Chambers That Don't Fit the Mould
updated on 22 January 2008
The innovator
Everything you wouldn't expect from a barristers' chambers, Matrix is non-hierarchical, tradition-challenging and self-consciously cool. There's no head of chambers and traditional Bar terminology has been abandoned: 'practice manager' and 'trainee' are in, 'clerk' and 'pupil' out. Inside there's not a Turner print in sight. In fact, you have to keep looking out of the window to remind yourself you're in Gray's Inn, not downtown Manhattan.
Matrix member Helen Law feels at home in the progressive environment. "As a junior barrister you're taken seriously," she says. "The approachability and friendliness of the more established members makes a real difference." Practice Director Amanda Iling is similarly positive about the Matrix revolution. "Unlike at several sets where the clerks are expected to replace toilet rolls, change light bulbs and even walk members of chambers' dogs, the role of practice manager is respected here." Of course, innovative Matrix isn't to everyone's tastes. Law and Iling both mention sniping from more traditional sets. But with business booming (recently Matrix expanded onto a third floor) and several leading chambers sneakily adopting its radical ways (3 Verulam Buildings and 3-4 South Square have quietly dropped 'clerk' in favour of 'practice manager'), Matrix fever is clearly catching .
"A barristers' chambers? There?!"
The Cleveland Business Centre in Middlesbrough, home of Fountain Chambers, doesn't have quite the same place in the national consciousness as the mystery-cloaked, history-steeped alleys around the Temple. But does it matter?
On the set's conspicuously modern premises, Fountain barrister Harvey Murray says, "It's functional, modern and right across the road from the Combined Courts Centre. Perfect, in fact." And, unlike many chambers in barrister-saturated London, Fountain is thriving. "Being in a densely populated area served by relatively few barristers' chambers means lots of high quality, interesting work - and really fast career progression. Only two years into being a tenant and I'm doing a lot of Crown Court trial work, while friends at chambers in London spend most of their time in the Mags," says Murray.
Still, the Bar has a tendency to look down on barristers choosing to practise outside London. Murray recalls the response of a QC at Middle Temple when Murray mentioned that he was going to be undertaking his pupillage in Middlesbrough: "Why would you want to work anywhere but London?!" But no one at Fountain Chambers seems too troubled about being outside the capital.
The internet chambers
Barristerweb doesn't do Chambers Tea or committee meetings. Milton Keynes-based co-founders Neil Goodman-Smith and Andrew Hutchins provide online clerking services to Barristerweb's 106 members on a commission basis. Barristers are assigned work according to their location, doing preparation and other written tasks from home.
Co-founder Andrew Hutchins explains that a major draw is saving on chambers rent. "A lot of our members joined because they were not happy paying the £400-£500 per month in the Temple." Others were attracted by the hassle-free nature of Barristerweb. Tim Wallis, head of chambers and a senior tax practitioner, says with a shudder, "Barristers don't like being part of endless meetings."
Just as their fellow Milton Keynes-based pioneering outfit The Open University doesn't offer the conventional student experience, Barristerweb can't provide the New Street Law moments of a conventional set. But with the growth of public-access work and current belt-tightening at the Bar, Goodman-Smith and Hutchins predict a bright future. "Increasingly it's all about doing things the most efficient way possible and that's exactly what we do," says Hutchins.
Saarf of the river
Unexpectedly nestled among the bars and delis of trendy Bermondsey Street on the edge of Borough is Farringdon Chambers - the first and so far only set to locate south of the river. Housed in a funkily kitted out former homeopathic apothecary, the chambers has grown rapidly since starting out with a handful of barristers in rented office space in Farrindgon seven years ago. Last year it took on two pupils, and a couple of months ago caused a stir by pinching Paul Purnell QC from 187 Fleet Street to be head of chambers.
Senior Farringdon tenant Alex Dunn says barristers no longer need to be based around the Inns of Court: "Barristers used to have to be close to the Inns' libraries for research. Of course everything is online now, so it really doesn't matter where you are." From a commercial point of view Farringdon benefits from avoiding prime central London rent. Del Edgeler, senior clerk, explains, "Rent used to be subsidised by the Inns, but since the mid-Nineties it's been at market level, which isn't cheap."
On the down side, it's a bit of a trek for barristers to and from courts on the other side of the river (although Southwark Crown Court is handily placed) and there's none of the legal London collegiate atmosphere. But Farringdon's success suggests it won't be a lone southern settler for much longer.
A new set of rules
If you really want to be a barrister, don't let the stuffy image put you off. The government's continuing programme of reforms to the legal profession means the Bar is changing fast. More and more sets are overcoming their long-running penchant for Victorian values and period drama chic - and embracing politically correct HR terminology, IT and exciting open-plan offices. It's not exactly earth-shattering stuff, but for the Bar it's positively radical. Who knows? In 50 years' time judges might be dressing down on Fridays and barristers donning baseball caps instead of wigs.
This article was written by Alex Aldridge.
