - no amount of work experience or mini-pupillages will make up for a poor degree. However, when you come to doing mini-pupillages, I suggest you do them over a range of specialities to get a flavour of the sort of work that you would do during pupillage and tenancy, and to work out what you really want to do. I believe that in future, the Bar's strength is likely to lie in its specialisations. The trick is to find the specialist area of work that most interests you. If you are offered a pupillage, accept that there will be a steep learning curve that bar school is unlikely to have prepared you for. Although pupillage for me was undeniably hard work, the rewards once I was taken on made it all worthwhile!"