Under Treasurers’ Forewords

A Foreword by the Outgoing Under Treasurer

Guy Perricone

A very warm welcome to this year’s edition of The Middle Templar.

Each year, when I have begun to write this Foreword, I have reflected on how extraordinary the previous 12 months have been. There truly is never a ‘normal’ year at the Middle Temple. However, on this occasion, it is no exaggeration to say that the last few months have been the most extraordinary not just for our Inn, but for the country and indeed for the world. The Covid-19 outbreak has affected us all in ways no one could have possibly anticipated. And so, I am writing this Foreword not, as usual, from my desk at the Inn, but from my home in West Sussex, where I have been based since the Inn shut down in mid-March. At that time, I thought we would be back in action reasonably quickly, but as the weeks have progressed it has become clear that we are in this for the long haul. ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ – we are all aware of that old saying, and, with those words in mind, I would like to pay tribute to the way in which colleagues and supporters have responded to this crisis. They were required to close down our operations with very little notice. After the initial shock, they have worked hard to develop an effective modus operandi for the Inn during this challenging and unpredictable period, to ensure that we can continue to support our members. We have been able to migrate many of our education, training and membership activities online – so successfully, that we can already see that there will be many lessons learnt from this period which will continue after the crisis, and which will better enable us to fulfil our primary strategic objective of supporting our members throughout their professional careers. In this regard, I would also like to pay tribute to our Treasurer, Master Brian Leveson, who, I suggest, has been handed the most challenging responsibility of any Treasurer in recent years; leading the Inn through this extraordinary time. We have been acutely aware from the beginning of the crisis that it would cause real financial hardship for many of our members. We have been working closely with the other Inn’s and other parties, such as the Bar Council, to do what we can to relieve some of the pressures being felt by the profession. Despite the perception held by some, our resources are not limitless, but we are providing support directly through our own hardship fund and through channels such as the Barristers’ Benevolent Association. We are under no illusion that this is an existential crisis for many in the profession. We will continue to do our best to support the Bar through these extremely challenging times, while also trying to safeguard the interests of future barristers.

On a personal level, the current predicament is all the more surreal for me, as by the time you read this I will have stepped down as Under Treasurer, and handed over to my successor, Victoria Wallace. When I informed the Inn of my decision at the beginning of this year, I could have hardly imagined that my final days would play out in the way they have. I am sorry not to be able to hand over to Victoria as we had planned but I would like to offer her my very best wishes in her new role. I have no doubt that she will excel and enjoy it immensely. Even if I am now only part of the Inn’s history, I must end by expressing my enormous thanks to the Middle Temple for giving me the opportunity to serve as Under Treasurer since 2013. It has been a huge privilege and pleasure to do so. By far the most enjoyable aspect of the role has been working with such a varied and wonderful range of people: Benchers, members, students and, of course, my colleagues. I have been so fortunate to work with nine exceptional Treasurers in Masters Symons, Judge, Hockman, Clarke, Dyson, Jenkins, Wilmot-Smith, Bean and Leveson. It has been a pleasure to work with each of them and I am very grateful for all their support. Finally, I cannot leave without offering my sincerest thanks to my colleagues – to my fellow directors Ian Garwood, Colin Davidson, Christa Richmond and Andrew Hopkin, and to each and every member of the team. It may sound trite to say that we are a family but there is a very special ethos and atmosphere in the Middle Temple which really is unique. This has been such a rewarding aspect of my time here and I am immensely grateful to all my colleagues for their support over the years. It only remains for me to thank you all once again for allowing me this great privilege and to wish you, and the Middle Temple, every success in the future.

A Foreword by the Incoming Under Treasurer

Mrs Victoria Wallace, DL

I am delighted to have joined the Inn as its new Under Treasurer. But at this strange time, after months of working from home, I hope there will be slightly more to it than just coming downstairs and lifting the lid of a different laptop. The job I have taken on is rather different to the one advertised back in February. The way I will have to learn the ropes will be very different. I had hoped to be able to meet as many people as possible and talk to them; I would have assumed that would be over lunch in Hall, or perhaps in the garden. Instead, for a while, I will have to do that via Zoom, but I still hope to hear as much as I can about everyone’s priorities, both for the hoped-for immediate return to work and for the longer term. The Inn has endured plague, fire, the Blitz, and still risen again. I am looking forward to being part of the new resurgence, dealing with a new normal that few wise people would care to predict right now. I hope what I will bring now is flexibility, resilience, empathy and enthusiasm. Sadly, unlike John Bayliff, who served as Under Treasurer during the Civil War, I will not be able to bankroll it, even if you did repay me through the sale of the silver. I suppose if we were meeting over lunch, I would tell you a bit about myself. As a keen linguist I studied English and French Laws at Exeter University, and found I was not very good at either. So, I joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). After postings in Thailand (spending a lot of time in court, bailing out distressed Brits) and Tanzania, where I met my husband, I found my true vocation – managing things. I discovered that managing the money brought me far more power than evolving the policy. It was interesting to work out how to maintain a little palazzo in Venice, a gothic monster of a consulate in Istanbul, and build a new embassy in Moscow (with as little ‘help’ from the local authorities as possible). With those new skills, I abandoned the FCO and became one of the first non-legally qualified Justices’ Chief Executives for the new Sussex Magistrates Courts area; merging East and West, culling clerks, cutting courtrooms, and battling with the benches. It was a miserable but formative experience. Despite the horrors of annual cuts and endless ‘government by initiative’, I think we did improve the experience for victims and witnesses, and I learned how hard it is for both prosecutors and defence to progress cases, with lamentable rates of pay for the work. As yet more restructuring of the courts was announced, I made the move to become CEO of Leeds Castle in Kent. It is a stunning place, but it is an unsubsidised charity, with no endowment. I learned about generating income; maintaining crumbling medieval stonework; about the value of brand and quality; and I had a marvellous ten years, running everything from full metal jousts to the Northern Ireland Peace Talks. In 2014 I moved to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; a rare opportunity to work to make commemoration of our war dead more accessible to new generations during the centenary of the First World War, and start a massive conservation programme for the 4,500 built structures, cemeteries and memorials, around the world, many designed by the same architect, Sir Edward Maufe, as the Middle Temple’s newer buildings.

I look forward to joining the community of the Middle Temple and finding ways to support members of the profession from their first steps in training, right through their careers, as they come to lead the Benchers and life at the Inn. The staff who have worked through the crisis have done a magnificent job at pivoting to working remotely, except for the few security personnel and Kate the gardener who have cared for the Inn in our absence, and the library team under Renae who have created a virtual service and prepared for the Ashley Building development. The HR, Membership and Finance teams have kept the show on the road; the Education team have found great new ways to engage through technology; and the Estates team responded to the needs of tenants, kept us safe, and got on with project work. Over half of the staff have contributed by agreeing to be furloughed, which has helped conserve the Inn’s resources. Each one has risen to the demands of this extraordinary situation and are all now keen to get back to work. Despite the challenges of social distancing, I hope we will be able to return to something which offers the same experience as has been enjoyed by members of the Bar for so many centuries.