My aim in writing this article is to inspire readers to pursue a career at the employed Bar, and to regard it as offering equal levels of excitement, opportunity and challenge as a career at the self-employed Bar. I’ll start with two qualifiers: that my experience of the employed Bar is through the lens of the public sector; and that I have moved around quite a bit.

After pupillage in a criminal set, I undertook a third six and then applied for a position at the Central Confiscation Branch of the Crown Prosecution Service, in order ‘to bolster my upcoming tenancy prospects’. Suffice to say those prospects were not bolstered enough, and I had unconsciously stepped into the world of the employed barrister. Spoiler alert – 26 years later I am still here, no regrets and having made full use of the opportunities that have come my way, which have enriched my career.

My first permanent post was at HM Customs and Excise, firstly in the prosecutions team, then moving unexpectedly into the international team after eight weeks. That unforeseen opportunity opened a door to working with domestic colleagues and international partners in the space of criminal law. As my experience grew, I had the chance to supplement this through training legal professionals in other countries (especially when I moved into a non-legal policy role). This was challenging as it was not just about being a subject matter expert; I also had to be cognisant of cultural differences – and yes, I made some mistakes along the way, but embraced them as learning experiences. It did mean lots of international travel (if that’s your thing) but be warned, this is in no way as glamorous as it sounds, 90% of the time.

The cultural exposure stood me in good stead when I took a different path within the field of international cooperation in criminal matters, running a project for the Council of Europe, based in Kyiv, Ukraine. This allowed me to use my legal skills in a different way – in particular, through capacity building. Having to engage with counterparts from a different background was especially enriching when it posed challenges to my preconceived way of thinking and operating. Would I have been able to experience this role if I was at the self-employed Bar? I think not. That would have meant taking a 30-month sabbatical from my practice and then having to build it back up on my return – not impossible, but hardly ideal from a career development perspective. When I was looking for an international role, Ukraine did not feature on the list of places I thought I would work but when the chance came up, I definitely made the most of the experience.

Following my return to the UK and to legal practice, I moved both within and between organisations – HM Revenue and Customs to what was the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, now Government Legal Department (GLD) – and between litigation and advisory teams (working on primary and secondary legislation, advising Ministers and policy colleagues). Another stint involved doing something different – working on the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in both its non-statutory and statutory forms.

Although I do still have a good few years left in me professionally, I am not sure that I will work on a subject area as important or as humbling as that Inquiry – and given how much I have moved around in my career, that is a bold statement to make. However, the opportunity I had to work with and learn from a diverse range of people in my roles at the Inquiry means that this experience will remain with me above all others. And I am saying this having been lead on the Coronavirus Act 2020 and worked with my GLD colleagues on several iterations of ‘lockdown’ regulations!

The benefits for me from being at the employed Bar are numerous, but I’ll flag a few: the opportunity to work as part of a team; chances to step out my comfort zone and hold roles that I would not have envisaged I could experience if I were at the self-employed Bar; not having to worry about tax, National Insurance contributions, going on holiday, being sick… yes, these practical things do matter.

And on that latter point, work-life balance and flexible working opportunities are more numerous at the employed Bar, and understandably so.

There are also challenges – sometimes not being viewed as proper advocates, especially if you do not have a court/tribunal/arbitration based practice; sometimes not being considered as independent, despite our regulatory duties; sometimes people thinking you have an easier life because you are at the employed Bar; that somehow you’re not exposed to long working hours, tight deadlines or challenging clients.

Although I started my career after undertaking a self-employed pupillage, today we are in a space where there are many more employed pupillage opportunities both in the public and private sector. At GLD, I am a trainee sponsor which means I provide support and pastoral care to several colleagues on our legal trainee scheme – both pupil barristers and trainee solicitors. While securing pupillage is equally competitive whether you are applying for an employed or self-employed one, do not discount the opportunity of either applying for an employed pupillage or purusing a later career at the employed Bar. This year GLD has for the first time advertised its pupillages via the Bar Council’s Pupillage Gateway.

I am very much an advocate of the One Bar ethos and have championed careers at the employed Bar as being complementary to, as opposed to in competition with, the self- employed Bar. Wherever you end up at the Bar, know that there will always be opportunities to change direction and move between the employed and self-employed Bar. Embrace those chances when they happen – you never know where they will lead to next!