How long have you been at New Park Court?

I joined Chambers about four years ago. Although I had leadership and commercial experience within Professional Services, and to a lesser degree during my time as a Royal Air Force officer, joining New Park Court Chambers was my introduction to the legal sector.

What have been your proudest moments so far as CEO?

In terms of recognition, undoubtedly, it was the set being named British Legal Awards Chambers of the Year 2024 and LexisNexis Chambers of the Year 2025. These successes not only acknowledge the standout quality of our barristers and the high profile of the work they undertake, but importantly for me, they recognise the contribution of everyone in Chambers. These awards are truly something the entire team can be proud of, as everyone played a part in making them possible – and that means a lot to me.

Hot on the heels of these awards are our recent Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 rankings. Not only have we retained Band 1 and Tier 1 status, respectively, but we have also enjoyed consistent and constant growth, both in terms of counsel being promoted within rankings and practitioners being ranked for the first time.

All of this is helping us achieve what I want it to, which is an enhanced platform to share our expertise and capabilities with new audiences and potential new clients. We have a compelling story, and we want to share it.

What differentiates New Park Court from other sets?

I sit on two Bar Council Committees, the Legal Practice Management Association and the Circuit Diversity Group. On the latter, I have led Circuit-wide Fair Recruitment and Fair Allocation of Work Training for approximately 100 barristers and clerks. I mention all of these because when combined, they give me both a broader and deeper sense of the wider Bar and a firm appreciation of what we do differently from others.

I alluded to the quality of our people and the quality of our work earlier; these are arguably our key differentiators. But we are also so much more. We take great pride in our commitment to achieving carbon negativity and in supporting the growth of the New Park Court Woodland in North Yorkshire. Our University Outreach Programme and sponsorship of the 10,000 Black Interns initiative reinforce Chambers’ commitment to embracing our organisational responsibility – both to those around us and to the future of the Bar.

Lastly, closer to home and focusing on the health and happiness of our barristers, our Employee Assistance Programme and 24/7 access to a trained counsellor contributed to our being awarded Bar Council Wellbeing Certification. Proving, I hope, that we take supporting and enabling our people seriously.

What are your strategic priorities over the next five years?

Put simply, recruitment. As our national reputation grows to mirror that of our regional one, we need to recruit quality, like-minded practitioners to keep pace with increased demand for our services. In addition to taking on more pupils than ever before, we have a particular and focused interest in lateral recruitment.

We are looking for quality barristers to join us, at all years of call, and who have expertise in Crime, Regulatory, Inquests & Inquiries, Professional Discipline, Family and Civil law.

If New Park Court Chambers feels like somewhere you could call home, please do reach out to me (rob.wagg@newparkcourt.co.uk) for a confidential discussion to see how you could help us to do things a little differently.