These are unsettled times at Tooks Chambers.
As we revealed yesterday, the set has withdrawn two 2014 pupillage places for which it had accepted applications just last month.
On the same day, we got a tip off that Naeem Mian, one of the barristers behind an event which initially attempted to charge students £186 each for pupillage advice, has left Tooks. Mian joined 2 Hare Court last week.
Following a bit more digging around, it emerged that Mian isn’t the only barrister to have quit Michael Mansfield QC’s chambers recently…
Last month, in a move that has not been reported in the legal press until now, high profile silk Joel Bennathan QC and well-regarded juniors Katy Thorne and Melanie Gingell all left to join Doughty Street.
They follow in the footsteps of Tim Moloney QC, Adrian Waterman QC and Tatyana Eatwell, all of whom went from Tooks to Doughty Street last autumn.
That’s a lot of barristers to lose in a short space of time.
Tooks declined to comment.