The Legal Cheek View
Keating Chambers is a heavyweight commercial set, with a practice that spans perhaps the most heavyweight of heavyweight commercial topics: construction. At the top of their game in this field, Keating’s tenants act in complex domestic and international cases. Their expertise extends into the related areas of energy, natural resources, technology, public procurement, and professional negligence. Whether it be skyscrapers or power plants, at home or abroad, Keating’s 73 barristers, including a whopping 33 KCs, are the people to call.
Construction may seem like a relatively confined area of law, but the reality is that the work is incredibly varied. One pupil at the set tells us they have exposure to “very diverse work, from international arbitrations concerning large power plants across the globe to domestic house renovations to shipbuilding contracts”. Other tenants also note the international nature of the work, which is unsurprising given Keating’s reputation in the field. As one junior puts it, the “world’s biggest arbitrations” come through the set’s door.
Whether it be appearing before the Technology and Construction Court, heading to the Supreme Court, or jetting off to locations as exotic as Singapore and Australia, tenants of Keating Chambers work at all levels and represent clients ranging from individuals to multinational companies. From the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to catastrophic flooding in Greenwich Millennium Village, if it involves construction, you are likely to find at least one tenant (if not a lot more) from Keating Chambers involved.
Recently, tenants have been working on a wide range of exciting cases and legal developments. Dominating the scene has been a string of cases addressing the new Building Safety Act, which has seen members filing into the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court at an astounding rate. Other ripe sources of work include procurement matters, offshore construction and development, the continuing rise of arbitration, and just about anything Green Belt related. The eponymous Banner Review, courtesy of Lord Banner KC, has even led to the government announcing reforms to speed up major infrastructure projects across the country.
Whether it is Tom Owen KC securing £6.4 million for the claimants in a case concerning fire safety defects at a care home, or Lord Banner KC smoothly navigating no fewer than seven expert witnesses before a planning inquiry to address potential flood risks, two things are clear: it is all interesting, and it is all construction related.
Like any specialist business area, there is a lot of jargon to learn. One experienced tenant boasts “a working knowledge of all the major forms of construction/engineering contracts and partnering agreements including JCT, FIDIC, ICE, ACE, IMechE and RIBA”, which presumably means something to clients. Thankfully, pupillage hopefuls can take comfort in the fact that “no specialist or technical knowledge of construction or engineering is required” at the outset, though candidates who struggle with contract and tort need not bother darkening the Keating door.
For those who need a helping hand getting to grips with the jargon (or anything else), the bunch at Keating are said to be very supportive. One junior told LC, “Keating is highly collegiate. We very much have an open-door policy from silks to juniors. Often I will go to a silk’s room to ask a question.”
We hear that the wellbeing and mentoring of pupils and juniors is a priority for the set, with the aim of creating a “cohesive atmosphere and inclusive culture”. It is clearly working: one member tells us that their colleagues have a “huge wealth of knowledge and advice is always available and freely given”. Another tenant similarly describes the barristers and staff at Keating as “incredibly supportive”.
The set also ensures that members can socialise together if they wish. There are regular chambers’ lunches and rooftop drinks, as well as a netball team and even a Keating Chambers rock band who compete in Law Rocks (apparently, it’s a thing). Downtime is especially important in a set with such high-value, complex work. Wading through the reams of paperwork that construction disputes typically generate, stress can take its toll. However, we are told there is “definitely a focus on mental health awareness and managing stress” within the set. During pupillage your hours are said to be a strict 9am to 6pm, there is a “culture of not working weekends”, and we are assured that the “time periods to complete work in are achievable and realistic”.
The physical chambers on Essex Street are more modern than most of the olde-worlde buildings inside the Temple itself. While the set “lacks Georgian exterior”, it has been recently refurbished, which is rather fitting for a construction set. We hear that members each get their own room and every office has climate control, a welcome change from the many old buildings in Temple where you roast in summer and freeze in winter. If thermoregulation has not quite sold you, there is also a “cool outside bar area” that hosts chambers’ drinks in the summer, plus “on-site” and “24/7 remote support worldwide” from the chambers’ “incredible” IT team.
Those sold on this construction giant should make a pupillage application through Pupillage Gateway. Around 70 of the top-scoring candidates are then asked to complete a written assessment, which takes the form of a written opinion on a basic principle of contract or tort law. Based on the application and written assessment, around 55 candidates are invited to a first-round interview before three members of chambers, consisting of an advocacy exercise and structured questions based on the application form. Also present is an external diversity and inclusion specialist, an individual who is not a member of chambers. Their marks are not considered when selecting for the second interview; instead, they are there to check that the panel is applying the mark scheme correctly and fairly. The top-scoring 12 candidates are then invited to a second-round interview, where they face another advocacy exercise and a discussion in the format of a conference with instructing solicitors, on the same topic as the written assessment. Those reaching the second round are also invited for a coffee and chat with tenants.
The two lucky candidates who secure pupillage receive an award of £90,000. Pupils get four different supervisors over the course of the year, with one insider reporting that all four of his “were genuinely focused on providing a proper training in the work chambers does and pushing me to keep improving”. Another former pupil tells us that pupillage at Keating was “second to none”, adding, “our supervisors are only concerned with ensuring you learn, progress and develop.” It is naturally a steep learning curve, with one junior telling us that you are “expected to step up quickly”, but there is plenty of support in place. In the second six, Keating gets pupils into court as often as possible. Once over the line, a baby junior says the workload involves a “balance between large international work as part of a team with a KC and smaller domestic unled cases”.
Keating Chambers takes its commitment to improving access to the bar seriously. It participates in several schemes, including Bridging, (Dis)Ability to the Bar, 10,000 Black Interns, and COMBAR’s mentoring scheme for under-represented groups. It also runs a summer school in collaboration with Lamb Building for university students interested in commercial, civil, or criminal law. Keating also offers a social mobility scholarship of £15,000, in partnership with Gray’s Inn, to support under-represented groups at the bar.