The Legal Cheek View
Over its history of more than 100 years, Hailsham Chambers has undergone some big changes. It was once called 4 Paper Buildings, after the building where it is still located, and it has transitioned from a generalist set covering a broad range of civil and criminal work to a specialist in select areas of civil litigation. Today the set is best known for its professional negligence, clinical negligence, professional discipline, and costs litigation work. Several of its 59 tenants, 9 of whom are silks, also take on personal injury cases and commercial disputes, and the set has alternative dispute resolution expertise too.
When it comes to professional and clinical negligence, Hailsham’s tenants are some of the best in the business. These two practice areas each account for around 40% of the set’s instructions, with costs work making up the most significant portion of the remaining 20%. The set’s specialisms make for “varied and interesting” cases and “intellectual challenges” for its members. Given chambers’ reputation, some of the best work in these fields comes through the clerks’ room. As one insider tells us: “Each day and each case is different and intriguing.”
On the professional negligence side, Hailsham’s tenants represent everyone from lawyers to accountants and construction professionals to financial experts. One tenant tells us they are “extremely lucky to have such high-profile work representing top City firms all the time”. Another adds that “general professional negligence has a huge impact on clients and is also technically very stimulating when dealing with complex medicine.” Cases taken on by tenants at the set have ranged from judicial reviews of the decisions of the Financial Services Ombudsman to multi-million-pound claims against solicitors. When it comes to acting for or against lawyers, the set’s expertise is cemented by the fact that tenant William Flenley KC is the co-author of “the bible” in this specialist area of law: Solicitors’ Negligence and Liability.
High-profile cases to pass through chambers’ doors include the Hillsborough Inquest and the significant Grondona v Stoffell Supreme Court case of 2020, which clarified the illegality defence. More recently, Simon Wilton KC successfully defeated a claim concerning limitation and solicitor conduct in Kay v Martineau Johnson, in which the claimant alleged she had received negligent advice on a divorce settlement from her solicitors. And the set’s barristers also acted in Axis v Discovery Land, a high profile insurance coverage dispute arising out of a solicitor’s fraud.
On the clinical negligence side, Hailsham’s top-tier practice is bolstered by the presence of Dr Peter Ellis, whose experience as a former hospital doctor specialising in internal medicine allows him to bring a first-rate understanding of the medical issues in particular cases. One tenant tells us that clinical negligence work is “challenging but highly stimulating as every case is different and you have to learn about different medical specialties all the time”. Another says “the interplay between complex medicine, cross-examining professors in various medical disciplines pre-eminent in their field, with the human element that someone has suffered serious injury in a medical accident is pretty stimulating”. High-profile cases over the years have included the Harold Shipman Inquiry, the Cervical Screening Litigation, and the Stepping Hill Hospital Deaths.
The set’s barristers also acted in NKX v Barts Health NHS Trust, a very high-value birth injury claim that demonstrates their continued strength in high-stakes, technically complex cases. On top of that, members have been grappling with the fallout from the Supreme Court’s secondary-victim case law, including MIM v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a High Court decision on what counts as an “accident” in the clinical negligence context.
The set is also recognised for its work in costs and litigation funding. Hailsham’s members have appeared in everything from collective proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal to the Dieselgate saga and Russian-Ukrainian aircraft insurance claims. The costs team has remained busy in the mammoth Pan-NOx Diesel Emissions Litigation, said to involve more than 1.8 million claimants and believed to be the largest collective action ever brought in England and Wales. In a second costs management judgment, Jamie Carpenter KC and Imran Benson appeared for Mercedes while Stephen Bailey appeared for Renault, as the court reduced the claimants’ tranche three costs budgets from £50 million to £22 million, a serious saving to put it mildly. Carpenter has also been active at the very top of the court system in P&ID v Federal Republic of Nigeria, successfully representing Nigeria in a Supreme Court appeal arising from the costs of setting aside a fraudulently obtained arbitration award. The result meant P&ID failed in its attempt to reduce Nigeria’s costs claim from around £44 million to around £12 million. And for those who like their costs law with a tabloid twist, Carpenter has also represented Rebekah Vardy in the ‘Wagatha Christie’ costs dispute.
Of course, work cannot always be this exciting. For juniors, there will be fair amounts of bread-and-butter cases such as RTA and credit hire work. “Nothing is highly stimulating ALL the time,” one junior explains. “I do not enjoy drafting schedules of loss; sorry”. Another tenant, who specialises in costs work, was equally candid when asked how stimulating the work is: “I practice costs: I don’t expect much.”
But even when the work is less than thrilling, morale at Hailsham is high thanks to its “really collegiate environment.” One insider offers this: “Whenever I need advice, I know that the senior people in chambers will all answer the phone or talk me through a case without hesitation. I also have a strong friendship group of juniors in chambers, we support each other through the good and the hard times and have lots of fun together whether it’s over lunch, spontaneous drinks or WhatsApp. I regularly check in with anyone who I know is having a tough time”. Other members agree that “nobody is too senior to ask for help”, and that the clerks and staff are brilliant too.
Speaking of clerks, we hear they are very supportive when it comes to barristers maintaining a work-life balance. It will never be perfect at the bar, but we are told they will often prompt someone to take time off after a busy period. “The work-life balance is perfect for me now but I am one of the most senior members of chambers so only get the more complex cases which means that I no longer have to rush around the country on a regular basis or work all hours of the day,” one insider tells us. Those at the more junior end of the set, by contrast, may find themselves travelling across the country to attend a 30-minute hearing about a road traffic accident, though such hearings now usually take place virtually. There is also an inevitable unpredictability to the job. As one junior puts it: “due to the unpredictability of the bar, you can have free days in the middle of the week because your hearings have settled or been vacated, but have to work a weekend because things come in on a Friday with a Monday or Tuesday deadline”. Hailsham does have a “hard-working wellbeing committee” dedicated to promoting a good work-life balance.
When tenants do have time to unwind, there is a “very fun group” of people and an all-round “very jolly” atmosphere among the ranks. “Apart from formal chambers’ events there is an active network of informal get-togethers over, say, a communal lunch in one of the conference rooms or a drink in the garden after work”, says one member. Another tells us they run an in-house wine and food club, which sounds very fun indeed.
Hailsham’s setting, a gorgeous building in Temple overlooking Inner Temple Gardens, is picture perfect. So much so that “clients love coming to our chambers,” one member explains. The interior is “regularly upgraded and kept in good condition”, and is “only marred by some questionable interior design decisions made by the previous set occupying part of it.” The fact that it overlooks Inner Temple’s garden is a definite bonus, even if those at the start of their career may find their office is a basement room overlooking the car park (you’ve got to start somewhere, right?). The set’s technology and IT support is described as “top notch”, with problems “resolved quickly and efficiently” by external providers. Newcomers receive online training, and the clerks are said to be “tech-savvy” too.
Hailsham aims to recruit two pupils each year, with each receiving an award of £85,000 that includes £20,000 in guaranteed earnings. Those selected benefit from what one barrister calls “top pupil supervisors who are very generous with their time”. Pupils receive four supervisors, who cover Chambers’ main practice areas of professional and clinical negligence together with some other work, and the option for a costs seat. Each ‘seat’ lasts approximately 3 months. One former pupil offers this account: “the vast majority of the feedback I have received has been detailed and constructive. My three pupillage supervisors have all had slightly different specialties meaning that I have been exposed to a good range of work. In addition, the advocacy training has been carefully tailored to the types of hearing I will appear in in the next couple of years.” As a bonus, much of this training is unassessed, so rookies have a safe space to build and hone their skills without the pressure of the tenancy decision.
During the second six, pupils are in Court regularly, though this is carefully managed to ensure that it does not conflict with other work. Pupils also complete several pieces of work for other members of Chambers, which are assessed. The reports from the assessed work and the supervisor’s reports all feed into the tenancy decision. So do not expect to be hiding in the shadows of your supervisor’s gown. The training continues into tenancy, too. As one tenant summarises: “as a tenant, KCs and juniors regularly give internal training as well as lots of external talks which means we are always learning from each other.”
Those looking to apply to Hailsham should do so through the Pupillage Gateway. Applicants who score highest will be invited to interview. First round interviews are online, with second round interviews generally taking place in person before a panel of around five tenants.
Hailsham is looking for candidates who are intellectually able, persuasive communicators, have good judgement, and have the potential to be a successful barrister in chambers. It wants to recruit the best candidates from the widest possible pool of talent, according to its website, and will make reasonable accommodations or adjustments where necessary.