The best job in the world, bar none

Barbara Relph*

Yay, you have decided to join the bar. Now you can go to the gym at 11am when there’s no one else there! Who wouldn’t want a job with no fixed hours and complete freedom to plan your day as you want? Reality check time.

There is no such thing as "no fixed hours". Your timetable is determined by the meetings you have to attend, availabilty of clients or senior counsel, and most importantly, court timetables and deadlines.

As a self-employed person, you need to have a greater awareness of operating expenses v income, cash flow projections and maintaining reserves to cover unexpected events, from equipment replacement to holiday/sick leave or pandemic lockdowns. Invoices are not magically generated by someone else, and there are routine administration tasks you have never had to worry about. There will be times of total exhaustion as you juggle hearings and whānau.

So why would you become a barrister? Those who have been at the bar for some time agree that while it can be a stressful adrenalin fuelled rollercoaster ride, the rewards are immense, and they are not necessarily talking dollars. Independence means you can truly focus on your clients' needs and represent them to the best of your ability.

There are many pathways to becoming a barrister, and younger practitioners are increasingly seeing the bar as a valid career option. It’s rare for a barrister to regret taking this leap of faith, with most stating that work just finds you. Having spent time building relationships in the legal community certainly helps workflow, but that work can just as easily come from finding a place as a junior in a set of chambers.

Iswari (Ish) Jayanandan

South Auckland criminal barrister Iswari (Ish) Jayanandan joined the independent bar in 2010, having already been in practice for eight years as an employed junior defence barrister, and prior to that as a barrister and solicitor. In her new role she found the excitement of being her own boss and the wide variety of cases to choose from, realising quickly this was the missing ingredient in her early legal career.

Making the decision to practice independently, Jayanandan strongly believes fortune favours the brave, and so she took that brave step. Her only minor regret is that she quickly found herself inundated with work and had overlooked the small matter of setting her practice up before jumping in with her trademark enthusiasm!

She was attracted to the bar by the autonomy it offered, both in terms of the type of work she undertook and how she prioritized her time. “I love being able to work on the type of cases I want, even if they are pro bono. One of the greatest benefits of being a barrister is having the opportunity to meet and learn from like-minded colleagues from all over the country – and from the chambers next door. It’s all very collegial being able to discuss legal issues or commiserate when things go belly up!”

As a criminal barrister, Jayanandan thoroughly enjoys the thrill of a trial, but notes that is not the only way to practice. Through the independence of the bar, she has now had the opportunity to branch out into other areas such as inquests which may be less dramatic but are equally challenging.

The pressure on the criminal justice system is not news to anyone, and arguably practitioners in that system are under more pressure than many other areas of law. This compounds the importance of creating a good balance between work and home life. Jayanandan’s advice is, “One needs to keep at the forefront of one’s mind the need for work-life balance to avoid being consumed by work – that can happen so easily.”

Emma Priest

Criminal defence barrister Emma Priest moved from Crown prosecutions to defence work with the PDS before taking her leap of faith. She now has 20+ years of criminal law experience. She describes her decision as akin to bungy jumping – “both terrifying and exhilarating”. She was motivated by advice reminding her that she had a choice; keep doing what you are doing now – or do something different.

Embracing every aspect of the challenge, Emma describes learning to run a business alongside her legal work. “I have very high standards for myself, and I get to run my practice my way. It has been a great learning exercise to work out how to run a business, do accounts, build a brand and set up chambers.” One aspect of running things her own way is achieving work life balance. Pre-Covid, Emma developed a model which enabled her to work hard for ten months and have two months holiday with the family. “Things have obviously had to change, but I plan to find a way back to that model.”

Emma’s practice is varied and includes high profile briefs and homicides. She has always thoroughly enjoyed the theatre of jury trials, seeing the best and worst of humanity played out in the courts. “Doing meaningful work matters to me. I get to help people through a very stressful and difficult time in their lives, and I see this as a privilege.”

Sam Jeffs

Taking the time to map out a pathway eased Sam Jeffs’ transition to self-employment early in his career. Intentionally creating the workplace culture that he wanted to live, Jeffs aligned with Bankside Chambers as a junior (or employed) barrister, which provided exactly the experience and ‘brand’ he sought.

His time as an employed barrister, plus time as a graduate student in the UK, provided a strong platform for Jeffs to transition to a full member of Bankside Chambers. Jeffs now runs a fully independent practice, successfully balancing his home life with work commitments. That’s not to say he doesn’t work hard. Jeffs is at work by 6am most days, which allows him to maximise the time spent with his young family. Sometimes the pressures of trials or hearings get in the way, however, most of the time Jeffs is able to achieve the balance between work and family that he had hoped for at the bar.

Jeffs can’t stress enough the benefits which come from having a good plan. He suggests setting your own boundaries, sticking to your values and clearly communicating to manage the expectations of the people you are working with.

Charlotte Griffin

The catalyst for civil litigator Charlotte Griffin to move to the independent bar earlier than many at the civil bar was to regain control of the balance between her personal and professional life – and to get more enjoyment out of her work. With a young family, the high pressure ‘traditional’ work week simply no longer worked.

Without the pressure imposed by the hierarchy of firms, Griffin finds life as a barrister to be more collegial and not at all lonely or isolating, with bar colleagues providing guidance and support when needed. “It also brings a new sense of confidence – you have to believe in yourself, your advice, your expertise, and that you can get the job done as lead advocate for your client.”

“Being able to structure your own career and time allows many new options and interests to be pursued. These may be as diverse as policy advice, statutory appointments, tribunal work and voluntary roles. By its nature, litigation comes with a degree of pressure, but outside of that my overall wellbeing and stress levels have significantly improved and that alone is enough reason not to revert to the legal employment model.”

As a founding member of innovative virtual Kate Sheppard Chambers, designed and established to support women at the bar and encourage more to come to the bar earlier than usual by removing conventional barriers, Griffin has access to the 27 talented members of KSC, all operating independently but collaboratively around Aotearoa.

“This has been enormously fulfilling, both personally and professionally to see women across the country practising

in ways that best suit them rather than as dictated by a single model. We believe more and more flexible groupings of barristers will emerge in a similar fashion as time goes on, for cost and practicality reasons but also to meet the needs of an ever changing legal environment and technological advancements.”

Mai Chen

Mai Chen came to the bar some 29 years after partnering with Sir Geoffrey Palmer to start Chen Palmer. Advised by colleague Davey Salmon KC to consider what she wants to spend her time doing, just five months into her new role, Chen knows she made a good decision. Now, rather than dividing her time between managing the firm and staff or chasing debtors and legal work, she now focuses on legal doing work.

“The major difference between law firm work and life at the bar is what preoccupies you. Now, I wake up and I’m doing law, with the result I get to the issues sooner and have the time to read on and around the issues and stay abreast of all developments. With fewer distractions, I am doing better work.”

Chen states, “The world has opened up for me. I deal with a wider range of lawyers and barristers, and am doing more satisfying work, more efficiently – no delegation. I am my own junior and no briefing is required.” Chen believes allowing herself to properly spend time on the issues is making her a better lawyer. The one thing still being fine-tuned is the question of working fewer hours. With all work now requiring full focus, working the same hours as previously is mentally more exhausting.

“Having freedom and choice about where, how and when I work is one of the great benefits of life at the bar. I can set my own priorities. I can spend a day writing, or I can spend a weekend reading cases that interest me (as I recently did – and loved). I find I have more work than I can personally handle, so I am able to be selective and to engage other members of the profession to assist as needed. Lawyers do not see me as a competitor but as someone who can help them. And I don’t have multimillion dollar overheads now!”

Chen reflects on her personal philosophy, set at the start of her legal career. “I came into law because of my commitment to the rule of law and its ability to protect those it serves, and to ensure equal access to justice. I am now doing exactly that; I am now creating sustainable work habits and taking more time out to reflect and to have fun outside of work.”

Barbara Relph

*Barbara Relph is a freelance writer and proof-reader – barbararelph.com