One of the most frequent (and important) questions I am asked by the many students I have taught either as a part-time lecturer, or as a barrister offering work experience to help them gain a valuable insight into the day-to-day workings of the legal profession, is ‘How difficult is it to become a barrister?’ Secondly, ‘Is it the type of profession that is both rewarding and worthwhile?’

In trying to answer those questions, I try to combine my own personal experience(s) and journey as a barrister while, at the same time, trying to be as objective as one can be in my overall assessment of the profession as a whole.

The Bar, along with other professions such as medicine or finance, is seen as one of the ‘elite professions’ that some students (not all!) have dreams and ambitions of one day joining. (And why not, in my view, because the future belongs to them!) But as with so many of the so-called elite professions, gaining entry to the Bar is an extremely competitive exercise; a task that seems to be that much harder with each passing year. Thousands of newly qualified law graduates desperately compete for the comparatively few places for a pupillage, and then, a tenancy at a set of chambers.

When I began looking for a pupillage in the early 1980s, I found the process both difficult and, at times, demoralising; particularly when you go from one pupillage interview to another, only to receive the disappointing rejection letter. It can have a devastating effect not just on your own self-confidence and self-worth, but also, at times, a damaging impact on your mental health.

There’s no doubting the fact that for today’s aspiring entrants into the profession, the worry as to whether you will ever be able to gain even a tentative foothold on the first rung of the ladder is exacerbated (seemingly tenfold) by the seemingly endless, crippling financial burden that law students have had to endure (and will have to endure for some time in the early stages of their careers); a burden that, mercifully, I was spared.

I could have easily fallen by the wayside when I look back on those challenging times. The last thing I want to appear is glib or smug in saying that if I have somehow managed to overcome those challenges, then any student who has aspirations of forging a career at the Bar can also do the same. Such a simplistic assessment would, in my view, be an insult to those young aspirants looking for honest and objective advice.

So, what are the most important qualities a young aspiring lawyer needs to have during this difficult and critical stage of a fledgling career? Firstly, I would say that persistence, perseverance and resilience are vital in the early years of a career at the Bar. It took me four years from passing the Bar exams to finally obtaining that much cherished tenancy. There’s much credence in the old adage, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!’

Getting a foothold in the legal profession, let alone trying to get to the very top of it, can be like trying to climb a greasy pole with your bare hands. If you don’t know, or indeed learn how, to hold the pole as you seek to scale it then, inexorably, you’ll find yourself sliding right down to the very bottom. It takes a considerable amount of persistence, perseverance and resilience, to find both the courage and the strength to climb that pole again. It is those qualities that will serve you well for a long and professionally rewarding career at the Bar.

Going hand in hand with these qualities is that good old piece of luck; being at the right place, at the right time, to be seen by the ‘powers that be’ who could make all the difference. Even the most successful barristers have needed that little bit of luck and all-important chance to get their foothold on the first rung of the career ladder.

Being persistent and resilient, coupled with perseverance, will enhance your chances to create such luck. That is why it is important to make sure that your potential talent, in a professional sense, is on display AT ALL TIMES... because you never know who is watching you! And, of crucial importance, when your talent is given the platform to shine, seize the opportunity with both hands. Otherwise, it may be lost, and may never present itself again.   

Is a career at the Bar both rewarding and worthwhile? To take the first aspect of that question, this would depend on how you view the ideal of reward. If you are purely financially motivated, then you will be doing the profession a great disservice. Your client is looking for the highest standards in terms of professional legal advice given in an honest, objective and dispassionate way. Lawyers who adopt this approach put the interests of their client over and above any financial rewards; an approach the legal profession both expects and demands as the absolute minimum of standards it has set itself. To adopt the reverse approach is, without question, only a short step on the road to irreparable unprofessionalism. Always bear this in mind. If you are good at what you do, the financial rewards will chase you!

And is a career at the Bar worthwhile? My response is clear and unequivocal. There can be no greater professional satisfaction and gratification when you put to good use the skills that you have been taught from your undergraduate days to law school. If you consistently adopt that approach and ideal throughout your career, then it will make your ambitions to climb to the top of the greasy pole that much easier. Good luck! 

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