From bar to blaze 🔥
Life at the criminal bar can be stressful enough. Add in running into burning buildings, and the pressure really is next level. Yet somehow, George Joseph manages to juggle both.
By day, Joseph is a criminal barrister at Cornwall Street Chambers, donning wig and gown in his local Crown Court. But when court is adjourned, he swaps the courtroom for the fire station — trading his horsehair wig for a helmet and stepping in to save lives.
Called to the bar in 2021, Joseph serves as an on-call firefighter at Royal Wootton Bassett Fire Station in Swindon, responding to emergencies during evenings and weekends.
Speaking with Legal Cheek, Joseph revealed that he’s has moonlighted as a firefighter for around four-and-a-half years, having first joined Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) while working as a paralegal. What started as a way to earn extra money and as a potential back-up career if pupillage did not materialise, quickly became something more permanent.
“I still do it because I love the work, my crew and being part of the community,” he tells us.
Royal Wootton Bassett is an entirely on-call station, meaning firefighters balance emergency response with full-time day jobs. Joseph explains that his fellow firefighters work across a wide range of professions, including IT, teaching, lorry driving, telecoms and engineering.
Balancing life at the criminal bar with firefighting is no small commitment. Joseph says he gives a minimum of 40 hours a week to the fire service, although it is not unusual for this to rise to 80 hours. He generally offers evenings and weekends, but will also go on call during the day if court finishes early or he has a rare paperwork-heavy day.
While Cornwall Street Chambers is a Birmingham set, Joseph operates out of its Oxford branch. He says chambers has been “very accommodating” of his side gig, with clerks managing his practice around his firefighting commitments.
“My clerks know how important it is to me,” he explains. “If I have training or need to refresh my competencies, I will book the days off, and my clerks will be sure not to put anything in. I’m very lucky to have clerks who’re able to juggle it around for me and not expect me to put it aside altogether.”
So far, Joseph has not missed a hearing due to being called out to an incident, although he admits there have been “a couple of close calls”. Despite being in court almost every day and working most evenings and weekends, he believes that making time for what matters is ultimately possible.
“If something is important to you, you’ll generally find that you will be able to make time for it,” he says, adding: “It’s certainly easier than having children at the Bar! I don’t know how the young mums and dads do it!”
DWFRS are currently recruiting on-call firefighters all throughout Dorset and Wiltshire.
