i heard from someone that you should have at least $40K saved up before going to the bar because you'll be living in poverty for the couple of years.
Having worked for barristers for about two years I can second this. The ones I have worked for were well established and were far from poor BUT they were constantly owed money. I'd do their billing and even if you send periodic bills for work up until the date they would still be owed a fair bit. One of them said that now he had been appointed to the bench, all of a sudden the money followed in like nothing before because they didn't want to be before him owing money (and he was an SC)...
Here's some observations I wrote for the uni magazine. I want to do it but not for a long time.
Hours- Most days I arrive at 9 to find my boss already there. If he has court that week or many cases close together he probably stayed back late and came in early. Even if he hasn’t got a court date for a while, he’ll still be putting in a fair few hours sorting out files, keeping up to date with the latest case law relevant to his areas of expertise. Barristers work for themselves and thus can decide their own hours, but before you start envisioning days relaxing on beaches in the Caribbean you have to keep in mind you have to get all your work done (you can’t turn up to court unprepared if you want to stay in business) and you will only get paid when you work.
Type of work – Keeping in mind that barrister’s work on their own, it only makes sense that do a variety of tasks throughout the day most which would not be associated with advocacy. Most barristers don’t have a personal secretary, in my building the secretary and typists are shared with over 30 other barristers thus most of the barristers take care of their phone calls, emails, mail and general typing. At least once a fortnight, if not once a week, a new brief comes in which means the barrister will have to open it up and see what state it is in and try and order it in a way that is logical to them. The brief may then need to be put in chronological order and all the documents must be scrutinised to decide which of the thousands that originally arrived are important, so don’t think your reading load will be reduced on finishing uni. An index of documents will usually need to be made and a chronology of events is also needed. Some barristers employ someone like me to do all non-glamorous administrative work but many, especially when they are new to the bar cannot afford it.
Once a brief has been organised into an appropriate order, the superfluous documents removed and the chronology and index completed and read a barrister will then have to start researching the relevant issues and then formulate an advice. An advice is much like the problem questions we do, the barrister will advise the client on the possibility of success if the case went to trial outlining the issues and relevant law and much like assignments these might require numerous drafts, late nights and a lot of caffeine (depending on how good a time management you are). Only when the client decides to go to trial does the preparation for trial and court room time actually begin.
In preparing for advices and trial, barristers will also have to meet with their instructing solicitor and clients and you don’t really get a choice in who you represent (unlike solicitors, remember the cab rank rule from Legal Ethics), whether they be rude, crazy or just determined to take a case with little chance of success.
Money – From what I have heard, the money is good, but like all things you have to work hard for it. The rate you charge depends on experience and expertise, so to get the big bucks you have to keep yourself well-versed in the law which means many hours spent reading and researching. I won’t quote numbers but suffice it to say, it makes law school and all the long hours seem well and truly worth it.
Work/Life Balance – Barristers have to prioritise a fair bit as they will have a number of cases going on at the one time, all at different stages but if you do this well you can have a good work/life balance and in that sense it’s much like uni you work hard and play hard. A career at the bar is good if you like flexibility as you are your own boss and you are only constrained by court dates and your clients which means holidays, long weekends and socialising are perfectly realistic.
The verdict – I have always wanted to go to the bar (this expression always gets a laugh) and after working with barristers, I have not changed my mind however I have realised its not as easy as it looks. If you want a job where you can delegate all the crappy jobs away then this might not be you, however for hard workers who are good at working on their own or those who like me just love to argue in a court room this is definitely an option for you.
