The roles within Chambers are now vast and varied and in addition to the clerks there is a large proportion of non-traditional clerking roles that are filled by women. 

In this series we look at the variety of positions and the pivotal role they play in the day-to-day functioning of chambers. Many of these jobs are held by those with previous clerking experience who have diversified or those from other legal backgrounds.

We hope the wonderful insights provided by our contributors will highlight the importance of women in chambers and will provide guidance and assistance to anyone looking to further or alter their careers within chambers. 

To kick off the series we are delighted to hear from Emma Makepeace who is Deputy Senior Clerk at 3 Raymond Buildings. Emma is a well respected and recognised figure in the clerking world having started as a junior clerk in 1991.  Over this period she has seen many developments in the role and her experience and knowledge is invaluable. To date Emma still very much enjoys clerking  “It’s a great job, everyday is different , you get to meet some wonderful people” although as many will agree she recognises the downsides  “The work load , time demands and pressure have to be closely managed so you are able to offer your family life the time and attention it requires”.     

You can enjoy Emma’s response below...

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How Many Women Does it take to run a Chambers?

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Name: Emma Makepeace

Role: Deputy Senior Clerk

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Duties include:

• To assist the Senior Clerk in strengthening the reputation of Three Raymond Buildings as a leading set in criminal and public law
• To contribute to the career progression of members of chambers, by understanding and developing members’ goals, skills and experience
• To create new and develop existing relationships with professional clients
• To maintain the reputation of the Clerks’ Room

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Chambers Management:

‍Sharing responsibility in major decision making with the Senior Clerk.  

Providing unfaltering support to the Senior Clerk. Working together to achieve resolution on issues arising and to grow the business.

Committed to ensuring all staffing and clerking practices are fair and ensuring that bias is not present.  

Committed to working in a sustainable and cost-effective environment and influencing all to be socially conscious and positive.

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Practice Management:

‍Actively securing and pursuing regular instructions from a broad base of senior solicitors across multiple areas.

Forming strong business relationships through a high level of efficiency, in order that all members practices benefit and grow.

Identifying and actively seeking growth areas and creating opportunities to introduce chambers to.  

Managing practice develop meeting procedure including the mechanisms to review progress.  

Clerking and Fee Management including allocation of work.

Problem resolution.  

Dealing with queries expeditiously and efficiently and delegating to the clerks team to assist with accordingly.

Private fee negotiation and administration at all levels  

Ensuring comprehensive client care.

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Marketing:  Jointly responsible for BD and Marketing and implementing associated activity.  

Assisting development of practice teams representing specific areas of expertise.

Regularly organising, hosting and attending social and educational events to enhance the profile of

chambers and individuals, to secure work, to build relationships, to seek feedback and to create

introductions.  

Overseeing the Chambers Directory submission process.  

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Other positions previously held in chambers (if any):

Deputy Director of Clerking – 25 Bedford Row

Senior Clerk – Bridewell Chambers

First Junior Clerk – Ely Place Chambers

Junior Clerk – 2

Junior Clerk 10 Kings Bench Walk

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Upsides:

It’s a great job, every day is different, you get to meet some wonderful people.  You are constantly developing personally and professionally as the demands increase and the management of people becomes the focus of your role.

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Downsides:

The workload, time demands, and pressure have to be closely managed so you are able to offer your family life the time and attention it requires. There is little time left for yourself, and this can be really difficult.

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Any guidance you could provide for future applicants:

Willingness to work hard and be resilient is key in this job. Don’t take things personally, people are just trying to get through there own busy schedules and competing objectives are inevitable.

Engage outside of Chambers in associated organisations to take advantage of the networking, mentoring and support that these environments offer.

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