The Legal Cheek View
Serjeants’ Inn Chambers is a common law set specialising in a number of key practice areas, including police law, clinical negligence, product liability, professional discipline, and inquests and public inquiries. Cases tackled by tenants often involve ethical or moral issues and rare or novel points of law, and they receive high levels of national media attention. The 80-plus barristers at this set, including a very impressive 28 KCs, deal with the “issues of our day”, insiders say, including “assisted suicide, the refugee crisis, historic child abuse allegations and national security”, as well as much more. It is certainly an exciting place to be.
On the work coming through the door at Serjeants’ Inn, one member offers this glowing overview: “I’ve recently moved to Serjeants’ Inn and the work is on a different level to my last set: interesting, often important, diverse and legally challenging. It’s made me love the law again. My only regret is that I didn’t move here five years ago.” Equally impressed, another adds: “Chambers is instructed in the very best, most interesting work in its myriad fields of practice. Almost everything is either high profile, of significant importance or legally complex. The opportunities to build a multi-discipline practice are fantastic and the clerks hugely encouraging in fostering a broad range of expertise.”
So what exactly are tenants working on? On the medical side, barristers operate at the very highest level, working on “the cutting edge of law, medicine and ethics”. One insider tells us: “The range of work in my practice is huge and offers me a series of challenges in completely unconnected fields. End of life cases (whether incapacitated patients should be given treatment); transgender issues, acting for the child of the first trans person in the UK to give birth; fertility cases where treatment goes wrong (swapped test tubes and the like); General Medical Council disciplinary cases (a range of matters from doctors euthanising patients to sleeping with them).” Court of Protection work is also a key area for tenants. Members here work on real issues that affect real people in the most fundamental of ways, which means there is “never a dull moment”.
On the police law side, tenants mainly take on defence work, acting on behalf of police forces throughout the country. Whether it be whistleblowing and discrimination cases or civil claims for deaths involving the police, there is a broad range of expertise in chambers. This also links into their inquests and public inquiries work, which has seen tenants work on everything from the Leveson Inquiry to Hillsborough. As one junior tenant explains: “Very often our work is highly novel, with test cases or advising public authorities on urgent situations. This leaves me with a real sense of contributing to the development of legal issues while providing a service to the public and public authorities.”
Serjeants’ Inn has seen headline cases relating to the Manchester Arena attack, the Salisbury poisonings, the London Bridge terrorist attack, undercover policing and Covid-19 inquiries stream through its doors in recent years, the most recent being the Southport Inquiry, in which four members of chambers are involved. Members have also been involved in some seminal Supreme Court cases that have changed the law on the recoverability of surrogacy damages and on illegality in clinical negligence cases and tort law. Other highlights include Angus Moon KC recently making headlines as he appeared before the Supreme Court, which ruled that a man who killed three elderly men could not sue the health bodies that had treated him for damages; Liam Duffy appearing before the High Court in a claim against a gastroenterologist; and Sarah Clarke KC and Aaron Rathmell successfully acting in the £2.6 million forfeiture case against influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate. It’s hardly surprising, then, that the most recent round of KC applications saw three members of chambers take silk.
With so much exciting work on offer, it can be hard for tenants at Serjeants’ Inn to say no to taking on more, but they tell us that any pressure on this front “comes from ourselves, not chambers.” Insiders appreciate that there’s been a real conscious effort to improve this element of chambers, with Serjeants’ Inn hosting “regular wellbeing initiatives, including a recent workplace course run by a dual-qualified barrister and psychologist, which was promoted by Rachel Spearing, chambers’ wellbeing lead.” Spearing is also the co-founder of the mental health initiative Wellbeing at the Bar, and she’s not the only one promoting a good work-life balance inside chambers. As one junior adds: “The heads of chambers and our CEO recognise the importance of work-life balance; there’s a strong focus on earning more to work less so that family time is enhanced.” Another member comments: “It is part of our clerking conversations to ease and review problems with work demands when they arise. We are constantly trying to create a safe space and be emotionally intelligent in managing our practice.”
When times do get tough, tenants can turn to each other. The culture at this set comes very highly rated and, according to at least one member, “the support at Serjeants’ Inn is one of its best features”. They continued: “I came from another set, which was great, but the dedication to supporting each other at SIC is next level. We have dedicated small WhatsApp groups with senior, middle and junior call for questions and support. You always get an answer, usually within minutes. We also have email groups divided by team to share knowledge and ask questions. Again, you always get multiple responses quickly.” Colleagues’ successes are always celebrated, and chambers’ open-door policy means that any question asked is routinely answered by multiple colleagues within minutes. As one junior confides: “Managing the pressure of the work we do is key to our collective success. Support is what we pride ourselves on.”
Demonstrating how close colleagues at Serjeants’ Inn can be, one junior barrister reveals that they have “stayed over with three other chambers colleagues spread around the country” when appearing in faraway courts, where “one lovely colleague even washed my pyjamas before I came back for the second week of the case!” Given this, it is not surprising that tenants also enjoy socialising together. While “get togethers are less frequent than they used to be” in the days before remote working, ‘First Thursdays’ is a new initiative that has perked up the social buzz in chambers. As our sources describe it: “Members of chambers, staff and pupils come in and get together for a sandwich lunch and/or drinks after work, often with a seminar or quiz thrown in for good measure. It has been well received, and I thoroughly enjoy catching up with colleagues on a regular basis.” On top of this, there are also organised events that are “inclusive for those with families” and “don’t revolve around vertical drinking” (a rounders match, for example), as well as “well-attended learning and networking days with solicitors”, which are described as “excellent too.”
Chambers is based in the “majestic” Lutyens Building (formerly home to Reuters) on London’s Fleet Street, overlooking St Bride’s Church. The “swish and modern” building, designed to the set’s own high specification, boasts glass walls and hot-desking facilities as well as more private rooms, while conference facilities can be flexibly arranged through alterable partition doors. It’s also right next door to the new financial courts being built, which will suit chambers’ business crime team. There are both shared and private rooms, hot-desking and, most importantly, “the best goodie bowl and stationery ever!”
When it comes to IT provision, IT administrator Meelis Malgand is described as “an IT god” because “there is nothing he cannot make work”. Beyond that, “very good” external support and “first-class conferencing facilities with new 360-degree OWL cameras” have left insiders here very satisfied with their tech spec.
Pupillage at Serjeants’ Inn comes with an award of £70,000 as well as highly rated training. One junior describes a “very growth-orientated and adaptable culture in work”. Pupils will sit with three different pupil supervisors over the course of the year. At first, work will be completed just for your supervisor, but eventually you will start undertaking work for other members of chambers. During the second six, pupils can expect to start taking on their own cases and appearing in court in their own right, with supervisors continuing to provide support and answer any questions.
Training doesn’t end with pupillage. One tenant comments: “Chambers takes training and professional development very seriously. The courses provided are of the highest level, with both internal and external input.” On offer are mentoring schemes and opportunities to shadow senior members after pupillage, plus in-house and external training on topics including police misconduct hearings, time recording, and the art of persuasion and negotiation. These sessions are even recorded so they can be watched by those unable to attend.
For those wanting to apply to Serjeants’ Inn Chambers, you’re in luck. The set has a dedicated careers website hosting video interviews with tenants and staff, an insight into EDI and different areas of practice, a roadmap to gaining tenancy, and other information on pro bono, ESG and top tips, along with a handy jargon buster. There are also guides on ‘what we expect from you’ and ‘what you can expect from us’, plus suggested resources to keep up to date with developments in each of the set’s key practice areas.
Students looking for one of the two coveted pupillage spots should make their application through the Pupillage Gateway. Candidates scoring highest on the written application will be invited to a first-round interview, which consists of a legal exercise as well as general questions. A lucky few will then be invited back to a more extensive second-round interview. Serjeants’ Inn says it’s not looking for the “finished product” when it comes to prospective pupils; rather, they should demonstrate “practical and academic ability”, “personality and aptitude”, as well as “commitment” and “flexibility to face the challenges of a changing and demanding profession”. Offers are made “on merit alone”.