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You’ve safely navigated a successful return to practice after a career break, with clerks supportive, adaptable and creative enough to know how to help you carve out meaningful work and continue to progress your career, even while working part-time. You’re over the initial firefighting of the immediate parental leave return, beginning to feel more organised and confident around expectations, and in the prevailing routine of life with small children. It’s a relatable scenario for me, on my second return to the criminal Bar, full time, when at that time I had two children under the age of three.
Yet that’s where I know, from personal experience and, more recently, through conversations with barrister coaching clients, the really hard work begins…
The challenges faced by working parents are unique. There’s the precarious balance between professional demands, in a high-pressure, high-profile job with unpredictable working hours, and significant caring responsibilities potentially impeding workplace opportunities. There’s also the need to establish professional visibility on the one hand, while overcoming, on the other, negative cultural connotations around working differently, flexibly perhaps, even if only for a short period of time.
Two hospitalisations for my little one due to nursery bugs influenced the decision, second time round, for me to hire a nanny. But then I became acutely aware that we were at the health mercy of one person, and should she be struck down with the usual child-transmitted lurgies we’d come to expect, we’d be left in an absolute bind.
Those relying on nursery care remain on high-alert too: as soon as their own child succumbs to one of the very many, and inevitable, ‘24/48-hour rule’ illnesses, even with more care-givers available in the childcare setting itself, the nursery then becomes a no-go zone until the sickness plays itself out.
Under-estimating the time required in parenting is a phenomenon that’s been witnessed by Jayne Drake, senior clerk at St Paul’s Chambers and member of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks Management Committee, given what is required in childcare planning and dealing with unforeseen setbacks. She has observed challenges worsening as counsel’s children start school, due to shorter ‘childcare’ hours, longer holidays, and wrap-around care non-existent, exorbitantly expensive, or not sufficiently lengthy or flexible to serve the needs of barristers further beyond their initial return.
Working parents know how it feels to be left vulnerable and exposed, struggling to meet professional commitments at times when ill health makes it impossible to stick to original plans. That’s not to mention the challenges presented for those wishing to breastfeed beyond their immediate return to work, as more and more women are choosing to do. Nor those presented with short notice invitations to school sports days, assemblies, information events and the like, stumped by pre-existing, non-negotiable court hearings, and a healthy dose of working parent guilt, wishing it were possible to move heaven and earth to attend, yet knowing it is not.
It matters – to the individual barristers, their chambers and the Bar more widely – to navigate these challenges successfully, in particular due to the well-documented low retention rates of working mothers compared to working fathers. According to the Western Circuit Women’s Forum Back to the Bar Survey 2018, two out of three of those leaving the Western Circuit over six years did so due to difficulties balancing work and family commitments. This finding reaffirmed those of the 2016 Bar Standards Board Women at the Bar Report, that family reasons or the difficulties of combining a career at the Bar with caring responsibilities were the most common reasons given for considering leaving the Bar.
Jayne describes one concerning consequence, the ‘fear factor’ – female barristers worrying the years invested of hard work building a practice may soon be undone, then allowing guilt to drive behaviours and decisions around committing (and in some cases over-committing) to work the further behind they leave their return.
Retention is an important issue, not just for working parent barristers, but also chambers as businesses, given the heavy investment costs of hiring, training and developing talent only to see working parents – in the most part mothers – leave mid-career. The current minimum pupillage award cost in London is c.£23,000, and outside, c.£21,000, albeit reportedly considerably higher too. Awards have been reported to be upwards of between £30,000 and £100,000 according to Legal Cheek’s The Chambers Most List 2025.
Talent retention, and creating inclusive workplaces, make good business sense for chambers, where healthy, happy, ambitious working parents continue to thrive in practice without unnecessary and avoidable stress.
So how does this play out in practice? How can working parents avoid the wheels falling off? And, with the inevitable, occasional bump in the road, how might working parents cope? To answer these questions, some working parents have kindly shared their recent experiences at the Bar to shine a light on strategies they’ve implemented to overcome challenges encountered well beyond the initial career break return.
Naakesha Michl, from Park Lane Plowden, found prominent challenges centred around balance, busy-ness and boundaries – wanting to balance things to maintain good quality at work and in her personal life; not becoming so busy that that negatively impacted home relationships; and successfully ‘sticking to her [own] boundaries’. Specifically, successful strategies she uses include careful diary management to closely guard personal, family time in evenings and at weekends, including turning certain cases away, particularly out of the local area: ‘saying no to big/great cases but ones I know will take up too much of my “pot of energy” in this chapter of life’.
A similar approach was advocated by Lady Justice Philippa Whipple, who spoke recently at the Inner Temple Returners and Movers Conference, talking about the mindset shift required to allow working parents to find acceptance around ‘swimming in the slow lane’, albeit for a finite period of time, while ever a young family might demand more attention and energy from their barrister parent.
Jacqui Thomas KC, Head of Chambers at Spire Barristers, has experienced times when the job has felt she was required ‘on call’ 24/7, while ‘children and family also require 24/7 attention!’ She encourages the implementation of ‘an effective triaging system’ to counteract the main challenge, ‘learning that our job does not require an immediate response to all demands’. In support, Jacqui built solid working relationships with clerks early on in her practice, and advocates effective, open and honest communication to help clerks understand home lives and the challenges faced there: ‘Often, we expect our clerks to be mind-readers and then feel aggrieved that they have not pre-empted our requirements. It comes down to communication and teamwork.’
This strategy has been successfully adopted by Roz Snocken, Old Square Chambers too, whose challenges have included maintaining balance and coping with the unpredictability of both the job and home life. ‘Good and frequent communication with clerks is the key – being open about what is happening at home as well as what I would like to achieve in my practice has been really important and helpful as I believe working as a team with my clerk has been vital.’ She also advocates for transparency when it comes to professional clients – having honest conversations with instructing solicitors about times that present as greater challenges having conferences, for example, creating an understanding that these will be avoided wherever possible.
Knowing how to tackle these challenges for yourself and, indeed, alongside your clerks, is imperative to avoid the really wearing effect of excuse-making and problem-dwelling that jeopardises sounding reliable to the clerks’ room. The first year post-return is a crucial time in which to see success, in terms of possible career progression beyond it. Still further, ‘the first five years are the hardest and the first two years post-return should be managed carefully to prevent burnout,’ says Jayne Drake. ‘The relationship between clerk and barrister is essential in restoring confidence,’ she continues. ‘A good clerk will be seen to be championing and supporting the return to work in a way that works around the barrister.’
Maintaining strong lines of communication between counsel and clerks remains highly important. For clerks, it’s important to ask, as opposed to assume, to keep open those lines of communication and be able to deliver effective working parent support. Also identifying what lines of communication are most important in times of urgent need – a WhatsApp message might be more effective than an email, for example, depending on the individual concerned, and what’s agreed between them and their clerk.
Understanding is crucial too – for example, in scenarios where there may be a child with complex medical needs requiring working parents to take extended periods of leave. Jayne points to examples where ‘rent/contribution holidays can be arranged for a short period to alleviate financial strain’.
Well beyond a return, there’s significant merit in regular informal weekly catch-ups between clerks and counsel and the more formalised (as a recommended minimum, quarterly) practice development meetings to identify and discuss the current state of play:
Some of Jayne’s top tips for working parents from the clerks’ room include:
Chambers colleagues also have their part to play in creating a supportive environment in which they wish to see others thrive. Being open to discussions about tailored support, for those intending to extend breastfeeding or around on-site childcare facilities for example, could prove hugely valuable.
Career break returner support is becoming much more common place at the Bar these days, including coaching and training courses designed to ease the transition back into the workplace. Perhaps what remains less common is specific support for working parents. My online course, Return and RiseTM had in mind that returners soon become re-integrated working parents, with dynamic and changing needs. The Working Parent Bonus Module shines a light on some of the strategies working parents might implement for themselves to better navigate the challenges ahead, some of which are included here.
Planning with built-in flex or back-up pays dividends, albeit can be especially challenging for those without the luxury of shared care or emergency grandparental care on hand. Roz certainly credits building in flexibility, (for example, by not overbooking herself with work and being more creative about her hours, and what the working day might look), as a useful tool to better navigate the unexpected curveballs.
Don’t be afraid to be inventive with it either. A recent speaker at the Inner Temple Movers and Returners Conference gave a useful example while advocating for always having a plan B: ‘befriend the school mums in gym kits…’ – insinuating they’re the ones most likely to be able to lend a hand at short notice for any unexpected childcare setbacks!
Revisiting the Back to the Bar survey, one working father respondent said he’d not been open about his real problems juggling childcare responsibilities because he felt he ‘needed to man up’. Without debating the wider, societal issues about gender roles/ stereotyping here, I admit that I too, back in the day, had reason not to mention any childcare challenges, culminating in one of the biggest regrets of my working parent experiences at the Bar. While my young daughter was hospitalised, quite seriously ill, I chose not to tell the judge, being mid-trial, client depending on me, and speech still to deliver. It was only after completing my ‘active’ role in the trial that I felt able to alert the court to my difficulties, after which I was released immediately to be at my daughter’s hospital bedside. Interestingly, the judge seemed surprised I’d not mentioned the situation before, indicating that had I done so, his response would have been exactly the same.
I’m encouraged to hear from those currently in practice that they are routinely encountering a ‘more human’ judicial approach, such that Naakesha for example feels emboldened to let go of ‘worrying about what anyone else thinks, including being prepared to say in open court I have to leave by X time to collect my children (usually by 4.30pm).’ Whipple LJ agreed it’s becoming increasingly common for counsel to state in open court that they are unable to sit late due to childcare commitments.
Where certain needs are not yet fully met, for example concerning the provision of suitable extended breastfeeding facilities or on-site childcare options, working parents can feel reassured that raising an issue can become a catalyst for cultural change. This was certainly the experience of Roz, back in the day who, as a result of highlighting concerns, and with the support of the Bar Council, was able to influence ‘Breastfeeding Welcome’ signs to become a much more common sight on tribunal noticeboards.
Be willing to deploy a different approach in the short term and develop acceptance around that. While this can prove challenging to those still highly ambitious, and adapting to the ‘slow lane swim’ can feel quite the stretch, perspective in this regard can prove an absolute game changer. Naakesha found helpful ‘not thinking about long-term career aspirations but constantly reminding myself that I have decades to work on my career but about one decade of my children being very young.’ Any shift is temporary: the adjustment is required only for a finite period of time. From a clerking perspective, Jayne agrees, too: ‘It’s not forever and it’s a time to be enjoyed and savoured not just endured.’
An examination of the question ‘What does success look like to me?’ can be useful. No ‘one size fits all’ after all. Take things a stage further by asking ‘What does success look like to me now?’ This takes account of goals shifting and changing with time. Goals always warrant a review to sense check whether they still stand, remain relevant, and are pertinent to the working parent ‘you’, as opposed to the ‘you’ pre-child.
Always worth thinking strategically and creatively too. For a 3-to-5-year career progression plan, useful to not only plan ahead, but also prepare to dig in. For example, there are still many things you can do in the shorter term to maintain relationships over the longer period, for when you are ready to step your foot back on the gas once more.
Finally, a change of mindset is required around ringfencing boundaries, particularly challenging for ‘people pleasers’, whose usual mantra is ‘There’s no I in team’. It’s useful to accept, even temporarily, being firm, and quite single minded about the setting, and implementation, of healthy boundaries. It’s important knowing that two thirds of those leaving the Western Circuit over six years did so because of difficulties balancing work and family commitments. This takes confidence, assertiveness, organisation, planning, and occasionally, learning to say no.
Jacqui exemplifies those challenges as follows: ‘Members sometimes expect the clerks to see a problem, because it seems obvious to counsel, but from a clerk’s perspective the issues might not be so clear… If we as counsel do not put boundaries in place to say no to meetings after 5pm, then the clerks will not necessarily know that we cannot make that work. Boundaries are essential. I read recently a post by Dr Tunde Okewale OBE who wrote: “If you never say no, your yes will lose all meaning”, and it is so true.’ From a clerking perspective, Jayne agrees, with a sensible invitation: ‘The diary may appear blank but unless the barrister is identifying the time taken on prep/drafting/correspondence, it’s time we think is free to use. Use the professional diary to mark in any events that will take away your ability to work in that time.’
The implementation of boundaries is increasingly important post-COVID, with traditional 9-5 working hours well and truly obliterated. It’s not uncommon nowadays for work meetings to start at either 8am or 7pm. In fact, Jacqui’s colleague’s court once sat remotely at 8.30am to accommodate counsel. These extended working days can be especially challenging for working parents, particularly those navigating the non-negotiable school or nursery drop off and pick up times. As she observed: ‘We are sometimes our own worst enemies when it comes to agreeing to accommodate all matters, and it really is inviting burnout to try to sustain that in the longer term. Saying no will not result in a loss of work, it is a basic sign of self-care, and those that value your skills will work within the boundaries that you set.’
While the hard yards for working parents might begin at a surprising, mid-career stage, as opposed to in the immediate aftermath of a return, with support from communicative clerks, a positive and inclusive chambers culture, and by consciously implementing practical strategies like some of those above, barrister working parents not only thrive but are also successfully retained – a ‘win win’ for all, not least the Bar.
With huge thanks from the author to counsel and clerk contributors alike, without whom such a comprehensive articulation of lived examples would have been impossible: Jayne Drake, senior clerk at St Paul’s Chambers and a member of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks Management Committee, Naakesha Michl, a barrister at Park Lane Plowden, Jacqui Thomas KC, Head of Chambers at Spire Barristers and Roz Snocken, a barrister at Old Square Chambers.
‘Breastfeeding at the Bar’, Sally Rickard and Charlotte Baker, Counsel, November 2024
Western Circuit Women’s Forum Back to the Bar Survey 2018
Bar Standards Board Women at the Bar Report 2016
Dr Tunde Okewale OBE on LinkedIn: ‘You Can’t Pour From a Leaking Cup’
For further online working parent support see, for counsel, Return and Rise™ and for clerks, Clerking Through Career Breaks™; and ‘How to be a barrister and parent and succeed at both’, Nikki Alderson, Counsel, July 2019
Nikki Alderson is a former criminal barrister. She is now a specialist coach supporting chambers and law firms to attract, retain and elevate female talent within the legal profession and empowering female lawyers to achieve career ambitions. She is also a keynote speaker, author of Raising the Bar: empowering female lawyers through coaching and tweets as @NikkiAlderson2.
You’ve safely navigated a successful return to practice after a career break, with clerks supportive, adaptable and creative enough to know how to help you carve out meaningful work and continue to progress your career, even while working part-time. You’re over the initial firefighting of the immediate parental leave return, beginning to feel more organised and confident around expectations, and in the prevailing routine of life with small children. It’s a relatable scenario for me, on my second return to the criminal Bar, full time, when at that time I had two children under the age of three.
Yet that’s where I know, from personal experience and, more recently, through conversations with barrister coaching clients, the really hard work begins…
The challenges faced by working parents are unique. There’s the precarious balance between professional demands, in a high-pressure, high-profile job with unpredictable working hours, and significant caring responsibilities potentially impeding workplace opportunities. There’s also the need to establish professional visibility on the one hand, while overcoming, on the other, negative cultural connotations around working differently, flexibly perhaps, even if only for a short period of time.
Two hospitalisations for my little one due to nursery bugs influenced the decision, second time round, for me to hire a nanny. But then I became acutely aware that we were at the health mercy of one person, and should she be struck down with the usual child-transmitted lurgies we’d come to expect, we’d be left in an absolute bind.
Those relying on nursery care remain on high-alert too: as soon as their own child succumbs to one of the very many, and inevitable, ‘24/48-hour rule’ illnesses, even with more care-givers available in the childcare setting itself, the nursery then becomes a no-go zone until the sickness plays itself out.
Under-estimating the time required in parenting is a phenomenon that’s been witnessed by Jayne Drake, senior clerk at St Paul’s Chambers and member of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks Management Committee, given what is required in childcare planning and dealing with unforeseen setbacks. She has observed challenges worsening as counsel’s children start school, due to shorter ‘childcare’ hours, longer holidays, and wrap-around care non-existent, exorbitantly expensive, or not sufficiently lengthy or flexible to serve the needs of barristers further beyond their initial return.
Working parents know how it feels to be left vulnerable and exposed, struggling to meet professional commitments at times when ill health makes it impossible to stick to original plans. That’s not to mention the challenges presented for those wishing to breastfeed beyond their immediate return to work, as more and more women are choosing to do. Nor those presented with short notice invitations to school sports days, assemblies, information events and the like, stumped by pre-existing, non-negotiable court hearings, and a healthy dose of working parent guilt, wishing it were possible to move heaven and earth to attend, yet knowing it is not.
It matters – to the individual barristers, their chambers and the Bar more widely – to navigate these challenges successfully, in particular due to the well-documented low retention rates of working mothers compared to working fathers. According to the Western Circuit Women’s Forum Back to the Bar Survey 2018, two out of three of those leaving the Western Circuit over six years did so due to difficulties balancing work and family commitments. This finding reaffirmed those of the 2016 Bar Standards Board Women at the Bar Report, that family reasons or the difficulties of combining a career at the Bar with caring responsibilities were the most common reasons given for considering leaving the Bar.
Jayne describes one concerning consequence, the ‘fear factor’ – female barristers worrying the years invested of hard work building a practice may soon be undone, then allowing guilt to drive behaviours and decisions around committing (and in some cases over-committing) to work the further behind they leave their return.
Retention is an important issue, not just for working parent barristers, but also chambers as businesses, given the heavy investment costs of hiring, training and developing talent only to see working parents – in the most part mothers – leave mid-career. The current minimum pupillage award cost in London is c.£23,000, and outside, c.£21,000, albeit reportedly considerably higher too. Awards have been reported to be upwards of between £30,000 and £100,000 according to Legal Cheek’s The Chambers Most List 2025.
Talent retention, and creating inclusive workplaces, make good business sense for chambers, where healthy, happy, ambitious working parents continue to thrive in practice without unnecessary and avoidable stress.
So how does this play out in practice? How can working parents avoid the wheels falling off? And, with the inevitable, occasional bump in the road, how might working parents cope? To answer these questions, some working parents have kindly shared their recent experiences at the Bar to shine a light on strategies they’ve implemented to overcome challenges encountered well beyond the initial career break return.
Naakesha Michl, from Park Lane Plowden, found prominent challenges centred around balance, busy-ness and boundaries – wanting to balance things to maintain good quality at work and in her personal life; not becoming so busy that that negatively impacted home relationships; and successfully ‘sticking to her [own] boundaries’. Specifically, successful strategies she uses include careful diary management to closely guard personal, family time in evenings and at weekends, including turning certain cases away, particularly out of the local area: ‘saying no to big/great cases but ones I know will take up too much of my “pot of energy” in this chapter of life’.
A similar approach was advocated by Lady Justice Philippa Whipple, who spoke recently at the Inner Temple Returners and Movers Conference, talking about the mindset shift required to allow working parents to find acceptance around ‘swimming in the slow lane’, albeit for a finite period of time, while ever a young family might demand more attention and energy from their barrister parent.
Jacqui Thomas KC, Head of Chambers at Spire Barristers, has experienced times when the job has felt she was required ‘on call’ 24/7, while ‘children and family also require 24/7 attention!’ She encourages the implementation of ‘an effective triaging system’ to counteract the main challenge, ‘learning that our job does not require an immediate response to all demands’. In support, Jacqui built solid working relationships with clerks early on in her practice, and advocates effective, open and honest communication to help clerks understand home lives and the challenges faced there: ‘Often, we expect our clerks to be mind-readers and then feel aggrieved that they have not pre-empted our requirements. It comes down to communication and teamwork.’
This strategy has been successfully adopted by Roz Snocken, Old Square Chambers too, whose challenges have included maintaining balance and coping with the unpredictability of both the job and home life. ‘Good and frequent communication with clerks is the key – being open about what is happening at home as well as what I would like to achieve in my practice has been really important and helpful as I believe working as a team with my clerk has been vital.’ She also advocates for transparency when it comes to professional clients – having honest conversations with instructing solicitors about times that present as greater challenges having conferences, for example, creating an understanding that these will be avoided wherever possible.
Knowing how to tackle these challenges for yourself and, indeed, alongside your clerks, is imperative to avoid the really wearing effect of excuse-making and problem-dwelling that jeopardises sounding reliable to the clerks’ room. The first year post-return is a crucial time in which to see success, in terms of possible career progression beyond it. Still further, ‘the first five years are the hardest and the first two years post-return should be managed carefully to prevent burnout,’ says Jayne Drake. ‘The relationship between clerk and barrister is essential in restoring confidence,’ she continues. ‘A good clerk will be seen to be championing and supporting the return to work in a way that works around the barrister.’
Maintaining strong lines of communication between counsel and clerks remains highly important. For clerks, it’s important to ask, as opposed to assume, to keep open those lines of communication and be able to deliver effective working parent support. Also identifying what lines of communication are most important in times of urgent need – a WhatsApp message might be more effective than an email, for example, depending on the individual concerned, and what’s agreed between them and their clerk.
Understanding is crucial too – for example, in scenarios where there may be a child with complex medical needs requiring working parents to take extended periods of leave. Jayne points to examples where ‘rent/contribution holidays can be arranged for a short period to alleviate financial strain’.
Well beyond a return, there’s significant merit in regular informal weekly catch-ups between clerks and counsel and the more formalised (as a recommended minimum, quarterly) practice development meetings to identify and discuss the current state of play:
Some of Jayne’s top tips for working parents from the clerks’ room include:
Chambers colleagues also have their part to play in creating a supportive environment in which they wish to see others thrive. Being open to discussions about tailored support, for those intending to extend breastfeeding or around on-site childcare facilities for example, could prove hugely valuable.
Career break returner support is becoming much more common place at the Bar these days, including coaching and training courses designed to ease the transition back into the workplace. Perhaps what remains less common is specific support for working parents. My online course, Return and RiseTM had in mind that returners soon become re-integrated working parents, with dynamic and changing needs. The Working Parent Bonus Module shines a light on some of the strategies working parents might implement for themselves to better navigate the challenges ahead, some of which are included here.
Planning with built-in flex or back-up pays dividends, albeit can be especially challenging for those without the luxury of shared care or emergency grandparental care on hand. Roz certainly credits building in flexibility, (for example, by not overbooking herself with work and being more creative about her hours, and what the working day might look), as a useful tool to better navigate the unexpected curveballs.
Don’t be afraid to be inventive with it either. A recent speaker at the Inner Temple Movers and Returners Conference gave a useful example while advocating for always having a plan B: ‘befriend the school mums in gym kits…’ – insinuating they’re the ones most likely to be able to lend a hand at short notice for any unexpected childcare setbacks!
Revisiting the Back to the Bar survey, one working father respondent said he’d not been open about his real problems juggling childcare responsibilities because he felt he ‘needed to man up’. Without debating the wider, societal issues about gender roles/ stereotyping here, I admit that I too, back in the day, had reason not to mention any childcare challenges, culminating in one of the biggest regrets of my working parent experiences at the Bar. While my young daughter was hospitalised, quite seriously ill, I chose not to tell the judge, being mid-trial, client depending on me, and speech still to deliver. It was only after completing my ‘active’ role in the trial that I felt able to alert the court to my difficulties, after which I was released immediately to be at my daughter’s hospital bedside. Interestingly, the judge seemed surprised I’d not mentioned the situation before, indicating that had I done so, his response would have been exactly the same.
I’m encouraged to hear from those currently in practice that they are routinely encountering a ‘more human’ judicial approach, such that Naakesha for example feels emboldened to let go of ‘worrying about what anyone else thinks, including being prepared to say in open court I have to leave by X time to collect my children (usually by 4.30pm).’ Whipple LJ agreed it’s becoming increasingly common for counsel to state in open court that they are unable to sit late due to childcare commitments.
Where certain needs are not yet fully met, for example concerning the provision of suitable extended breastfeeding facilities or on-site childcare options, working parents can feel reassured that raising an issue can become a catalyst for cultural change. This was certainly the experience of Roz, back in the day who, as a result of highlighting concerns, and with the support of the Bar Council, was able to influence ‘Breastfeeding Welcome’ signs to become a much more common sight on tribunal noticeboards.
Be willing to deploy a different approach in the short term and develop acceptance around that. While this can prove challenging to those still highly ambitious, and adapting to the ‘slow lane swim’ can feel quite the stretch, perspective in this regard can prove an absolute game changer. Naakesha found helpful ‘not thinking about long-term career aspirations but constantly reminding myself that I have decades to work on my career but about one decade of my children being very young.’ Any shift is temporary: the adjustment is required only for a finite period of time. From a clerking perspective, Jayne agrees, too: ‘It’s not forever and it’s a time to be enjoyed and savoured not just endured.’
An examination of the question ‘What does success look like to me?’ can be useful. No ‘one size fits all’ after all. Take things a stage further by asking ‘What does success look like to me now?’ This takes account of goals shifting and changing with time. Goals always warrant a review to sense check whether they still stand, remain relevant, and are pertinent to the working parent ‘you’, as opposed to the ‘you’ pre-child.
Always worth thinking strategically and creatively too. For a 3-to-5-year career progression plan, useful to not only plan ahead, but also prepare to dig in. For example, there are still many things you can do in the shorter term to maintain relationships over the longer period, for when you are ready to step your foot back on the gas once more.
Finally, a change of mindset is required around ringfencing boundaries, particularly challenging for ‘people pleasers’, whose usual mantra is ‘There’s no I in team’. It’s useful to accept, even temporarily, being firm, and quite single minded about the setting, and implementation, of healthy boundaries. It’s important knowing that two thirds of those leaving the Western Circuit over six years did so because of difficulties balancing work and family commitments. This takes confidence, assertiveness, organisation, planning, and occasionally, learning to say no.
Jacqui exemplifies those challenges as follows: ‘Members sometimes expect the clerks to see a problem, because it seems obvious to counsel, but from a clerk’s perspective the issues might not be so clear… If we as counsel do not put boundaries in place to say no to meetings after 5pm, then the clerks will not necessarily know that we cannot make that work. Boundaries are essential. I read recently a post by Dr Tunde Okewale OBE who wrote: “If you never say no, your yes will lose all meaning”, and it is so true.’ From a clerking perspective, Jayne agrees, with a sensible invitation: ‘The diary may appear blank but unless the barrister is identifying the time taken on prep/drafting/correspondence, it’s time we think is free to use. Use the professional diary to mark in any events that will take away your ability to work in that time.’
The implementation of boundaries is increasingly important post-COVID, with traditional 9-5 working hours well and truly obliterated. It’s not uncommon nowadays for work meetings to start at either 8am or 7pm. In fact, Jacqui’s colleague’s court once sat remotely at 8.30am to accommodate counsel. These extended working days can be especially challenging for working parents, particularly those navigating the non-negotiable school or nursery drop off and pick up times. As she observed: ‘We are sometimes our own worst enemies when it comes to agreeing to accommodate all matters, and it really is inviting burnout to try to sustain that in the longer term. Saying no will not result in a loss of work, it is a basic sign of self-care, and those that value your skills will work within the boundaries that you set.’
While the hard yards for working parents might begin at a surprising, mid-career stage, as opposed to in the immediate aftermath of a return, with support from communicative clerks, a positive and inclusive chambers culture, and by consciously implementing practical strategies like some of those above, barrister working parents not only thrive but are also successfully retained – a ‘win win’ for all, not least the Bar.
With huge thanks from the author to counsel and clerk contributors alike, without whom such a comprehensive articulation of lived examples would have been impossible: Jayne Drake, senior clerk at St Paul’s Chambers and a member of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks Management Committee, Naakesha Michl, a barrister at Park Lane Plowden, Jacqui Thomas KC, Head of Chambers at Spire Barristers and Roz Snocken, a barrister at Old Square Chambers.
‘Breastfeeding at the Bar’, Sally Rickard and Charlotte Baker, Counsel, November 2024
Western Circuit Women’s Forum Back to the Bar Survey 2018
Bar Standards Board Women at the Bar Report 2016
Dr Tunde Okewale OBE on LinkedIn: ‘You Can’t Pour From a Leaking Cup’
For further online working parent support see, for counsel, Return and Rise™ and for clerks, Clerking Through Career Breaks™; and ‘How to be a barrister and parent and succeed at both’, Nikki Alderson, Counsel, July 2019
The Bar Council continues to call for investment for the justice system and represent the interests of our profession both at home and abroad
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
AlphaBiolabs has made a £500 donation to Sean’s Place, a men’s mental health charity based in Sefton, as part of its ongoing Giving Back initiative
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Six months of court observation at the Old Bailey: APPEAL’s Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan report their findings on prosecution practices under joint enterprise
The Amazonian artist’s first international solo exhibition is wholly relevant to current issues in social and environmental justice, says Stephen Cragg KC
Despite its prevalence, autism spectrum disorder remains poorly understood in the criminal justice system. Does Alex Henry’s joint enterprise conviction expose the need to audit prisons? asks Dr Felicity Gerry KC
Until reforms are instituted and a programme of training is introduced, expert opinion on intimate partner abuse remains vital to realigning the tilted scales of law and justice, writes Professor Susan Edwards
It’s been five years since the groundbreaking QC competition in which six Black women barristers, including the 2025 Chair of the Bar, took silk. Yet today, the number of Black KCs remains ‘critically low’. Desirée Artesi talks to Baroness Scotland KC, Allison Munroe KC and Melanie Simpson KC about the critical success factors, barriers and ideas for embedding change
